Design Philosophy

greenfuse was set up by Janie Grote. In addition to her City & Guilds qualifications in Landscape & Garden design and Plants & Planting, she brings to the process of designing her previous professional experiences as a research scientist (she has a PhD), 8 years experience as a carpenter and the interpersonal skills developed as a trainee psychotherapist. She has also lectured in garden design at Capel Manor College.

She considers gardens to be living sculptures, often providing an outdoor room and an extension to the house or buildings. For her, garden design involves a complicated relationship between space and form co-created between the wishes of the client, the expertise and vision of the designer, and the ambiance of the site. She favours bold, strong, simple lines in which the structure and geometry reveal the essential character of the site. Planting she considers to be more than a decorative and seasonal addition. She uses it to highlight, add to or soften the geometry and to link the garden to its surroundings, creating unity and harmony.