Phillip Withers is a landscape designer/architect who runs a horticulture studio and designs and cultivates natural and sustainable environments with substance. He heads up the landscape architecture and horticulture studio, Phillip Withers.
What it is about landscape and horticulture that you love?
I have always had a passion for nature, even growing up and heading out into the back garden with my mother or grandma whom first introduced me to the enjoyment of plant life. I have always had a fascination with landscape and creating, so being able to wander out into the landscape and learn more about each and every plant both locally and nationally. I feel privileged to be able to work in this field and be able to research and teach others the benefits of bringing the landscape further into their lives.
Where did your passion for landscape design, and the wider industry, come from?
From a young age I had always been interested in drawing and creating which lead naturally into designing. I first studied fashion design at Melbourne’s RMIT and learnt the art of screen printing whilst honing a lot of other design skills. After travelling for some time I came back to Melbourne to find myself working and learning the art of garden maintenance and it was in those years where I really found my true passion of connecting with nature and plants and went on to study landscape design and sustainability at Swinburne and found my way into the industry.
My passion grew for the environment and slowly that same passion grew for the industry by seeing the importance of not just helping grow my own company from 2012 onwards, yet also working towards being a passionate advocate for landscape industry. I still thrive on this passion and look forward to utilising that inspiration and educating people as we lead into our 5th Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show with our garden ‘It’s Our Time ’
You’re a sustainability advocate and encourage biodiversity and water conservation in your work. Why is this so important to you?
As a landscape designer/architect I believe we can all train to design beautiful gardens and landscapes, but there is so much more to consider, our environment, our flora and fauna and our valuable resources. Each component can be considered carefully and will find that will design gardens that are not only pretty but work with our environment. Such as inviting our birds in, utilising a considered amount of water and look to promote biodiversity which is so important as our environment toys with the challenges of climate change.
What advice can you offer any home gardening enthusiast who is trying to be more sustainable in their practices?
I think the home gardener when considering adapting their own space should consider the importance of biodiversity. As our climate gets hotter and we face the challenges of climate change it’s our time to start considering working with our environment and not against it. The best way to do that is to start local, understanding your local plant life and materials will help convey the secrets to a landscape that can adapt to work with our environment. Here you can feed our local flora and fauna and attract birds into the garden whilst establishing to adapt to the environment to not utilise a great deal of our natural resources such as water. The ongoing benefits that it provides to our soil profile and air is the benefit that we all should be championing long term.
What exciting projects do you have on the horizon?
We look forward to many projects on the horizon both urban and rural, from Melbourne Centrals rooftop garden where we are currently designing to bring Melbournes past biodiversity into the present. Also a unique boutique hotel with a similar message on Bourke St malls the walk arcade. We also look to rural environments as we have designed a nature park to work with the natural environment and improve current farmland by Victoria’s iconic 12 apostles. We are also working on many residential projects that work naturally into the borrowed landscape and consider their footprint such as one we are looking forward to getting on site in Guildford, Perth very soon.
Where are your favourite places in Australia to travel to, eat at and enjoy?
Some of my favourite places in the country are shaped by our beautiful environment. One over in the west is a wonderful small town just below Margaret river called Yallingup, it’s such an amazing environment on the coast with its iconic red rocks and beautiful beach town and wildlife surrounding. Another one closer to home set on the West coast of Victoria is a beautiful beach and national park called Point Addis, a place that’s very familiar to me and not far from where my parents live. It’s also been the first point of inspiration with a great deal of research set here as we lead into our garden ‘It’s Our Time’ for 25th Anniversary at the Melbourne International’s Flower and Garden Show.
What does being Australian mean to you?
I think being Australian is very important to me, and my role in working with the environment only builds on that as we cherish locality, community and our connection to our past both culturally and naturally. I think that sense of pride is exemplified through the work we do to champion connection and strengthening our environment whilst not losing sight of our indigenous history as we lead into the future. One of the important consideration we take into this year’s show is not just about our garden but working for our natural environment. Here we will work with our charity partner Bush Heritage Australia and people can buy a local plant and all the proceeds will be going back to BHA and their Nardoo Hills project which is working to plant two endangered species of eucalypts and impact on our efforts to improve our current climate conditions.
Find out more about Phillip Withers here: https://phillipwithers.com
