Old World Garden Design

design, consulting and care for a better garden experience!
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Interview with Silvia about her Experience, Philosophy and Garden Approach
-Interview in 2006 with Dave Vachitis, Landscape Design Coordinator,
Four Seasons Garden Center, Williston VT-
 

      
Silvia, tell us about your qualifications as a landscape designer.

    I’ve been gardening for over ten years and professionally designing for five years. While traveling through the Western United States, I discovered the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies in Boulder, Colorado, and earned my Herbalist certification there. I went on to continue my studies at UVM, where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Forestry and Landscape Horticulture, graduating Magna cum Laude. The same year I began my continued work at Four Seasons Garden Center as both a freelance landscape designer and a nursery associate. In 2004 I established “Old World Garden Design” together with my former colleague Andrea Ruprecht, who holds a degree in landscape design and environmental engineering from the University of Munich, but who has since returned to Germany. Over the years I have continued to learn from both residential and commercial landscape design and planning, landscape installation oversight, and small-scale garden maintenance and installation projects. And you will always find a stack of gardening books year round on my bedside table.

Silvia, how did you get interested in gardening and landscape design?
   
   
    Growing up in Northern Germany, I gained a passion for gardening as I watched my mother transform our bare townhouse backyard into a thriving, lush oasis of all-season bloom and interest. In Europe, the typical urban garden is by comparison smaller than in the US, but is often more abundant with plants on multiple levels so that every nook is a potential reservoir for carefully selected plants.  I appreciate and thrive on this attention to detail, and together with the bounty of north eastern plant material, aspire to compose beautiful northern gardens.
   As a child, I did not fully appreciate the sense of peace, belonging and beauty a garden can bring to one’s life. But as I have become a parent and a homeowner, I have regained my appreciation for outdoor living spaces and discovered a talent for creating them.

 
 
As a landscape designer, what are your greatest strengths?

    I believe the garden is an extension of the home environment, and I believe I have developed a good sense for outdoor living spaces that meet practical and recreational, as well as aesthetic human needs. As a standard practice, I discuss with the homeowner future activities and desired features in the garden so that I can consider all factors inherent to the site and the homeowner’s needs in designing a fluent and beautiful landscape composition .
 
How would you describe your design style?

    Even though I received my horticultural education in the US, my design style is also influenced by my upbringing in Germany. I firmly believe that each specific site to be landscaped has a unique character, so the design should fit the site, not the other way around. I would call my style "natural with focal highlights" as I want to pay respect to the natural character of a location by enhancing it with both native as well as hardy and disease resistant "exotic" plant material.

What are the biggest challenges you face as a landscape designer?

    Challenging design situations arise when clients have concrete ideas about their gardens that cannot be achieved because of irreversible site conditions or unrealistic plant expectations. When I meet with a client, I listen to her ideas and wishes and then, together with her, try to find landscape solutions that are both satisfying to the client as well as realistic for the site. For example, if a client is set on a colorful flower border with typical, sun-loving meadow perennials but wants to see this on the north side of the house, I will try to find a better-suited site on the property or suggest a shade garden with plants with colors, textures, and shapes similar to the desired sun perennials.

Please summarize for us why you are a landscape designer.

    I am efficient, detail oriented and enjoy solving problems. In landscape design, each project is like a puzzle, challenging me to create a customized plan that offers both functional and beautiful landscape solutions.

Thanks, Silvia.