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About us
We do not wish to hide behind a well-worded philosophy that most people won't
understand or care about. Our mission is simply to create as beautiful a garden as possible within the client's budget,
complimenting the architecture and/or setting. Our pricing structure is extremely open and honest.
We
are able to get involved with purely designing the garden and selling the plan to the client at anything from R1500 to
R5000, depending on the scale of the garden. We can also undertake to do the installation of the garden in phases,
according to the client's budget at the time. It is important for us however to maintain a standard, such as certain
quantities of compost, preparation, site management and design input, and we have found that this cannot really be achieved
with a low budget. We therefore complete entire projects only from R30 000, to R400 000 and more.
I
obtained a Degree in Landscape Architecture (BL) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 1995. Over the few years
that followed I picked up experience from a wide range of sources. Because landscaping / gardening is such a highly
individual experience -- not quite
a science, not quite an art -- I don't dictate to the client, preferring to work with the client so that together we
develop a garden that they're happy with. While awards are always coveted, our first goal is a happy client. There is no
point to an award-winning garden if it doesn't meet the owner's needs or lifestyle.
Since 1996 I've been working
mainly
in the Gauteng area, at first for two landscape design and construction companies, thereafter as a partnership in
another business, and finally forming Nature...& Beyond cc. That's our motto in a nutshell -- going beyond the call of
nature. Although Nature is perfect, we bring in the element made by humans. Not to detract from Nature, but to compliment
her.
Over the past twelve years I've completed numerous gardens in the following areas: Athol, Bedfordview, Blue
Hills, Blue Valley Golf Estate, Bryanston, Buccleuch, Chartwell, Dainfern, Dainfern Ridge, Dowerglen, Douglasdale, Fourways
Gardens Phase 1 and 2, Henley-on-Klip, Hyde Park, Khyber Rock, Krugersdorp, Kyalami Estate, Linden, Lonehill, Mabalingwe,
Melville, Meyersdal, Moreleta Park, Morningside, Northcliff, Northriding, Parkhurst, Parktown, Paulshof, Pecanwood Estate,
Randburg, Rivonia, Rooihuiskraal, Sandton, Sunninghill, Vereeniging, Vorna Valley, Waterkloof, Westdene, Witkoppen,
Woodhill, as well as Durbanville and Bloubergstrand, Cape Town.
I don't have any
preferred "style" of garden. While I keep to certain design principles, and have created my own individual
style over the past decade, I'm able to adapt my designs to meet the client's requirements, taking the climate and other
conditions into account, as well as the surroundings and architecture. There are certain species of plants that
create different effects, such as tropical, indigenous, contemporary, formal, Tuscan, English country, Japanese etc.
Therefore gardens can be characterised as one of these. But while the above themes may be the overriding style of the
garden, I choose to do everything with my own flair, and usually with a balance between indigenous and exotic plants.
Please note that, while our portfolio on this website is divided into the above categories, I label them very loosely. It
could be argued that some gardens fall into more than one category.
Please feel free to comment on this website, as
well as our work in general. While Nature...& Beyond is a small company, we take great pride in our work, and
hope that we are providing people with their own piece of happiness in the gardens we install.
Requirements
We need the following from clients before proceeding with the
design:
1. A site plan -- if not available, we can do a site survey for a nominal
fee.
2. A brief, explaining their needs, wants, likes and dislikes.
3. A fixed
budget. |
