LANDSCAPEoutlook

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JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS AND MANAGERS. SERVING LANDSCAPE AND GARDEN PROFESSIONALS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

ISSUE 46WINTER 11

InspIratIonal FlorIade

Inner CIty student desIgns

Cypsella at MIFgs

sustaInable soIl nutrItIon

Fellow proFessIonal

what Is a garden worth

14 landscape outlook

Above. Windbreak at Marrickville – structural and fun.Top Right. Nicola Cameron.Right. Parsley Bay garden courtyard – a perfect place to reflect and relax.

would spend lunch time under a big old gum tree creating miniature

landscapes - usually farms out of the contours of the trees roots.

These farms were on a small scale compared to the bushranger forts

with stock yards I created on week ends by the creek.”

However, like many landscape designers, Cameron spent her early

career gathering skills and qualifications not directly related to the

profession of a landscape designer. She spent three years at NSW

College of Fine Arts, majoring in film and photography with a desire

to film documentaries of different people, cultures and landscapes.

Here she found nature and its varied landscapes, colours and

textures intriguing and spent her early twenties looking through a

lens, discovering the importance of composition, depth of field,

light and shade. These elements of photography have not been

wasted in her transition to landscape design.

Initially Cameron used these skills in the television industry but the

pull of nature was strong. She studied horticulture and design,

while working in garden maintenance.

Fellow proFessionals – niCola CaMeronstory: lyn Morehen MaIldM, MhMa

In November 2010 I was privileged to hear Nicola Cameron speak at

an AILDM seminar held at the Greengate Hotel in Sydney. I was then

delighted to sit next to her at dinner. Cameron is an AILDM member

and the winner of several design awards. What attracted me to her

work, and inspired me to write this article, is her direct approach

based on many facets which inspire her contributions to our design

world. Too often I have listened to designers who, having found a

‘winning formula’ stick to it. Not Cameron and her staff at ‘Pepo’.

They are constantly refining the processes and ideas that form the

basis for their award-winning designs. The outcomes, with client

approval, are then landscapes that exceed clients’ expectations, fit

the environment, and are fun and very livable.

baCkground and the Journey to desIgnChildhood memories reflect Cameron’s lifelong passion for the

environment.

“I remember clearly in the 1970’s when roller skating was the craze

at my school. Being a lanky eight year old with no skating skill, I

winter 2011 15

pepoCameron found that these maintenance clients valued her design

skills and so she started ‘Pepo’ (Pepo is Latin for ‘sun ripened’).

With Pepo she can produce gardens that are functional, edible

and sculptural for her clients. She believes that working with clients

is a real privilege. A designer works directly with the people who

will use the space and asks them “how do you intend to use this

space, what is your lifestyle, how do you spend your weekends,

talk about your family, the food you like. Will your garden be your

sanctuary for solitude and pondering or a play space for fun and

learning?“ Cameron and Pepo are simply not designers with a rigid

garden formula.

Her designs incorporate such factors as wind, as well as the

current trend for edible garden components. She believes there

should be something edible in every garden, and that it should

enrich her clients’ lives.

how the praCtICe worksPepo employs twelve people - all passionate about their work. The

scope ranges from design to construction and maintenance. Their

great emphasis is quality. The process itself is well defined, but

improvements and imagination are encouraged. Cameron realised

that the level of detail required to produce her designs meant Pepo

needed to produce fine computer generated plans, so she took on

a Landscape Architect.

Pepo’s favourite projects are residential. The reward is in seeing

families enjoy the outdoor space.

InspIratIonRoberto Burle Marx inspires Cameron. Cameron feels Marx is a

great believer in the detailed process and how it leads to depth

and beauty. In Marta Iris Montero’s book Burle Marx, The Lyrical

Landscape she writes:

“Despite the wild aspect of Burle Marx’s compositions, there was

nothing more consciously formalist than their gestation, aiming at a

definitive, finished object: a taming of nature which at the same time

accepted the unfathomable side of living things but rejected anything

alien to his design. He formulated his compositions with the utmost

care and rigor, either through drawings on paper in his workshop or on

site as the forms actually materialized. Nothing was left to chance.”

Cameron’s husband and business partner James Perkin provides

Cameron with the encouragement to keep going. Graham Fletcher at

Ryde Tafe provided a framework for Cameron’s initial design works.

award wInnIng gardensCameron and Pepo won two AILDM awards in 2010: winner of

the residential landscape design between $40,000 and $100,000

(Marrickville) and highly commended in the residential design over

$100,000 (Parsley Bay).

The Parsley Bay brief was to ‘mess up the architecture and design a

garden that was flowing, loose and importantly did not have a designed

look’. The award winning design included chooks, a vegetable garden

and a handcrafted pergola. The feature, hand crafted pergola at the

entrance court was designed by Francesco Petrolo a Sydney based

Blacksmith. The beauty of this art work is in its seamless integration with

Above. Herbs and vegetables – a necessity in all gardens. Above right. Parsley Bay entrance pergola – a play on light and form.

Pics: Saffrine Nydegger

16 landscape outlook

the garden and its timeless, beautiful form.

In a completely different location and brief, the Marrickville award

winning garden was not much more than Buffalo grass and Grevillea

robusta when Pepo first arrived. The microclimate was hot, dry

and windy making the garden an unpleasant place to be. Wind

breaks enhancing the garden but not dividing the space had to be

designed. The resulting windbreak is functional, fun and structural.

The awards have led to more clients who found Pepo on the AILDM

website. Cameron says “this is great because it means that AILDM is

working and respected”. The award publicity also meant Pepo’s and

Cameron’s profiles were highlighted in various national magazines.

keepIng up to dateCameron believes that keeping up to date is important. She

subscribes to several design magazines and thinks it essential to

be an active member of organisations such as AILDM and AIH. She

maintains that “as professionals we need to continue to develop

standard practices across our industry and define ourselves to the

community as being able to offer a quality service and a successful

result. Then the public will be able to differentiate between an

AILDM design practice and a run of the mill landscaping company,

and thus see the value in such a design process”.

ConClusIonOver the last ten years Cameron has grown professionally and along

with her partner and staff has developed Pepo into an award winning

business. They enjoy the fact that their designs, constructions and

maintenance give so much pleasure to their clients.

Cameron believes that gardens are an investment. She believes

the design process is an important element of that investment.

It is an insurance policy that reduces the risk of mistakes in the

construction and ensures mutual understanding of the planned

result. Cameron believes it is the only fair way to enter into a

relationship with a client.

Hi-end Residential or Large Scale Commercialplus Alpine Quality equals Award Winning Results.

Alpine Nurseries1099 Old Northern Road, Dural NSW 2158Telephone: (02) 9651 0999 Facsimile: (02) 9651 0988Email: sales@alpinenurseries.com.au Website: www.alpinenurseries.com.au S8

03179

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Above. Chooks – growing popularity in today’s gardens.