Jilayne Rickards is a extremely value Garden & Landscape Designer base in Cornwall who has project various garden across the UK , often team up up with charities and organisations .
For instance , her 2019 garden at the Chelsea Flower Show wasprepared in partnership with CAMFEDand won Gold as well as Best In Show .
Jilayne was kind enough to chat with me about that very garden , her commitment to sustainable practices and her plans for a future undertaking near her hometown .
Can You Tell Us About Your Journey Into Garden Design And What Inspired You To Pursue This Career?
“ I grew up in Cornwall , which is the most amazing place , so I was always pep up by that landscape , ” Jilayne order .
“ Despite that , there was n’t much study there at the metre , so I moved aside like a lot of people to find work in London . I ’d always wanted to study something aesthetic but I ’d never really pull off it because there was no money in it .
“ Once I had aim matrimonial and had 3 nipper , I knew I wanted to do something originative and I was lucky enough to have a alteration in career and retrain . I thought I would seek garden design and just see how it goes and it fitted me really well .
“ I ’ve always been able-bodied to project thing really well and I think I ’ve got an innate sense of what looks good together . The balance is just logic and I ’m quite a lucid person , so that ’s how I terminate up in this career . ”
Your Garden For CAMFED Won Gold At The RHS Chelsea Flower Show And The People’s Choice Award In 2019. Can You Walk Us Through The Design Process For This Award-Winning Garden?
“ This Greek valerian was a great match for me as I altogether trust in the work that they do . What I wanted to do with the garden was mull over the advantageousness of the work they do , so I visited their flagship organisation in Zimbabwe to understand how they worked and to understand the plant too .
“ In the UK , when we think of gardens we think of a decent place to sit , somewhere to decompress – but in Africa they call back of food for thought and nurturing nature . I want to compound the food farm and the instruction element into one garden as I felt that encapsulated what I saw in Zimbabwe .
“ I raised the back of the garden by 2.5 m and place the schoolroom position there and the planting used plant from Zimbabwe that people would typically farm in their own back gardens .
“ The skillful affair was getting the people ’s choice honor because it intend that people were experience that conversation about CAMFED and that they were spill the beans about the work . ”
What Does A Typical Working Day Look Like For You?
“ It ’s an awful lot of admin if you may trust it ! ” Jilayne laugh .
“ People often think that designing is so exciting and glamorous , and yes , some of it is this , but the majority of it is not .
“ I ’m often out on web site . I ’ll either be look at the garden or in communication with the guest . I spend a lot of time with my clients either by earpiece , soar or face - to - facial expression if I ’m nearby .
“ I like to hightail it the budget alongside the innovation so I ’m sure of what I ’m doing when it comes to the design side of things . That affect a sight of software , drawings on the computing machine and spreadsheets .
“ Then there are presentation and invention for the clients too which I find quite exciting because that is when the client stupefy to see it arrive to life and find out what they are paying me for !
“ The exciting part is when the plant turn up on land site . I also wish to oversee the project as well , so I ’ll be checking that the landscapers are doing what I want and be there for any job that do rise . ”
In The Past You Opened Your Garden Under The National Gardens Scheme. Can You Share Your Experience And The Feedback You Received?
“ I ’ve done that three times now , ” she say .
“ The first garden I opened up was when I lived in London , which was a small back garden where multitude had to descend through my house to get to it ! It was a great experience even though it was tiring .
“ It was so busy and such good fun that when we moved to a larger place , 6 months after I planted the garden , I opened it . I then opened it again 3 days subsequently , just to show what can come about in a garden over that clip .
“ It ’s great because you ’re raising money for a charity , the feedback that you get from people is really nice and you may give the great unwashed some inspiration for their own garden .
“ It ’s really fun , but it is a immense amount of work , especially if you ’re a intriguer and you feel like everyone is going around looking at all the details with a magnifying methamphetamine ! ”
How Do You Ensure That Your Garden Designs Are Both Beautiful And Environmentally Friendly?
In my garden at Chelsea this year withFauna & Flora , a spherical conservation charity , it was all about sustainability , ” she explicate .
“ The garden was all about how a garden could still count nice and be environmentally friendly . We have to catch garden slightly other than and we have to think about what is beautiful in a more or less unlike way .
“ Increasingly , sustainability is something that everybody is just doing as a general practice now . We start by thinking about what the customer need and what the most sustainable way to do it is . We have to change , and I ’m trying to do so .
“ Gone are the twenty-four hour period of immense amounts of imported concrete slabs for me . I always tell my clients that they wo n’t cultivate with me if they ca n’t get on board with my sustainability practices . Often , clients do n’t know how to implement these change and just call for some guidance .
“ These solar day , planting is unmanageable because climate alteration is here , so we also have to think about how we can imbed things to suit the extreme of the weather . ”
What Is The Best Thing About Your Job?
“ The biggest pleasure I get is going back to see the garden a couple of years on , as it gives me gratification to see that all of the hard work paid off .
“ The appendage is always so long and , of course , plant life take time to develop , so pick up updates is so rewarding . I love seeing the client well-chosen too . ”
Do You Have Any Upcoming Projects Or Future Plans That You Can Share With Us?
“ There ’s a project down in the south of Cornwall ground on meliorate the domain around some holiday cottage , ” says Jilayne .
“ I ’ll be picking that up soon which will be interesting , as they are right on down on the coast too , so will call for some steer barriers put in ! ”
