Jana Schmidtchen on Dream Gardens, Favourite Flowers, and Buying the Right Plants
15 questions we always wanted to ask a landscape architect.
Jana Schmidtchen from Botaniq answers to Sofia Simeonidou.
What are your first gardening memories?
Experiencing the smell of different herbs in my grandfather’s garden. I think it was lemon balm, mint, and borage. I also remember the smell of wild chamomile in the flowerbeds of my kindergarten. I attended the Waldorf kindergarten and gardening part of our daily activities.
What was your first big garden "success"?
I can't really say. It’s difficult to choose one. I felt very blessed when I got the chance to design a huge landscaped garden with different water elements on the Island of Jersey. And I also felt very grateful when my colleague Ton Vissers asked me to help him with the design for a private garden for the Royal Family in The Hague.
Do you have any favourite plants?
Yes, I have many! My all-time favourite is Anemone nemorosa. It’s a tiny white star-shaped woodland flower. It is also a good indicator of ancient woodland. These habitats are rare these days and they need to be protected.
Flowers or Vegetables?
Flowers. Flowers. Flowers.
What do your clients look for the most in a garden?
Beauty and harmony and a place to calm down, re-wind, and relax.
Who are your clients?
I mainly design private gardens so my clients can be anyone from parents with kids who love to spend time outdoors to CEO's who want to relax in their natural swimming pool during the weekend.
And your dream clients?
I love to work with clients who appreciate the beauty of nature and who want to create living biotopes with all kinds of living creatures such as butterflies, bees, and bumblebees.
What’s your dream garden?
I recently designed a garden with my colleague Ton Vissers at the Keizersgracht. The client wished for a meditative garden where he could practice yoga and meditation, with an outdoor kitchen and organic herbs. A huge wooden deck with lounge sofa's to hang out with friends during the weekend, and a 'Wim Hof' ice bath. That would also be my dream garden. A silent woodland garden in the city center.
What inspires you? Do you have a creative process?
Nature. I love to work with natural forms such as the ancient Fibonacci spiral that is found everywhere in nature. I also learned how to feel and work with energy. What kind of plants and materials gives us energy? How can we arrange water in a garden that has a healing effect on us?
I am also learning how to find energetic earth and water lines using wiggle sticks.
Many farmhouses (before 1900) were built using the energy grid of the earth so we have the past knowledge.
Maintain or Design from scratch?
The first. I love to work with mature trees and to search for hidden garden treasures that tell a story and will come to life again in the new garden. Ideally a combination of old and new.
What's the biggest challenge when you design a garden from scratch?
Creating atmosphere. The beauty of dappled shade from the leaves of a mature tree gives a garden an almost magic appearance. In empty gardens, I aim to plant trees that already have a certain age and height to create this effect.
Tell us a few plants that are easier to maintain but just as gorgeous to have in a garden?
Spring flowers such as ‘Stinzenplanten’. They have grown semi-wild in some historic landscape gardens. Anemones, bluebells, white tulips. They naturalize and will come back every year.
And what about vegetables? Any vegetable plants we can grow in small garden spaces?
Tomatoes and chili peppers are easy to sow from seeds! They will thrive on a sunny balcony and will make you happy all summer until late autumn.
Could we have a nice garden if we're on a tight budget?
When you’re looking for a whole different garden experience it's better not to have budget limitations. If you have a dream garden in mind better wait until you have the budget to make it come true! This will be your space to love.
Your best tips for what to look for when we buy plants?
Nurseries are a great place to source good quality plants. They have a much bigger choice than the commercial garden centers and you pay a much better price!
More Tips & Advice?
If you need help with getting your garden projects going, or if you’d like to find out which improvements will work for your space, contact Botaniq for a consultation!