"You grow stronger from failure than you do from success"
In my few years of running my own Landscape Design services, there were many projects that could not be executed and was cut short during the planning process due to several reasons such as the client's budget not matching up with my proposed design's budget, the client losing interest or being too busy to discuss and plan the design. To many, when a client turns you down it may seem like a bad thing, but to me, I see it as opportunities to learn more about client management, to practice and improve my skills at designing, drawing/sketching, and using various design software such as Photoshop, Sketchup, and Autocad, and lastly to gain experience and connections working with the nurseries. These real-life experiences add more value to everything I've learned in school about Landscape Design.
The Coast at Sentosa Cove
This client had just moved into his new condominium and wanted his empty balcony to be designed and transformed into a garden with a tropical theme. The balcony was 4 meters by 2 meters, received full sunlight, with a cooling sea breeze. I usually get excited to receive any project but I was especially excited to start working on this one as it had a beautiful backdrop ad setting. It had a view of the sea, sliding panel doors that could be opened to expand the living space. It was an excellent opportunity and I'm sure that if this project succeeded, it would have looked amazing.
I was so excited i started drawing the night I got the project. My sketch of the balcony with my design and plant species list.
Did the drawing on AutoCAD and sent it to the client along with the Bill Of Quantities
Marina One Residences
I got this project in 2018 I was only in my second semester. I was inexperienced with Photoshop, hence the horrendous perspective drawing. This client was looking to spruce up his balcony with potted plants on a small budget. I tried my best to make the design fit his budget, however, the project came to an end after failing to resolve a design and budget fit. The balcony was also lacking sunlight, but the client wanted plants that required a lot of sunlight. I had to be responsible and tell the client the harsh truth that I cannot use the plants he wants as they will end up dying or having nutrient deficiencies. Though it wasn't a success this project taught me that Landscape Designers arent only designers, but we're also teachers, as most of the time we require not just to design but also trying to educate the client on the plant species suitable for the conditions.
Landscape Designers must also know our plants well, we must explain clearly why we use such plants in our design so our clients better understand our intentions for using such plants. More things I would do better with this project apart from educating the client and making a better Photoshop drawing would be using more variegated plants and plants with different colored foliage and also use plants with varying heights to play with the levels. The foliage looks too monotonous, with it only being green and of the same height.
Tanah Merah
I got this project in August of 2020, the owner of the house had a lawn and planted several shrubs and trees and needed advice and maintenance for the plants. They had several issues with the plants,(all of which was related to inappropriate selection of plants for the conditions, such as turf in a shaded area, plants that require shady conditions in full sun, etc.) I proposed a monthly maintenance session and a new design for their house to deal with the issues in order to have a more sustainable garden and a nicer looking home. I was again excited to begin the project as this house had a lot of space I could work with. However due to budgetary restrictions, I only could do the maintenance and we did not proceed with the new design.
In contrast to my other projects, I got to practice my year 2 module, Horticulture & Turf Maintenance. The lawn was messy, overgrown, and filled with weeds starting to grow onto the pavement.
BEFORE
AFTER
The electric grass cutter I used that I bought online
Removing as many weeds as possible before trimming the lawn to prevent them from sprouting out again and competing with the turf for nutrients and sunlight
Pruned some of the trees and mulched around the trees using a used-coffee grind compost mixture to prevent the growth of weeds and to add nutritional value to the soil for the tree
BEFORE
AFTER
I also pruned and weeded their other potted plants. All plant waste collected from my projects are not disposed of, they go to a compost pile to decompose. I use the compost for future projects.
My Proposed Design
There were many issues with the turf and plants that were planted by the homeowners due to not being experienced with horticulture. Some plants and areas of the turf had died and were overrun by weeds due to not receiving enough sunlight or too much sunlight. In order to tackle such issues, I proposed a new design to remove the old plants and to use new arrangements and plants that would be able to grow well depending on the amount of sunlight each part of the house receives. In areas that lacked sunlight, I proposed plants that preferred shady conditions, and for areas that received plenty of sunlight, I proposed plants that would thrive in full sun. Despite my efforts to persuade the owners to accept my proposal, due to budgetary requirements, the owners rejected my proposal.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic (internship)
After my internship in the first semester of my third year, I still maintained good relations with my internship company and after I left my internship company, the managers in charge of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's landscape still wanted to see a perspective image done on photoshop before implementing the new design. I was offered a position to assist in doing up perspective images and get paid while I was studying in my second semester. These were some of the images I did for them, some got rejected and some were accepted. Do take note they are mostly based on the plants the company and Ngee Ann wanted, I was only given the freedom on the arrangement design.
