By MELISSA CUNNINGHAM
IT’S not every day that you get to spend your time getting paid to do what you love – but for Braeside-based landscaper Brent Reid designing gardens is not just a job but a way of life.
The green thumb says he has not looked back since stumbling into a landscaping apprenticeship when he was 19.
And it’s certainly paid off – last month the now 34 year old won a gold medal at the prestigious Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
Mr Reid worked alongside Ringwood’s Semken Landscaping and the Bay Road Nursery in Sandringham to take out the top prize for their entry into the show garden category.
The garden, titled Surge, was inspired by a trip to Japan and features bright red, brown and white colours entwined with edgy handmade furniture and lush and leafy green plants.
“I wanted to design a garden which had elements in it that people could take home with them and adapt into their own gardens,” Mr Reid said.
“We wanted something that everybody who viewed the garden would take notice of, whether it be the combination of strong colours, variety of plants or the furniture.”
Mr Reid’s partnership with Semken has continued for more than a decade and is what prompted him to continue his studies at Burnley Horticultural College. He then started his own landscape design company Candeo Design, in Springvale Road, Braeside, in 2006.
Mr Reid said it was interaction with people which he loved most about his job – “you get to meet people from all walks of life”.
“I really enjoy designing gardens that people can use every day – just today I spoke to a woman who wanted to design a garden that her son could grow up with and that would evolve as he grows older.”
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