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| Susie Dowd Markarian, APLD Landscape Design 608 Los Olivos Road. Santa Rosa, Ca. 95404-1623 707-537-0508 fax 707-537-1523 bloomful@sbcglobal.net
Susie Dowd Markarian has more than 25 years in the field of horticulture working throughout Northern California. Her first experience producing organic food and flowers inspired her to branch into estate garden maintenance management. As a horticultural student, she was eventually certified in Ornamental Horticulture in 1989, and soon became an instructor of both horticulture and landscape design. The past 15 years have been devoted primarily to landscape design. Her designs have earned her numerous industry awards, including a commission with Sunset Books to design several gardens for Sunset’s “Low Maintenance Gardens” published in 1999. Susie became APLD certified in 2001. “Truly the most rewarding aspect of my work comes from creating gardens that will leave lasting impressions while capturing the style and personality of my clients. This field is so rewarding, I love the creative process, which begins as the designer puts the design on paper, and climaxes as the final plants are going into the ground and the garden bursts into life! A newly installed landscape in its infancy offers only a hint of the true beauty buried in its potential! My ultimate aspiration is to have my gardens develop into outdoor areas that continue to beckon the viewer to explore and find respite when needed. A truly wonderful garden, no matter how fantastic it looks on paper, must relate to the site, the client, the budget, and incorporate the borrowed view of the surrounding environment. The beauty of any landscape design will last only as long as it has been installed and maintained properly. I compare the maintenance dilemma to that of having an interior designer provide a client with delicious fabrics, furniture, art etc. and then having the homeowner never pick up after themselves or vacuum the floor. You can imagine how the clutter would affect the intent of the design! Well the same holds true for exterior design. One must help clients become involved with the maintaining of the garden, or the beauty of the design will be lost. In many of my garden designs I emphasize contrast, such as leaf texture and color. I try to provide interest that will bring the client “into” their yard, even from indoors. I want to open vistas no matter how small the yard. As I become older, I find that my style becomes more simplified, with massed groupings and swaths of movement, places to sit. I find I am now incorporating more ornamental art, and also areas that invite wildlife habitat, minus deer of course! As a garden creator and horticulturist, with a love for people and plants, my desire is to create fine environments for entertaining, living, viewing and providing one a place to nestle with nature. I feel very lucky to have a profession where I really do what I love, and love what I do!” Susie Dowd Markarian APLD Special Achievements 2001 APLD certified
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