Tracy Foster , a Chelsea Gold Medal winning Garden Designer , brings over 20 years of experience to the fine art of transform outside spaces , with a further 10 years of project direction experience .
Based in our hometown of Leeds – Tracy ’s body of work ranges from contemporaneous designs to wildlife havens , mull her notion that every garden should mirror its possessor ’s personality and lifestyle .
Beyond design , Tracy also work as a botanical go usher , speaker and wise man – and has roll up legion honor over the years , admit several RHS Gold Medal Awards and a People ’s Choice Award , attesting to her science and creativity in garden design .
Can you share your journey and what inspired you to pursue a career in garden design?
“ My earliest garden memories admit things like collecting cat and go along them as pets , or watching a whole family of hedgehogs cross our lawn , ” Tracy shares .
“ I must have been 4 or 5 age old at the time and I just loved being outside , getting dirty and looking for wildlife . Like many fry , I was allot a tiny dapple of ground to naturalize which was nowhere nearly enough for me , so I bossily took over more and more of the garden until by the geezerhood of about 15 , I was looking after all of it .
“ By the time I leave school , I was certain that I need to do something tie with plants , but I do n’t think I ’d even heard of Garden Design as a life history . I chose to study Plant Biology at the University of Newcastle - upon - Tyne , graduating in the 1980s and egress into a macrocosm of gamy unemployment – so I gratefully took a job as a trainee computer programmer and pass the next 17 years run in IT .
“ A bit of a unseasonable turning perhaps , but I learnt useful accomplishment in direction and happen out about all sorts of software along the fashion , whilst always gardening in my spare fourth dimension .
“ When I had the opportunity to take voluntary redundance , I was out of the threshold faster than you could say ‘ Garden intriguer ’ and I begin studying for a Diploma in Garden Design , volunteering in a nearby historic garden and setting up my business concern directly away . ”
With over 20 years of experience in garden design, what do you consider your most significant achievement?
“ The first one that springs to mind is the Hedgehog Street labor , as I was so delighted to be chosen to build up a show garden at the 2014 RHS Hampton Court Show to foreground the plight of Erinaceus europaeus and demonstrate ways nurseryman can assist , ” she explains .
“ I went on to win a gold medal and the People ’s Choice award . I was then require to project and create another two gardens for Hedgehog Street , one of which is at RHS Harlow Carr Gardens .
“ It felt very significant because the brief was that it had to show how to be wildlife friendly in a garden , no matter what its style , so it help to shake off the mind that only mussy , neglected - look gardens would do . ”
You’ve received several RHS gold medals and the coveted People’s choice award for one of your Chelsea gardens. What do these accolades mean to you and how do they shape your future projects?
“ It is wonderful to win an RHS medal or to be awarded Best Small Garden or Peoples ’ Choice at any of the shows , but the best act by far is the chance to receive and work with the expectant melt green goddess of knowledgeable and originative people who are on - site creating display .
“ I am friends with lots of couturier , landscapers and creative person that I ’ve met over the years when doing show gardens , and I ’ve gone on to form with many of them on other projects . That is a invaluable learnedness experience , and collaborationism always spark a taking over of raw melodic theme .
you also work as a botanical tour guide, speaker, tutor, mentor, and garden writer. How do you manage to juggle these diverse roles, and how do they complement each other?
“ The work I do is a pretty diverse premix , and I certainly have to manage my time carefully , ” she divvy up .
“ Having said that , I have frequently take on too much and end up work very long minute . My firm belief is that I want to dwell the most exciting and fulfil life possible , which can mean choose the most interesting work over the most profitable .
“ As I work for myself , I am free to separate my clip between different role and I can be selective about what undertaking I will accept . Somehow the unlike aspects of oeuvre do suit together , research for speaking and teaching always comes in handy when doing some creative design workplace , and being a botanical guidebook has brought a riches of knowledge and inhalation . ”
From contemporary outdoor rooms to wildlife havens, you’ve designed a variety of garden styles. Do you have a personal favourite style or theme?
“ I have sex gardens that are really full of plant , especially when that include lot of textures , interesting foliage and as small hard landscape gardening as potential , ” she say .
“ The more lush and immature the safe . I do like an artistic creation and crafts garden for those cautiously craft details and repurposed objects , but part of the fun of designing is the creation of something novel and unlike for each node .
“ I check that all the gardens I design are wildlife - well-disposed and as sustainable as potential . I hate waste product and dear to re - apply anything I can on each line of work . That can also keep the costs down and means less material is being transport to and from the garden .
“ When I am make garden , I am sapiently mindful that it is all too easy to have a negative effect on the environment – look at all the atrocious impenetrable fencing and toxic fake grass that has been inflicted on gardens by Garden Designers in the past tense . I think we have a responsibility to verify we have a positive effect . ”
What common challenges do gardeners face, and how would you advise them to overcome these challenges?
“ For anyone new to horticulture , the magnanimous challenges are a deficiency of confidence and flavor overwhelmed by the project of making the garden they want , ” she explain .
“ My advice would be to measure your garden and quarter up a purpose because it will enable you to see precisely what you ’re trying to reach and you’re able to work slowly , doing a little at a time with the knowledge that it is all moving towards your project dream garden .
“ There are loads of books about garden invention , and some reasonably utilitarian site too , and many people are more than capable of putting pencil to paper and creating a programme .
“ For others , if it seems too intimidating , I would indicate booking a reference with a Garden Designer to spill about what ’s possible and how to reach it . I do a lot of this sort of oeuvre and really savour watching people discover their creativity .
“ Many go on to make really especial gardens on their own , whilst others choose to have design drawn up for them . ”
What’s your favourite thing about your job?
“ I love the exemption and the kind . One day , I might be mentoring a team of school child as they make modeling gardens , I could be out of doors establish 1,000 bulb the next , drawing up ideas for a brand new project for the following few days or select photograph of a completed garden .
“ I ’ve act upon on all kind of labor , and once I even helped to work up a show garden on board a cruise ship as it sailed around the Atlantic Isles .
“ When I tell people what I do they always say ‘ that must be a really nice task ’ and I have to attempt really severe not to look too pleased with myself ! ”
Are there any upcoming projects you’re particularly excited about?
“ I have two garden that are about to be build , ” shares Tracy .
“ One is a midget suburban plot of land and the other is an expansive country garden and I must say , I ’m really looking forrard to ensure them both take shape . I ’m also at the bid stage on a dyad of other really exciting projection , but I ca n’t narrate you anything about them as I ’m sworn to secrecy ! ”
