Frequently asked questions

I'm based in Nambucca Heads and work mainly between Kempsey and Woolgoolga, and west to Bellingen, including South West Rocks, Macksville, Valla Beach, Urunga, Sawtell, Coffs Harbour, Korora, Sapphire Beach and Moonee Beach. Projects from Port Macquarie to Yamba are considered by arrangement, and I occasionally travel further for larger projects, so please get in touch. A travel fee may apply for sites more than 50 minutes from Nambucca Heads, and is confirmed when you book.

A Diploma of Garden Design with Distinction from the London College of Garden Design, Melbourne, where I was also named Student of the Year. I'm a member of the Landscape Design Institute, fully insured for professional indemnity and public liability, and each year I lecture LCGD's graduating class on starting and running a garden design business.

No, I'm a design-only practice. I'm also available during construction to answer questions and help solve problems as they come up.

Absolutely, the choice is always yours. My plans are detailed enough for any qualified contractor to quote and build from. If you'd like a recommendation, I work with a small group of trusted local contractors, and once your project is confirmed I can start talking with the one best suited to it, so your build is in their schedule well in advance. I'm also happy to suggest others if you'd like to compare quotes. I receive no commission or referral fees from any contractor. I recommend people simply because working with builders I know usually means a smoother process and the best result.

Yes, on request. I have access to trade-only nurseries stocking species I know perform in this climate, and I can source and supply everything in your planting plan. You'll receive a quote for your project, with plants competitively priced, and delivered to site in one load, ready for planting day. I can also be on site on planting day to set out every plant exactly where it should go, charged for my time on site.

I work with a small number of clients at a time, so there can be a wait for design work to begin. A 10% deposit secures your place. Site consultations can usually be booked within about four weeks of your first contact.

From the start of design to completed documentation, most residential projects take one to three months. You'll get a realistic timeline in your proposal.

No. It's a 20-minute conversation about your project, so we can work out the right next step together.

A paid, in-person session at your property of one to one and a half hours. We walk the site together and I share design possibilities, early ideas for layout, materials and levels, and what to prioritise. It's a standalone service: many people book it simply for expert advice. The investment is $495 incl. GST.

It depends on the size and complexity of the site, the scope, and the design package you choose. As a guide, design packages start from $8,000 + GST for a Masterplan of a residential garden on a simple site. Your exact fee is set out in your proposal after the site consultation.

It varies enormously with scope, materials, site access and contractor rates. As a rough guide, a well-resolved residential garden typically costs from $75,000 to well over $500,000 to build. Pools, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens and feature structures all add to the budget. For a design package, I recommend a construction budget of $75,000 or more.

As a starting point, I encourage clients to allow around $100,000 to install and fully finish a pool area with a fibreglass or precast concrete pool. It is often more, and occasionally less, depending on the project. Custom concrete pools generally cost more, and your pool builder will quote on the final design. I work with local pool builders regularly and design the pool as part of the whole garden, not something dropped into a yard.

You can go straight to a landscaper, and many people do. You'll typically get a practical interpretation of what you describe, built competently. What you won't get is a considered spatial design: how light and wind move across your site, resolved levels that prevent drainage problems, planting for your microclimate, materials suited to you and your site that won't need touching up or replacing in a few years, and documentation that lets several contractors quote accurately. The design fee is usually a small fraction of the build cost, and tends to pay for itself.

A registered land surveyor maps your boundaries, levels, existing structures, trees and drainage. It becomes the precise base drawing the whole design is built on. Without it, levels are estimated and set-out is approximate, which causes problems when a builder prices and builds from the drawings. Every project requires a recent survey, completed before our kick-off meeting.

Typically $2,000 to $4,000, depending on the size and complexity of the site. It's separate from the design fee and paid directly to the surveyor. I can recommend local surveyors I trust.

Every plant I specify is chosen for this climate, your soil and your site: aspect, drainage, exposure and microclimate. Soil varies a lot here, from heavy coastal clays to sandy loams to rich basalt inland, so where it's challenging I'll recommend preparation, amendment or raised planting as part of the design.

Yes. I draw heavily on species indigenous to the Mid North Coast: they perform here, support local biodiversity, and give a garden a sense of belonging. I don't design exclusively with natives, though. The right plant for each space is the guiding principle.

Yes. Low maintenance is a design goal, not a happy accident: the right plants for the conditions, weed suppression, appropriate irrigation, and avoiding combinations that cause ongoing problems.

Yes, and it's one of the most valuable things I do. Too often a pool goes wherever is easiest for the pool builder, and the garden has to work around it. I design the pool as part of the whole garden: its position, sun, levels and retaining, privacy, and how it connects to the house and the entertaining spaces, and how it looks from inside. Where council approval is needed I prepare the DA pool plan, and I work alongside your pool builder so the pool and garden come together as one.

Yes. Rather than finding a corner and dropping them in, I design them as a sequence: heat, cold, water, planting, privacy and light working together, with the walk from the house as part of the experience. My background as a physiotherapist means I understand how bodies respond to their environment, and I design with that in mind.

Yes. Kitchen gardens, fruit trees, herbs and productive patches, integrated as considered parts of the design rather than afterthoughts. My 2024 display garden at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, Nature's Pantry, was built around exactly this idea.

Often. Outdoor kitchens, fire pits, pools and long tables: the places where the people you love gather and stay longer than they planned.

AI can generate a convincing image of a garden. It can't visit your site, feel where the morning sun falls, read how your soil drains after rain, notice the view that wants framing, or sit at your kitchen table and understand what you actually need. A garden is a physical, living thing, and designing it well takes presence and judgement earned in this landscape.

Not safely or accurately. An AI design has no survey data behind it, so its levels may be impossible on your site, and there are no set-out drawings, schedules, drainage solutions or lighting plans to price or build from. The important decisions end up being made on site, under time pressure. That's when costs blow out and drainage problems appear.

No, because a render has no relationship to your actual site. But please bring it to our first conversation: an image of what you're hoping for is useful context.

My designs are entirely human-led. Every spatial, material and planting decision comes from a site visit, a conversation and years of knowing this landscape. I may use AI as a visualisation tool, to help turn a finished 2D design into a 3D render. The design is mine; the visualisation helps you see it.