Garden designer

Briefly explain what you do for a living.

I work as a garden designer. I mostly create garden plans for private customers, but my customer base also includes housing companies.

How have you ended up in the profession of your choice?

I have a long history of working as an interior designer and in other design positions. Since gardening has always been a hobby that I love, I decided to combine the two and learn a new profession.

Describe your typical working day or week.

I begin my day by checking my emails because I receive a lot of requests for offer. I spend the morning responding to customers, preparing offers and taking care of all kinds of paperwork related to running a business. Later in the day, I create garden designs on my computer. I try to visit each garden before submitting an offer and after the offer has been accepted.

Work varies by season. In winter, I do more design work, while spring and summer are busy times when I may have five to six garden visits a week around the Kuopio region. This also means spending a lot of time driving from one place to the next.

What kind of work environment or working hours do you have?

Most of the time I work at my home office, but customer visits also take me outdoors. Usually, my customers live in single-family houses. You get to spend a lot of time outdoors in this profession, which means that the work involves exposure to pollen and other plant particles. That’s why I wouldn’t recommend garden design to someone who is very allergic.

I can schedule my work pretty freely, but during the summer I work long hours and spend some evenings and weekends at work. Even though winter is a quieter season, there is work throughout the year.

What kind of competence or qualities are required in the profession?

A garden designer should be creative and have good design skills. You also need a profound knowledge of plants and different materials. To my mind, mastering all this requires a relevant degree. Good IT skills are also required, as most of the work is now carried out using a computer. Having a driver’s licence is practically obligatory.

What is the best thing about your profession?

I like running my own business because it gives me the freedom to decide when and where I want to work. It’s great to make customers’ dreams come true and see how happy and grateful they are when I deliver their garden plan. Having a garden where you can unwind and take it easy is important to many people.

What are the downsides of the profession or what seems challenging?

The most challenging part of my job is the busy summertime and, being self-employed, the fact that I’m responsible for everything. I can’t really have a summer holiday, but fortunately I can create designs almost anywhere—even at my summer cottage.

What would you tell a person considering the profession of a garden designer?

If you enjoy creative projects and design work and you are interested in plants, I can highly recommend becoming a garden designer. I think this is a versatile and interesting job.

How do you see the future of your profession?

People are increasingly interested in buying garden planning services, so I believe that there will be plenty of work in the future if there are not too many service providers in your area. Garden design has an impact on the environment, so designers can also promote biodiversity in their work.