In this episode I speak with Tammy Huynh from Leaf An Impression. Tammy is a Horticulturist, Writer and also a presenter on Gardening Australia. She started studying Horticultural Science at Sydney Uni before getting a role working on the Better Homes and Gardens Magazine team. She was awarded Horticulturist of the year in 2021 by the Australian Institute of Horticulture, and also appeared on an episode of Gardening Australia creating a terrarium and kokedama before eventually being offered a pr...
Apr 14, 2024•44 min•Season 4Ep. 15
In this episode I speak with Rob Waddell from Waddell Design, a landscape design and construction company based in Melbourne, Geelong and Byron Bay. This episode also sees the reintroduction of the old intro music for one episode only, as specially requested by Rob! Rob speaks about the reasons and challenges behind opening up separate arms of this business in different towns. He's also designed and built 4 show gardens at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show and talks about those ...
Apr 07, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 14
In this episode I speak with Brent Phipps from Byron Bay Ranga, a landscape design, construction and maintenance business located in Byron Bay. It's an extremely enjoyable chat with Brent, with a great combination of education (Brent has been in business 11 years) and entertainment. Brent had a great starting point in the industry, work for Mike Cass Creative prior to moving to Byron Bay, and he speaks about how he built relationships within the community which then fed him work when he needed i...
Mar 31, 2024•48 min•Season 4Ep. 13
In this episode I speak with Andrew Fisher Tomlin from The London College Of Garden Design. Andrew was a co-founder of the College and is an extremely enjoyable person to talk to! He wasn't sure what he wanted to do when he started in the industry, so tried everything, from horticulture, to design, to construction. Andrew was the chair for selection of gardens to the Chelsea Fower Show and also was involved in judging for about 8 years. Andrews shares plenty of advice in this chat, including how...
Mar 24, 2024•53 min•Season 4Ep. 12
In this special edition episode, I speak with 26 different people involved in the 2024 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. There's designers, builders, students and an organiser. The chats were held on the Saturday during construction before the show opens on Wednesday the 20th of March 0:00 Intro 0:52 Grahame Rowe - Challenger Garden with Charlie Albone 4:19 Suzannah Kennett Lister - Wurundjeri Biik Garden with Andrew Laidlaw 8:44 Annika Zetterman - New Nordic Notes with Kajsa Bjorn...
Mar 17, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Season 4Ep. 11
In this episode I speak with Peter Donegan about the story behind his upcoming Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show design. It's supported by the Defence Force Welfare Association and I loved the story behind it so wanted as many people to hear it as possible. Doing this episode made me realise it'd be great to hear from as many people as possible from the garden show about their design inspiration, so the next episode of the podcast will be short 5 minute interviews with as many desig...
Mar 13, 2024•56 min•Season 4Ep. 10
In this episode I speak with Chris England from Merrywood Plants. Merrywood plants is a nursery specialising in espaliered plants and after espaliering was a hobby for Chris for 5-10 years, he then started Merrywood 25 years ago. Chris mentions how, at two of his early nursery employers, he was taught the importance of knowing how to speak to people, and the importance of good people. We also talk about how underrated I think espalier plants are and their various uses in a garden setting. You ca...
Mar 10, 2024•36 min•Season 4Ep. 9
In this episode I speak with Keith Edwards of Keith Edwards Landscape Consultant. Keith has been in the industry more than 40 years so is a wealth of knowledge, and has a passion for the industry to match. He has a great path to begin in the industry, where he learnt design, but then wanted to understand how a design would all fit together, so worked in grounds maintenance, turf research, landscape construction and irrigation and then went on to work for the Diggers Club before now working for h...
Mar 03, 2024•42 min•Season 4Ep. 8
In this episode I speak with Simon Rosa from Simon Rosa Landscaping, a landscape design, construction and maintenance business based in Bendigo. Simon has been running the business for around 20 years so has plenty of experience, starting out as a two man show to now having around 15 employees and working on the best gardens in Bendigo. In this chat Simon talks about his positive experience during his apprenticeship schooling at Holmsglen. He also talks about the importance of working on your bu...
Feb 25, 2024•55 min•Season 4Ep. 7
In this episode I speak with Chloe Thomson from Bean There Dug That and also Sprout School. Chloe is an educator with her course teaching all things gardening with Sprout School, but she also wears many other hats in the horticulture industry from being an MC/speaker, to presenter/producer among other roles. She has a great story about building good relationships with employers even when leaving. And her tv presenting and producing experience has given her plenty of tips about the best way to pl...
Feb 18, 2024•44 min•Season 4Ep. 6
In this episode I speak with Nick Bransgrove from Lawns In Good Nick. Nick started his social media account a couple of years ago after renovating his home lawn and realising how much he enjoyed it, and wanted to provide tips to other folks on how they could do the same. He's since built the instagram page to 100k followers and recently started a YouTube and TikTok account as well. He's also recently launched a renovation guide to provide more in depth information on how homeowners can achieve a...
Feb 11, 2024•55 min•Season 4Ep. 5
In this episode I speak with Bec Bennett. Bec is another lucky person who knew what industry she wanted to work in from an early age, taking trips to the local nursery before starting work there as soon as she was able to. She went on to start her own business and talks about the challenges of knowing your worth when charging for landscape design. Bec is the president of Encouraging Women In Horticulture and also teaches at Chisolm Tafe You can follow Bec on Instagram @annan_homestead You can fo...
Feb 04, 2024•49 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode I speak with Matt Ferguson from Ferguson Landscape and Design, a landscape construction company based in Melbourne. Matt has only been in business a short time, having started the business in January 2020, but he's doing a lot of things right early. He employed a business coach in the first few months and we talk about the benefits this has brought. Matt also talks about how he worked for his last employer as a subbie when he started his business, to fill in any gaps he had, whic...
Jan 28, 2024•35 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this episode I speak with Stacey Swetnam from Legacy Gardens, a landscape construction company based in Sydney. Stacey currently works at Harrison's Landscaping where she began and completed her apprenticeship and will commit fulltime to Legacy Gardens in the coming years. I first became aware of Stacey through her podcast "Tradie Lady Talk" where she spoke with women in the construction industry. There's just three episodes so far, but they're a great listen for people in the construction in...
Jan 21, 2024•44 min•Season 4Ep. 2
In this episode I speak with Michael McCoy from Michael McCoy Gardens. Michael is a garden design, writer and was the host of the TV show Dream Gardens. Michael is an extremely enjoyable person to talk to and he's got some amazing stories about how he ended up spending 4.5 months at Great Dixter, as well as the story about how he ended up hosting Dream Gardens. Michael also talks about the importance of designing a garden to meet the maintenance possibilities of the client it's for. He also talk...
Jan 14, 2024•59 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In this episode, the final for 2023, I speak with Lucy Willcox from Lucy Willcox Garden Design. Lucy is a solo landscape designer based in London and has won several design awards in her time in the industry. Lucy didn't start out in the industry but realised she had a passion for it, so jumped in and that passion has only increased since! I first discovered Lucy after seeing her home garden on Instagram and I assumed it was an Australian garden based off the plant selections and hardscaping, bu...
Dec 17, 2023•55 min•Season 3Ep. 94
In this episode I speak with Scott Latham from Latham Landscapes, a landscape construction company based in Geelong. Scott has only been running the business for a couple of years, but worked for some high quality companies prior to that, so we discuss that experience, as well as the pros and cons of having equipment, such as an Excavator called Bessie, and a tracked dumper called Wendy! Scott also instigated a Geelong landscapers catch up earlier this year, so we discuss the reason behind this ...
Dec 10, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 93
In this episode, I read out a collection of "Crazy client stories" that listeners sent in. There's a story about a cigarette smoking client, a client who baked Olive bread, an alcoholic client, and that's all in the one story! You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page @instyle_gardens @thelandscapingpodcast You can view each episode on our YouTube channel...
Dec 06, 2023•8 min•Season 3Ep. 92
In this episode I speak with Ben Scott from Ben Scott Garden Design, a Landscape design company based in Melbourne. Ben is one of my favourite designers and has a pretty cool story about how he started in the industry, working for Julian McCarthy Landscapes and working on Paul Bangay's garden at Woodend, before eventually working for Paul in design. Ben also talks about how he uses photoshop in his design presentations rather than 3D, and also speaks of the importance of communicating with those...
Dec 03, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 91
This episode, the final of the Instagram Live episodes, which is a recording of an Instagram Live I did on November 26, 2023, is part of our mid week release which are recorded Live on Instagram every Sunday at 8.30 EST and released as a podcast on Thursdays. In this episode I also answered questions such as: How have you gone re-homing your MIFGS plants? How much detail do you give in your quotes? What are your thoughts on companies liquidating and then re-entering the same industry? Is it too ...
Nov 29, 2023•18 min•Season 3Ep. 90
In this episode I speak with Andy Watkins from Leaf By Leaf, a garden maintenance company based in Melbourne. Andy runs a team of four and started out studying visual arts, and still uses the same design principals he learnt, today. Andy has a great outlook on his business, treating his clients more like a friend than just another paying client. To Andy, "It's not just gardening" that he does for his clients. We also discuss the pros and cons of petrol powered equipment versus battery powered. Y...
Nov 26, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 89
This episode, which is a recording of an Instagram Live I did on November 19, 2023, is part of our mid week release which are recorded Live on Instagram every Sunday at 8.30 EST and released as a podcast on Thursdays. In this episode I also answered questions such as: What are your 3 favourite podcasts related to the landscaping industry? As a construction company, how much detail do you want in a design? Do you qualify clients before looking at projects? What number am I thinking of? You can fo...
Nov 22, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 88
In this episode I speak with Steph Walton from Studio Es Design and Co, a landscape design company based in Adelaide. I was keen to get Steph on to talk to her about the way she's advertising her business, even though she's only been operating 12 months. She talks about the use of 3D designs to not only show her clients the potential of her design, but also to provide social media content. And we also talk about the systems and processes she's putting in place in her business before she's even g...
Nov 19, 2023•39 min•Season 3Ep. 87
This episode, which is a recording of an Instagram Live I did on November 12, 2023, is part of our mid week release which are recorded Live on Instagram every Sunday at 8.30 EST and released as a podcast on Thursdays. In this episode I also answered questions such as: What are your business values and why? Do 3D renders create an unachievable expectation? Is work drying up around Geelong? How do you get around rain days? You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our I...
Nov 15, 2023•33 min•Season 3Ep. 86
In this episode I speak with Bryce Hillig from Local Green Bean, a garden maintenance company based in New South Wales. Bryce is also studying Landscape Design, and recently had to defer his studies after he was awarded an internship to work in France at Monet's Garden, where he worked for 8 weeks, so we talk plenty about that expereince. Bryce is also looking to build his relationships within the industry, particularly with designers as he looks to increase his design knowledge. A great way to ...
Nov 12, 2023•46 min•Season 3Ep. 85
This episode, which is a recording of an Instagram Live I did on November 5, 2023, is part of our mid week release which are recorded Live on Instagram every Sunday at 8.30 EST and released as a podcast on Thursdays. In this episode I also answered questions such as: What advice would you give to yourself when you were starting out? How's your front yard coming along? Is it unprofessional to ask for cash on some smaller jobs? Have you ever ruined a client's Christmas by not having their garden r...
Nov 08, 2023•19 min•Season 3Ep. 84
In this episode I speak with Grant Boyle from Fig Landscapes, a landscape design, construction and maintenance company based in Byron Bay. Grant shares his story about how, prior to starting Fig landscapes, he worked as a bricklayer and also had a partnership with another landscaping business. He talks about the benefits of building from the ground up when it comes to employing staff, and also talks through his process of how he started getting more of the types of projects he wanted to work on ...
Nov 05, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 83
This episode, which is a recording of an Instagram Live I did on October 29, 2023, is part of our mid week release which are recorded Live on Instagram every Sunday at 8.30 EST and released as a podcast on Thursdays. In this episode I also answered questions such as: As a Landscaping Victoria judge, do you feel you learnt anything that will benefit InStyle? What's your favourite plant? What's something you've learnt from your inhouse designer? Do you think Garden Design is a growing industry? Yo...
Nov 01, 2023•23 min•Season 3Ep. 82
This episode, where I speak with Jack Hanley of CHF Landscapes, is a little different to the previous 159 episodes. While Jack is a landscaper, and we do start off talking about his landscaping career, he's also currently in the midst of running 50km every day for 50 days, while still working as a landscaper Monday-Friday for his employer New Era Turf and Landscapes! Jack is doing this incredible feat to raise money for a mental health and wellness program run out of his football club at DeLa Se...
Oct 29, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 81
This episode, which is a recording of an Instagram Live I did on October 22, 2023, is part of our mid week release which are recorded Live on Instagram every Sunday at 8.30 EST and released as a podcast on Thursdays. In this episode I also answered questions such as: Is there value in seeking Google Reviews from clients in the early days of a landscaping business? What's your favourite 'day' on a project? Do you back cost your jobs? Have you ever turned a project away because it was too big for ...
Oct 25, 2023•26 min•Season 3Ep. 80
