 Using
her knowledge of garden history, philosophy and
culture, Audrey Hillman designs landscapes that are
both original and enduring. Audrey brings to her
imaginative designs the practical experience
gained in her own gardens and is pleased to
create landscapes that suit both the desires of her
clients and the constraints of the site. Several of her writings on landscape and garden have recently been re-published in Cabin Life Magazine.Early
apartment life put a natural limit on the amount
of gardening Audrey could do.
Nevertheless, a six-by-four-foot plot of ground
outside her office soon became her garden away
from home. While it wasn’t much, it was all
she had and as such, she treated each and every
plant as if it was worth its weight in gold.
After
marrying, she and her husband, Michael moved to
a small dilapidated tenant farm outside of
Frederick, MD. While the farm wasn’t much to
look at, it held promise for a gardener that had
been held hostage for much too long. Over the
next few years she added flowers of all shapes
and sizes around the house and its numerous
tenant buildings. But it seemed that for every
plant or flower she put into the ground, one
came out.
Frustrated
with her inability to achieve her goals, she
turned to the local Master Gardener Program for
help and soon was enrolled in their training
program. After competing the Master Gardener
qualification course, Audrey enrolled at Longwood Gardens to pursue two Certificates of Merit
in Ornamental Horticulture. Upon receiving those
certificates, Audrey decided to combine her passion
for design and horticulture into a second career
as Garden and Landscape Designer. In
January of 2003 she completed her studies at the New
York Botanical Gardens where she earned a
Certificate in Landscape Design.
Turning her gardens into her personal
horticulture laboratory, she has applied her
new found knowledge much to the pleasure of
neighbors and passersby. Audrey’s
greatest delights lie in problem-solving and in
helping her client discover the 'genius loci' or
special spirit of place in each garden, and
combine that with their own personal vision of
the ideal garden. Where the client has few
preconceptions she has a wealth of ideas for
both contemporary and traditional designs.
To her
personal vision and distinctive style Audrey
brings a wide and specialized knowledge of 'what
plant where' and of climatic and soil
variations, allowing her to create gardens which
are very much at home in their location.
As a
gardener and designer she is keenly aware of the
many environmental issues affecting all of
us. Her gardens reflect the need many of
us have to make a difference environmentally by
using native plants when possible, designing for
water conservation, enhancing natural sources of
food and shelter for wildlife. Audrey is an advocate
of building healthy soils, Integrated Pest
Management, and using organic solutions when problems
occur.
Audrey's
Professional Affiliations include:
- Adams
County Pennsylvania Master Gardener
- Association
of Professional Landscape Designers
-
Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve
-
Irvine Nature Society
- Maryland
Native Plant Society
- National
Wildlife Federation
- The
Nature Conservancy
- The American
Horticulture Society
- The Chesapeake
Bay Foundation
- Wild
Ones
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