Casa London: Has it always been something you do on the side?
Denise: It used to be full time, I've worked in offices creating the designs, I've worked on construction crews, maintenance crews I've done retail and sales, I worked for a historical museum as a historical landscape designer and implemented the gardens in period costume. It's kind of hard to dig in a dress!
Even when I worked in retail it was as a designer
- so I have always had my fingers in design. Several
years ago I started something a little bit different.
I reinvented myself as a "garden coach".
Casa London: How would you say the
industry has changed in your 25 years?
Denise: Every year there are new and
different challenges, trends change and
I’ve seen lots of ideas come and go with
change. When I first started in the industry I drew everything by hand, but now I am
self-taught on the computer. There are so
many more people who are self-educated in this area now. When I started, computers weren’t really a big thing
in the industry, but now a lot of people are educating
themselves online. The sad part is, not
everything that you read online is true. I am also seeing more and more wanting
to be a part of the project and do some
of the work themselves. So, we’ll do all
the hardscapes, prepare all the
flowerbeds, plant all the heavy plants, and
then they’ll do the rest!
Casa London: So your focus is on design
and consulting now?
Denise: I love what I do and the designing
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