Rooted in Change
Landscape and Garden Design
&
Workshops
Working with Land as a Threshold
Garden design and workshops are for moments when people feel drawn to work with land, place, and nature — whether out of longing, overwhelm, curiosity, or a sense that something new wants to take root. This may be a newly acquired piece of land, a garden that feels too big or unclear, or a wish to reconnect with creativity, embodiment, and the living world. These moments are thresholds in which practical questions and deeper layers often meet.
Design as a Relational Process
My approach to garden and landscape design is not about imposing a fixed plan, but about learning to read what is already present — the land, the climate, the history of the place, and the people involved. Design becomes a dialogue between human intention and natural processes, held with care, patience, and realism. This way of working supports clarity without rigidity and allows gardens to grow over time rather than needing to be “finished.”
Workshops as Shared Exploration
The workshops I facilitate are spaces of shared exploration rather than instruction. They may involve gardening, creativity, working with natural materials, embodiment, or collective reflection, always grounded in direct experience and participation. Some workshops focus on practical skills, others on perception, creativity, or cooperation, and many weave these elements together. What they share is an attentiveness to how learning happens when people engage with land, body, and each other at the same time.
Garden Cooperation: Learning by Doing
Garden cooperation is a hands-on way of working together in a garden or landscape. We walk, observe, prune, decide, and act — step by step. This form of collaboration is especially supportive for people who feel overwhelmed by the scale of their land or by not knowing where to begin. Working side by side allows practical knowledge, confidence, and relationship with the place to grow simultaneously.
From Practice to Meaning
Garden design and workshops sometimes stand on their own, and sometimes open questions that reach beyond the garden — about belonging, creativity, rhythm, or community. Practical work can lead to personal insight, and collective processes can strengthen both autonomy and cooperation. In this way, working with land becomes a grounding and accessible entry point into wider processes of change.
A Transparent Financial Exchange
Landscape and Garden Design
The whole cycle from initial meeting to the realization of your garden takes about three months (approximately 25–35 hours, depending on complexity and scale), dependent on your wishes and size of the garden. The exchange then is:
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€1.200 - 1.500
For people living in Portugal or with limited financial resources -
€1.800 - 2.100
Standard contribution -
€2.400 - 2.700
Solidarity rate — helps keep this work accessible to others
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​This is excluding costs for plants. I coordinate the practical realization of gardens, not the realization itself.
Workshops
Workshops are mostly one day to a whole week. For a two day workshop I ask as a financial exchange of:
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€120 per person
For people living in Portugal or with limited financial resources -
€160 per person
Standard contribution -
€200 per person
Solidarity rate — helps keep this work accessible to others
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For week long workshops, please contact me.
Garden Cooperation
When I walk with you in your garden, we work together. This is how knowledge is being transferred. Especially worthwhile for people that moved recently to Portugal and have a love for gardening but do not know where to begin. My clients find this particularly empowering. The exchange here is:
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€40 - 50 per hour
For people living in Portugal or with limited financial resources -
€60 - 70 per hour
Standard contribution -
€80 - 90 per hour
Solidarity rate — helps keep this work accessible to others
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An Invitation
If you feel drawn to work with land, creativity, or collective learning in a grounded and attentive way, you are welcome to explore whether this approach fits your situation and curiosity.
In my portfolio you can find some of my designs I made for several clients in an ecovillage in the Netherlands. Within the restrictions of the average small gardens in the Netherlands I was able to create naturalness, beauty and functionality.
