From her success on RTE Super Garden to her Silver Medal at Bloom, Garden Design Academy of Ireland graduate Alexandra Hollingsworth has turned her passion into a profession and now runs her own successful garden design business. We interviewed Alexandra in her show garden, 'Glasnevin to Granada' to find out more about her experience with the academy.
Before completing the Postgraduate Diploma with the Garden Design Academy of Ireland, Alexandra had been a strategic consultant in the professional services industry. “When I told my boss I wanted to be a garden designer I think he thought I was pretty mad!” she laughs. “And I remember some people saying “I hear you’re taking a step back”, but it’s not a step back at all. It’s an incredibly challenging and rewarding career.”
Balancing a natural love of garden design
An interest in garden design has been passed down through Alexandra’s family for generations. “Both my mother and grandmother are keen horticulturalists and are always out tending to something in the garden. I think it must just be in my blood somewhere”, she says.
“I’d bought my own house which had a garden and it made me realise how much I loved being out working in it.”
Balancing her work and family commitments with her coursework wasn’t a challenge for Alexandra. “The structured nature of this course made it easy to fit it into my lifestyle. That, along with the guidance and support of my tutor, meant I never had trouble staying motivated and on track with my assignments”, she says.
“My tutor went above and beyond my expectations and the turnaround for responses and feedback on assignments was so quick that I always felt I was moving forward and achieving my goal.”
Alexandra Hollingsworth in her award-winning garden, 'Glasnevin to Grenada' at Bloom
Achieving the ultimate goal
Alexandra’s ultimate goal was to change career, and once she started the course she quickly recognised how the content and structure could help her achieve that aim. “There are so many different angles to garden design that it was hard to know where to start”, she says. “Learning all the plant names or how to create a drawing that clients would love sounded intimidating at first but it was so much fun once I got started.”
Alexandra recalls how she used to do art at school, “I really enjoyed revisiting those skills from my school days. I’ve also been inspired to take the RHS exams to learn more about the horticultural side too.”
Alexandra also credits her strategic consultancy background as definitely helping her when it came to the commercial side of the course. “You really feel like you’re prepared for an actual job, rather than getting just a theoretical approach”, she says “I was starting from scratch and now I feel I have a career for life.”
'Glasnevin to Grenada' - Alexandra's Silver Medal garden at Bloom
Turning learning into success
While still working on her course assignments, Alexandra decided to enter RTE’s Super Garden competition, which she went on to win. “I had watched Super Garden while I was thinking about a change in career and to think that I’ve now taken part in both Super Garden and Bloom”, she enthuses.
Alexandra says it was extraordinary to rub shoulders with established designers and be judged by Chelsea Flower Show gold medallists. “It was quite surreal to even take part, but I did harbour a hope to win, so to take home a silver medal was incredible. I was completing the design for Bloom while finishing my course so I definitely needed a couple of months off afterwards!”
Alexandra is quick to say how much the Garden Design Academy of Ireland has helped her in her career transition. “I would definitely recommend the Garden Design Academy of Ireland to other aspiring garden designers”, says Alexandra. “The course offers excellent value for money with the flexibility of home study or classroom courses. And as you’ve so much contact with your tutor and it’s so structured, it’s not hard to get the work done.”
“I would definitely encourage others to go into garden design”, she says. “There are so many gardens waiting to be loved and it's such an important space in a home”.
You can find out more about Alexandra and her garden design work on her website www.alexandrahollingsworth.com and on Instagram.