Gardens and landscapes are often considered a secondary thought to any design and build. But we think it's equally important for any home to incorporate a garden and green spaces.

Luckily, we have our own landscape designer on our team, introducing Eoin (pronounced like 'Owen'). Eoin is very distinguishable for his very tall height and thick Northern Irish accent.

So, let's dig (pun fully intended) into the topic of landscaping and gardening with our very own landscaper artist, Eoin.

BACKGROUND

Eoin began his passion for all things plants growing up in the rolling Irish hills of Northern Ireland, planting vegetables, and fruits (and potatoes). Ultimately this transferred through to plants, flowers, trees and shrubs. 

Eoin took possession of a one-acre garden plot where he designed, created and maintained a beautiful garden, while also learning more advanced methods of landscaping and design. It's fair to say gardens and landscaping is a passion for Eoin.

INFLUENCES

Taking influence from some of the top landscapers from Europe, Eoin is acutely aware of landscaping trends and wants to bring a more naturalistic landscaping approach with his projects here in Vancouver. He designs his layouts to allow the plants space and ability to naturally grow in their environment. “Landscaping can sometimes be too static, I would like to bring a bit of energy and movement into people’s gardens.”

PROCESS

Finding out the location of where a garden is, is the first step in the process. Knowing if a plant will be fully exposed or hidden behind other buildings is important, and having a good knowledge of plants that can adapt to these environments is vital, “particularly downtown where there are a lot of rooftop gardens and balconies. These can be quite harsh conditions for plants.” Eoin chooses plants according to all these conditions including the wide variety of weather we get here in Vancouver.

Eoin finds out from the homeowner or client what their wants or likes are with plants and chooses according to these. For some of our homeowners, they might not be in their home all year round, so Eoin takes this into consideration when deciding on what products to use. “We also select planters and containers that have self-watering capabilities, so that homeowners never need to worry if they go away for a while.”

“Homeowners' first words are ‘I want a low-maintenance garden.” Eoin tries to help clients understand that low-maintenance gardens don’t need to be static entities and that introducing a more adventurous style of gardening will help encourage homeowners to become more engaged with their gardens. Already Eoin has seen some of our homeowners become more engaged gardeners than they ever thought they would be.

The next step is to design a vision for what the landscape and garden will look like. Eoin works with our Interior Designers to decide on the layout and then incorporate these into our computer-aided design plans so that clients can visualize these before Eoin starts planting.

The final step is implementation. Eoin has a good understanding of all the various nurseries here in Vancouver and what they offer, to then go and purchase the right plant, at the right price, in the right condition before throwing a shovel in the ground and getting his fingers green.

ADVICE

Eoin has one piece of advice to help anyone who enjoys gardening. "Using compost is great for planting, but it only has the nutrient and nourishing value that only lasts a few weeks and is designed for top dressing. Next time you plant something in your garden, use lawn soil as it is more moisture retentive, it won’t dry out and has more long-term nutrients.

CONCLUSION

We hope to share with you some of Eoin’s designs and landscapes that he creates with you soon. If you are looking to add some landscaping to your home, then contact us today and Eoin can create a garden space that works for your lifestyle.