<b>Trees, Ornamental & Bedding Plant:</b> Designer of the Year talks inspiration

Margie Grace. Photos: Grace Design AssociatesMargie Grace of Grace Design Associates, in Santa Barbara, Calif., was recently named Designer of the Year by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. Grace’s winning project was for a Santa Barbara residence that incorporates eco-friendly elements. Grace also won top honors for that same project, receiving the APLD’s Gold Award for Residential Design.

Grace works in a wide range of styles, from classical and highly formal to contemporary and naturalistic. She spoke with Lawn & Landscape recently about what influences her landscape design projects.

Q. What was your reaction when you learned you had won the awards?
A. Bill Healy (APLD’s award chair) gave me a call with the news, and said he felt just like Ed McMahon announcing a Publishers Clearing House winner. I think I felt like the person on the receiving end! It’s humbling and a terrific honor.

Q. In your gold-award design, you used materials harvested from the site, correct?
A. Yes. There were hundreds of tons of stone on the lot after excavation. We decided that every one of those rocks belonged on site. We salvaged some cut-sandstone curbstones that were probably from the 1890s.

Other stones went into walls. We did some almost fieldstone-type walls, and others more stacked and fitted. There was just history scattered all over there. If you’re looking to create a sense of space in Santa Barbara, you’re using these stones.

Grace’s winning project was for a Santa Barbara residential design. The eco-friendly home and garden are masterfully integrated, and Grace worked closely with renowned green architect Michelle Kauffman throughout the project.
Q. What are the key influences in your design work?
A. My work is dictated overall by process; not a specific aesthetic. I look first at the land and its context – geology, climate, existing and proposed structures, heritage of the region. Then I work with the client to articulate their personal vision. All these factors influence the final design.

Q. When you initially visit a project site, what is the first thing that strikes you?
A. I’m looking at the assets and liabilities of the site, and I look at the land forms. Are the structures on the site at rest? Or do they look like they’re fighting with each other? People have their own style, but our job is to translate it into something that will be successful. What wants to be there? You can have a house you love and a garden you love, but, sometimes, you put them side-by-side and they don’t belong together.
 

Q. What inspired you to study design?
A. Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved plants, rocks, wildlife, beautiful scenery, old houses, exotic cultures, music, art and history. My formal training is in geology and biology – the rest I learned from observing and doing.

Q. Who has most influenced your work?
A. My mother. She was an engineering geologist. She inspired my love of nature, insatiable curiosity, civic-mindedness and the need to have work I’m passionate about.