Vialii Garden Design – How We Got To Where We Are… (Pt1)

I was laying some Indian sandstone slabs the other day and in a moment of quiet reflection and whilst I gave my lower back a brief respite I got to thinking about how I ended up doing this? How did I end up not just building gardens but designing and building gardens? Before I go much further I would like clarify that my idle pondering was in no way negative. It wasn’t a case of my tired mind and midriff screaming “how the hell did I get HERE!” as grey rain poured down. It was more of a “I love what I do” kind of wondering as the winter sun warmed my face(1). Anyway, in case you’re interested, this is how we got to where we are…

A sandstone patio built by Vialii

I haven’t always done this. In a previous life I was a civil and structural engineer and before that I was a draughtsman. Structural engineering isn’t the most glamorous of professions; they don’t make movies about structural engineers(2) and you tend to live in the shadows of the all-powerful ethereal beings that are Architects but it had its rewards and not all of them were financial. In fact, barely any of them were. Unfortunately, over my last few years in the profession I slowly came to the conclusion that the career was no longer for me. The job wasn’t exciting me anymore and I couldn’t really see a way that it could get the blood flowing again so with a heavy heart and much trepidation I gave up, what many deemed, a perfectly good career.

My garden in Kennet

I was a already a keen amateur gardener and enjoyed spending time tending and controlling my third of an acre plot but I had no inclination of setting up my own business when I gave up engineering. I had no inclination to do anything career-wise at that point. I spent the next three months catching up on various projects, both inside and out and had a thoroughly enjoyable time doing them too. I built a workshop, re-modelled areas of the garden, nurtured and harvested fruit and veg and planned for the next years harvest. When the projects were done, however, my thoughts turned to more long-term intentions.

Gardening, at this point, still wasn’t a forerunner as a career option although it was up there. Basically I had whittled things down to three choices(3). In no particular order, these were as follows:

1. Farrier – I owned a 16.2hh grey mare and loved all aspects of owning a horse so I seriously considered becoming a farrier. Trouble was the one year’s training and subsequent four years apprenticeship required to become one. Plus, it’s way harder on the back than gardening if you can believe that. Oh and you get kicked by horses…

My horse Meg

2. Chef – I loved to cook, and still do I might add, so I had the whimsical notion to become a professional chef. It was only when I really got down to the nuts and bolts of it and I established that it would involve incredibly unsociable working hours, relentless pressure and a high cost to train. It didn’t take long to kick that one into touch.

3. Gardener – As mentioned earlier I already enjoyed gardening. I found it relaxing, therapeutic and incredibly satisfying, even after a hard days graft. My knowledge of horticulture was beginner but was always expanding. My equipment levels were adequate although some new acquisitions and upgrades would be required. I already had some startup capital behind me so it quickly became a no-brainer to setup a gardening business..

So, in early 2006, with vigour in my soul and enthusiasm in my heart I launched what was then called Wee County Gardening(4). A van and trailer were purchased, leaflets and business cards were printed, business courses were attended and word was passed around. I’d like to give a hearty thanks at this point to my friends and neighbours of the time as they did a great job with word-of-mouth promotion which allowed the business to quite quickly get established.

The Wee County Gardening van

At it’s inception the business was purely garden maintenance. Whilst I would happily carry out all manner of landscaping in my own garden I lacked the confidence to carry out the work for others. I hugely undervalued my own skills to the point where I deemed them not worthy of paying customers. I passed on all manner of landscaping requests and basically talked myself out of a large chunk of turnover in that first 18 months of business. Doh!

The pivotal turning point for both myself and my business was in May 2007. On a starry Wednesday night, on Stirling Castle esplanade I met my now wife, Jill and I have no proper measure to tell you how much she has transformed both me and my business since that fateful evening.

We got married in our garden in 2010

Before I gush any more about my beloved I need to pause for a moment because as I read back over this post so far I realise two things. Firstly, my business has been going and growing now for over five years, Whoop, whoop indeed. Secondly, this blog post is getting a bit on the long side. So, with this second point in mind I have made the Tarantino-esque decision to split this epic into two separate, but equally enjoyable (hopefully) posts. It seems like a suitable cliffhanger type moment to bring this edition to a halt and I just hope that I’ve left enough mystery and intrigue to bring you back next time.

So without further ado I’ll sign off. Take care everybody and I’ll see you next time.

Michael

Vialii Garden Design

To read Part 2 Click here

p.s. As I write this I’m listening to ‘Elephant’ by the White Stripes (in tribute to the news that they split yesterday)

Footnotes

(1) Please don’t be under the illusion that I have never screamed at the sky berating my choice of vocation. It happens on occasion especially when the grey rain pours down.

(2) Only two instances of structural-engineers-in-movies spring to mind.

i) Tim Robbins, posing as an engineer, played the delightfully evil terrorist mastermind Oliver Lang in 1999’s Arlington Road and

ii) my personal favourite, Johnson; the pale-faced, wire-rim spectacle wearing, structural engineer skulking in the shadows at a tiny square desk who informs Steve McQueen and Paul Newman that the floor joists in the Promenade Room can withstand the explosion of the water tanks in Irwin Allen’s classic “The Towering Inferno”.

(3) Technically there were four choices but “option 4 – returning to my earlier engineering career” has never really been an option I seriously considered.

(4) The ‘Wee County’ is Clackmannanshire and the business name gave the impression of a nice local gardening business. It worked well too.

Vialii Review of 2010

We’re now trudging well into 2011 and we’re all very excited here at Vialii (despite the weather). We have just been granted the builds on a further three of our garden designs and we have a further three in the pipeline so were holding out high hopes for another bumper year. Before we wax lyrical too much about what’s ahead of us, we thought we’d write a bit of a review of 2010 as it was memorable for all the right reasons (and the odd painfully sore ones!)

Before: our garden had no interest and the beautiful view was blocked by overgrown shrubs

2010 was a fab year. Most importantly, we tied the knot. The ceremony was held in our own garden and was attended by our nearest and dearest and was the best day ever. The fine day was made all the sweeter by the preceding level of work that was carried out throughout the year to turn what was effectively a veg patch and some bare soil into a venue befitting of such a great occasion. As the saying goes “the cobbler’s bairns are aye the worst shod” so the same goes for a landscaper’s garden.

After: the garden all set up for our wedding day

It was good year for the business in all facets; design, build and maintenance so the inclusion of an additional project (suitable for a wedding!) was always going to be a challenge both financially and physically. So much so that it almost didn’t get done. We reached a point where the cold realisation came that we could not complete all that had to be done in the time available to do it. An emergency meeting was held and a a humble and begging email was sent out to friends for assistance and to their credit, our friends came through, and in style too. Our garden was completed (just) and the ceremony went off with a bang. We thanked our helpers at the wedding but we’d like to take the opportunity to give a hearty thanks again to all those that helped. We wouldn’t have managed it without you.

So without further ado we come to the Vialii Garden Design Awards 2010…

Garden of the Year

As tempting as it would be to gush over our own achievements in Bridge of Allan for this category we’re going to restrain ourselves. Our garden of the year would have to be the Nitobe Memorial Gardens in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Widely regarded as one of the best Japanese gardens outside Japan, it really was one of the most beautiful spaces we have spent time in.

Nitobe Memorial Gardens in Canada

Garden Show of the Year

Michael only made it to Hampton Court this year (Jill managed to squeeze in Chelsea too) and whilst there were some inspiring ideas, all-in-all Hampton Court left us feeling a tad underwhelmed so we’re going to award Chelsea this accolade.

Breakage of the year

Michael’s big toe! In April Michael picked up a slab and then quite quickly managed to drop the very same slab which subsequently landed on his foot. A valuable lesson was learned that day about always wearing steel toe capped boots on site.

Album of the year

Not garden related I know but, hey, this is our awards ceremony. The Defamation of Strickland Banks by Plan B. It’s a soulful soundtrack of a character who’s been ‘sent dahn’ for a crime he didn’t commit. Loved it…

Hope you all had a great 2010 too and here’s to a great 2011.

All at Vialii