Early Beginnings.
At the tender age of 15, I, like any other teenager, wondered what life would hold, where I would end up and what I would do for a living one day.
In the same year, my parents decided to buy a small holding in the Eastern Cape, close to Jefferey's Bay. As a family we used to pack all our necessities for a weekend trip to the farm. This enabled my Old man to start his new hobby, cattle farming. Now I never was a farmer, and to this day wouldn't want to be.
We inherited this massive garden - of which I was entrusted to look after. My dad and I had an agreement that he'd mow the lawn while I look after the large beds which were designed and installed by the previous owner, a fine artist of note.
Her attention to detail amazed me! I looked up to her as a child and always thought - If only I could paint like her! If only I could know plants like she does, and actually know exactly where to plant them! Ironically, her brother in Law was an expert landscape designer, working in Italy and really making a good living out of it. They somehow evoked something in me, and low and behold - the green bug bit me.
I was on a mission to learn more. My family started noticing my interest in gardening, and as a monthly gift, my mother would buy me a landscape related book. As did my grand parents with books they had for ages. In fact - this year 10 years later, my grandmother gave my a book written in the seventies, about every Protea species in the country! My newest treasure! Today I have Garden and Home magazines that were printed in 1984 - the year I was born up to the more recent ones - which gave me a much better idea of what the landscaping and gardening trade was all about. My collection ranges in the hundreds - and I can say with confidence that I don't own a Landscape related book or magazine that I haven't thoroughly read and in some cases studied!
Perplexed by this new world - I became so attached to this hobby, that unlike any teen, I spent my weekends gardening. In my immaturity, I redesigned our entire garden (section for section) and found nothing more rewarding than to go to the nursery, buying the plants I learned about at home, and knowing why I bought them and exactly where they are destined to find their new habitat.
The passion grew, as anything green does, and I soon found myself reducing most of the lawn areas around the house, and expanding the bed areas (so I could plant more plants).
I'll never forget; on the morning of my 18Th Birthday, a Sunday morning (which happened to be Mother's day), my Mother said she wasn't sure what to buy me as a present. I looked at her and I remember thinking "isn't it obvious?", and my reply was - let's go buy a tree! That was my best gift ever. Being able to plant a tree in the middle of my prized Garden on my 18Th Birthday. I still remember that morning as if it was yesterday - and that tree to me symbolizes a ever growing passion, that matures as I do.
Soon I realized that I would desire nothing more to become a Landscape architect (at that age I had no Idea what it actually meant). My vision was to move to Pretoria, and devote myself to the course I believed would change my life. Reality kicked in, and I sadly realized that my parents did not have the financial support (as they were paying off the farm which were way over their budget) and would not be ably to put me through university.
Beaten and sad, I figured that I would have to find a different way of getting the necessary exposure I needed to become a landscaper. I finished my final year at school, with less ambition, and thought that my dreams were shattered forever. The one thing I was good at I would have had to kiss goodbye.
At the end of that Year, I was made a proposition by my Uncle. I could stay with them in Cape Town for as long as it took me to design and install their garden. I could barely believe what I was hearing, and without hesitation, I agreed.
Simply put, my career started as a self made landscaper. I ended up attending landscape design courses which lead me to my first job in a major company as a landscape supervisor on site. Sadly my parents had to let me go, in order for me to live my dream.
Today, seven Years in the industry, I look back and I realize that true Passion will always reward. And that single mentality of doing the work I love to do, has brought me to to where I am today. To this day, my passion motivates me to look past current economic conditions, past the odds that are against me because I was never privileged enough to receive formal training, and it makes me stand out! It makes me unique and ambitious about every project that finds me.
In the same year, my parents decided to buy a small holding in the Eastern Cape, close to Jefferey's Bay. As a family we used to pack all our necessities for a weekend trip to the farm. This enabled my Old man to start his new hobby, cattle farming. Now I never was a farmer, and to this day wouldn't want to be.
We inherited this massive garden - of which I was entrusted to look after. My dad and I had an agreement that he'd mow the lawn while I look after the large beds which were designed and installed by the previous owner, a fine artist of note.
Her attention to detail amazed me! I looked up to her as a child and always thought - If only I could paint like her! If only I could know plants like she does, and actually know exactly where to plant them! Ironically, her brother in Law was an expert landscape designer, working in Italy and really making a good living out of it. They somehow evoked something in me, and low and behold - the green bug bit me.
I was on a mission to learn more. My family started noticing my interest in gardening, and as a monthly gift, my mother would buy me a landscape related book. As did my grand parents with books they had for ages. In fact - this year 10 years later, my grandmother gave my a book written in the seventies, about every Protea species in the country! My newest treasure! Today I have Garden and Home magazines that were printed in 1984 - the year I was born up to the more recent ones - which gave me a much better idea of what the landscaping and gardening trade was all about. My collection ranges in the hundreds - and I can say with confidence that I don't own a Landscape related book or magazine that I haven't thoroughly read and in some cases studied!
Perplexed by this new world - I became so attached to this hobby, that unlike any teen, I spent my weekends gardening. In my immaturity, I redesigned our entire garden (section for section) and found nothing more rewarding than to go to the nursery, buying the plants I learned about at home, and knowing why I bought them and exactly where they are destined to find their new habitat.
The passion grew, as anything green does, and I soon found myself reducing most of the lawn areas around the house, and expanding the bed areas (so I could plant more plants).
I'll never forget; on the morning of my 18Th Birthday, a Sunday morning (which happened to be Mother's day), my Mother said she wasn't sure what to buy me as a present. I looked at her and I remember thinking "isn't it obvious?", and my reply was - let's go buy a tree! That was my best gift ever. Being able to plant a tree in the middle of my prized Garden on my 18Th Birthday. I still remember that morning as if it was yesterday - and that tree to me symbolizes a ever growing passion, that matures as I do.
Soon I realized that I would desire nothing more to become a Landscape architect (at that age I had no Idea what it actually meant). My vision was to move to Pretoria, and devote myself to the course I believed would change my life. Reality kicked in, and I sadly realized that my parents did not have the financial support (as they were paying off the farm which were way over their budget) and would not be ably to put me through university.
Beaten and sad, I figured that I would have to find a different way of getting the necessary exposure I needed to become a landscaper. I finished my final year at school, with less ambition, and thought that my dreams were shattered forever. The one thing I was good at I would have had to kiss goodbye.
At the end of that Year, I was made a proposition by my Uncle. I could stay with them in Cape Town for as long as it took me to design and install their garden. I could barely believe what I was hearing, and without hesitation, I agreed.
Simply put, my career started as a self made landscaper. I ended up attending landscape design courses which lead me to my first job in a major company as a landscape supervisor on site. Sadly my parents had to let me go, in order for me to live my dream.
Today, seven Years in the industry, I look back and I realize that true Passion will always reward. And that single mentality of doing the work I love to do, has brought me to to where I am today. To this day, my passion motivates me to look past current economic conditions, past the odds that are against me because I was never privileged enough to receive formal training, and it makes me stand out! It makes me unique and ambitious about every project that finds me.
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