Landscape designer Sandhya Sunil shares her success story with Anita Barar
An architect turned landscape designer, Sandhya established her own practice in Sydney.
She does garden design for residences, commercial, institutional places, childcare centres, duplexes etc. She also does landscape documentation for Council submission.
One of the biggest challenge is to convince the client that a well-designed/ well thought out landscape design is as critical as getting the house designed by the architect. It is an oft repeated saying the right plant in the right place.
As a trained landscape designer, Sandhya advices the client the suitability of the plants & propose the correct plants for its function eg if the plants are needed as a decorative look or to provide privacy screening.
She adds, There is also the element of sustainability that I am very strong on. Right plant in the right place means a successful & low maintenance garden. People are forever saying we want a low maintenance garden. Can you have low maintenance children or pets?
She tells that anything living needs nurturing & care at least till they establish. So low maintenance does not mean no maintenance.
She reminds that there are plants that do require a higher degree of maintenance for eg roses. For roses, one need to be on top of the fertilize- pest control regime with them.
With growing population and apartment living, container gardening & vertical gardens are also very popular. Sandhya says, The success of both these depends on (a) choosing the appropriate plants (b) choosing an appropriate system (c) a maintenance regime.
She adds that by providing a landscape design service, she is able to look at the various compliance issues being asked for by the council.
She also draws attention to various rules and weather conditions for the place.
She says , Now there are rules governing a whole lot of outdoor structures- they fall into criteria such as (a) Exempt Development (b) CDC development (c) DA approval. Every council has their own stipulations & rules which can differ significantly.
There are sites that come under bushfire hazard category. These need specific landscaping resolutions.
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