This week, JB, Ryan, and Billy sit down with garden designer Cameron Trend—founder of Trend Designs—for a conversation that digs into the journey from hands-in-the-soil horticulture to high-end garden design.
Cameron shares how his early days on a Kent vineyard and running a landscaping business shaped his approach to design, and how studying at the Inchbald School of Garden Design helped him turn creativity and sustainability into a professional practice. 🌱✏️
From sketchbooks to site plans, this episode explores what it takes to push the boundaries in modern garden design—and why thinking sustainably isn’t just good for the planet, but for business too.
To learn more about Cameron’s work or enquire about a project, visit:
👉 https://camerontrenddesign.co.uk/
and then worry about how it’s going to be built afterwards. That’s right. which is which is your kid. [Music] [Music] Welcome everybody to another Outside Crown podcast and uh delighted to be here with with William. Hello with Ryan. Yo and delighted to have a guest and today we’ve got Cameron Trend from Cameron Trend Design. So welcome Cameron. Hello. Thank you for having me. A pleasure. Great to have you here. Thank you for your time. And uh I suppose the first thing is we’re going to be we’re talking to you. So we get into the questions to start with. How did you start? What do you do? And uh yeah, how long you’ve been going? All that sort of stuff. Bit of background about your company. A good question. Um so I I yeah a landscape designer so we design projects um in all shapes and sizes um small urban courtyards and then much larger country estates. Um but I first started out um well initially I was sort of finished my GCES wasn’t sure what to do in my summer holidays I started um a small gardening round um and absolutely loved it. So then went and studied at Hadlow College to do a level three diploma in horse culture. Um and continued to grow the business into quite an established garden um maintenance business and um I’ve always been a bit creative. So I had that vision of becoming a designer of some sort. I wasn’t sure what. And then I spotted there were some garden design courses in London. I worked out that I realized that they’re actually quite bloody expensive. Yeah. Fair. So, I realized I had to kind of build a bit more horses knowledge, but also build up some cash to afford one. So, it took me about 5 years to finally be able to take the plunge and um I then retrained in garden design at um Inchboard School of Design in Westminster. And uh yeah, from there I I became totally immersed in the whole design world. Absolutely loved it. And um yeah, made the switch into um garden design and yeah, 5 years later from retraining where I am today. So that’s very cool. I suppose that’s quite a good place to start, isn’t it? Actually doing the garden work and then moving into garden design because it gives you a good background about how you do all the practical stuff before you Yeah. sort of implement that within your design. Absolutely. And it’s it’s something I realize when I first started maintaining gardens, I was ripping out to my horror now, everything from a border. And I look back, I found a photo the other day of of a border that I’d weeded and there was about I mean it was a 10 m border and there was about four plants left. Me too. Um, but it’s it’s it’s amazing because I then started to slowly learn what what I mean what was to stay, what’s a weed, what’s not. But then there’s more to it. It’s more about what looks good and what combines well. And um you can’t understand that without knowing firstly what the plant is, where it grows, um how it survives in a normal place, um in its natural place, sorry. And uh yeah, just yeah really really enjoyed the the process of learning. Did you do um the level three at Hadler? Yes. Yeah, I did the same one. Oh, did you really? Yeah. Oh, no way. So who when did you do that? So that was about 10 years ago. So that was 2015 to 2017. So I must have done 2012 after you. But Oh, nice. Yeah. But there’s a design part of that as well, isn’t there? Yes, there is. Is it the extended diploma? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there’s like I think design once a week, isn’t it? Or Yeah, that’s right. Yes. So we did. Yeah, that’s absolutely right. And um you must you must have known they had um in their sort of prime garden design stage at Hadlow. They invested in a huge design studio with all the drawing boards. Do you remember those? Um and I think that was where I first had a bit of a taste for design and I was like this is incredible. This is like a huge studio. I didn’t I had no idea these things existed. Who was your who was your lecturer for design? Was it Sarah? No. No. Fiona Jane something I think. Oh, I don’t know. Yeah. Yeah. No. Did you do art at school? Yes. Yeah. So, you were quite artistic anyway? Yeah. It was the only thing I was probably good at at school. Stick me. But yeah, so I went to uh Mascals, which is in Pallet Woods. Oh, I know. Oh, yeah. We know. for another thing. Is that the guy used to think my football? Um, but yeah. No. And and and that’s a a um it’s an art school. So, I was able to do my art GCC really early cuz they spotted the talent and they thought I was good, which was nice. There you go. Get him out of here quick. Talent. That’s cool. But um yeah, unfortunately looking back do I I did my Archie in year nine, but looking back that was actually the highest grade I got. So I think it says a lot about how I how I did at school. But So when you when you actually then went on to do the uh the course at Westminster. Yes. Was Westminster, wasn’t it? Yes. What did that involve? How long was that? And how was that sort of structured? Was it very much around sort of design concept first of all and then learning about plants and what you do? How how how was that sort of structured? So it it was um it was mostly just creative and about design. They were quite sort of upfront from the start. We do some plant identification but it’s not horicultural. So for me that suited me quite well with my sort of horicultural backing. Um so yeah but it’s it was very c it felt like art school really. Um, and I think that’s what I kind of lacked. I thought I could design gardens before because I had a bit of artistic interest, but it didn’t teach I I wasn’t creative or I didn’t know how to create a garden. Yeah. From that because when you’re looking after gardens or you’re building gardens, you’re so limited with your knowledge because you you kind of think or you you get quite one track minded of I know how to build this, so this is what it’s going to look like. Whereas I think from garden design is about sort of refraining from that kind of looking through blurry eyes and then coming to an expert contractor and saying look this is a really elaborate design help me make it happen. M I think yeah I can always imagine builders come more from what can we build and you come more from a perspective about what will you know let your imagination go wild what can we put in this space and then worry about how it’s going to be built afterwards that’s right which is which is your job [Laughter] which is a reason why I love and hate design but it’s really interesting because I do feel like now I’ve got quite a good understanding I don’t know how things are built. It’s It’s kind of It’s kind of stopped me from thinking creatively as as I once was when I just finished design school. Um which it feels like I’m a bit sort of refrained from the creative side of things. But um Yeah. So yeah. Yeah. No, I I understand. So when you actually when you finished the course I suppose imagine you were still doing were you still working as well run doing the business as well as doing a design course. That’s right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So it was just uh it was two days a week so it’s part time but um yeah so I was working three or four days a week gardening. Uh I had a there was a couple people working for me and uh yeah it was a really stressful time because I’d spent all this money on a course. I had sort of people working for me and then also there was that um time thing. I just I couldn’t couldn’t keep us on. I know what you mean. But how did you then make the transition from actually like just doing garden maintenance and then to telling people that hang on now it’s more of a design consultancy? Yeah. And that’s such a I I don’t really know, but it’s uh it was a tricky one because you I mean gardeners now gardeners are still horrifically underpaid for what they do and their knowledge. Um and it was really hard convincing my existing gardening clients that actually well now I’m a designer. I’m going to charge a lot more but you’re still getting the same person. So it was I could never convert those clients. Um so it was almost like setting up a whole new business. I had to then I I essentially I thought I’m I’m actually not putting as much time into design as I want to be. Um I’m still maintaining gardens because there’s so much work out there. Um so I decided just to totally pack it all in. Um I I encouraged the the guys that were working for me to take over these gardens and they’ve now built some amazing businesses out of it. Oh, wonderful. But um and then I just took the plunge and went straight into yeah networking, being really hungry for work, talking to people and just getting myself out there and uh trying to grow it from there. I was going to say how did you go what was your approach to that? You know, cuz once you sort of going, I’m a garden designer. How do you get work? How do you get work? What did you what did you do? I I can’t lie, I really struggled. It was really hard to find those first jobs because you don’t have a portfolio. you’ve got lots of it’s like you kind of need a bit of a and it’s a huge responsibility investing in a garden designer because you um you’re expected to know everything. You’re expected to know how everything’s built uh how much everything’s going to cost and then all of the horicultural side of things and I was still learning at the time. Um I spent a lot of money on Google ads which which didn’t just didn’t work. Um I I don’t think I even got one client out of it really. Um, but thankfully what was quite good was I still kept one garden that I I still look after now once a fortnite, but I convinced the client to let me design it. Just it was more kind of not paper, just me on site just kind of spraying out, cutting borders. And that was one of the most exciting moments of my career, especially looking back cuz I was using the tools that I’d learned at college. Um, sort of cutting out these borders, seeing everything come to life and um I just can’t give it up now. It’s it’s a project. I really like I love that. But that’s a nice way of getting work in a way, isn’t it? Because if you if you still can get some money from the garden maintenance, but then you can say, well, like, hang on, I can improve on this. Yeah. You give me free reign, I’ll do this for nothing essentially, but produce a decent design for you. Yeah, that’s that seems like a win-win scenario for both parties. Yeah, absolutely. And um I put in lots of meadows and it was mostly all planting just for cost um because planting is a lot cheaper than landscaping. Um, but it meant that I got a really nice portfolio come up very quickly. So I invested in photographer, got some really good photos and then just milked those photos and uh but I still get people look back on those on that project on my website and that’s that’s the first one they pull out. Um, which is really a lovely feeling as well. Feeling good on you. Um, so how so how did it go when you first sort of started then? What what were the sort of main challenges you had apart apart from getting work if you had a if you had a job did you have an approach to how you carry out design on projects? Yeah. So we we were quite fortunate the the design school though it was creative they also had uh a whole unit on business as well which was really good at helping market yourself um but also understanding processes of um all sorts. So there was sort of the design process which is a huge thing in itself. Um and as long as you stick to that process, momentum keeps going. Um so yeah, that was really helpful. Um but again, it’s it’s all figuring out yourself and and working out what works and I still don’t know if I’m doing the right thing in terms of processes, but it’s becoming a little bit more seamless now, which is which is really nice. How how do you how do you win work now then? Does it come to you or you still got like doing a lot of outreach stuff or Yeah, it’s a good it’s a great question but I I struggled. So I really struggled in the initial years um but I got a few projects. So that was about 5 years ago and now the projects that I designed about four or five years ago have been built and the planting has had time to really establish. Yeah. So now clients are bringing their friends over, sitting in the garden, having their dinner parties and things like that. And it that becomes a really good source of um word of mouth. Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. Repeat customers and that sort of thing. And and as you do do you do like hard landscaping and then you do like as in like the design for it and then you do like the soft landscaping like planting schemes and stuff like that as well. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So it’s uh it’s the full package start to finish. But I appreciate now that actually my planting design is maybe becoming a bit more repetitive and a bit more restrictive. And I’m learning that actually it’d be really good to possibly speak to I know you’ve had Sally on but she’s a great example of of uh someone who is an expert in planting design and could probably teach me a hell of a lot but also employing someone like her to really elevate the design. Yeah. So, I know that I’m really good at sort of spatial design, but maybe lack that creativity in terms of um combining the plants. Uh so, working with someone like herself or another planting design is just a really S’s great, isn’t she? I love Sally’s ideas. Great. Really work together. It’s funny. I mean, that’s something I never really appreciated before because you say there is like the spatial design part of it and then once you’ve got that, you’ve still then got to actually have the planting Yeah. design. Yeah. to actually make those spaces really work, isn’t it? And it’s it’s the vision as well cuz planting I mean when I used to do gardening because I did a lot of maintenance gardening or that’s kind of how I started and it was like sometimes you working in a garden that was like 5 years old and you could kind of tell that someone hadn’t really thought about it and you’re you’re ripping lots of things out because everything had just become Yeah. They had what it was like it wasn’t planted it was planted for now and not for 5 years. So everything growing together then it just it just looks very messy and hard to maintain. So like I think a really good you know someone who can come up with really good planting schemes is someone who goes they’ve got vision for what it’s like in several years come. I suppose that just comes with experience doesn’t it? you go to the garden, you pick out and you’re like, “Wow, that’s lovely. That works together.” And then you’re like, “Actually, boom, that’s what the that’s what’s interesting for me because when we’re when I’m working with a planting scheme or working with, you know, designer that’s got their planting scheme, I want to know what it is because it’s we’ve got to build the garden around the planting. You know, it’s as much as the hard landscape doesn’t move, there is visual points in the garden where you want to see, you know, that the, you know, the planting where it’s lower, it’s higher, and then we build around that. So yeah, that Have you Have you put in some really intricate brick work and then there’s a massive tree in front of it. Why the did I do that? Exactly. It’s a waste of money, isn’t it? That’s But yeah, how annoying I’d be. How annoying I’d be. Yeah, it’s like that’s exactly right. You want But you want to work with both together? Cuz it’s it’s you work around planting, you know. So what’s your sort Do you have a style? Are you like a sort of like a you know Yeah. cottage garden style? Do you have certain styles that you like or are you quite flexible in your approach to design? It’s uh I’d say I’m totally flexible but I have a preference and that is it’s it’s I wouldn’t say it’s sort of contemporary or or cottage like you said. It’s it would be more sort of quite simple quite bold layouts but relying on lots and lots of planting because the planting is the thing that’s going to be the timeless element. So working with nature um that keeps your garden sort of current and looking good for a really long time. Yeah. Um so yeah, I wouldn’t say there’s a specific style, but I’ve now got to a point where I’m designing a lot of gardens that are very similar, quite sort of maybe contemporary layout with lots of soft planting, but clients are starting to see that and like that. So I’ve kind of got in that rhythm of potentially you could call it in brackets a style. Yeah. But uh there are projects that come across along all the time where I’m very much out of my comfort zone. Do you do you find that do you have issues where you’re in not in conflict but a client is saying I would like something like this and you’re going no that’s that’s rubbish you don’t want that you want something like this and do you have that and how would you deal with situations like that? Uh it’s it’s a tricky one but really if a client has got a strong opinion then that’s that’s their it’s their garden. It’s their opinion and Who am I to say otherwise? But something you you’ve got to be um sympathetic of is the location of the garden. Is it against a really nice sort of Georgian house? And if it is, then you’ve got to the garden’s got to complement it. It’s got to look like it’s it’s in place. You can’t have a coastal garden in the middle of Tumbidge Wales. It just it doesn’t it feels like it doesn’t work. Um so yeah. Yeah, I know that can Yeah, it can be difficult, can’t it? Because do you how have you how do you how have you found clients and dealing with them generally? Do you find them are they generally quite good or they generally quite challenging and they’ve got sort of fixed viewpoints on how they want things? So they um I it’s so it’s a good question because I love a challenging client and generally if they’ve got really I don’t straight forward what you want let me do it. But I I love I love the stuff that clients can teach you and and they will have a totally different taste to me sometimes and there’s so much inspiration that you can draw from them. Um which is is yeah potent it’s why I love working with clients. I find I find it yeah the challenging the challenging part it’s it’s nice when you are being challenged because it’s like oh nice you’re as interested in as as I am so let’s go. But I find there’s there’s a point it comes to where you’re, you know, like you were saying, it’s like, look, you’re middle live in the middle of TW. Let’s not have a beach here. Like it’s so but it’s kind of it’s it’s not putting your viewpoint on it. It’s like, well, hang on, you’ve asked for a designer here, you know, like say with the landscape, you’ve asked for a landscaper. It’s like this is, you know, my professional opinion. You know, this isn’t, you know, I’m not here going I want to do this, I want to do it. It’s like I’m just saying, you know, that you have asked us to come in. So, it’s about trying to meet them in the middle where it can stem from, you know, a challenging client becomes I want to be challenging cuz then it’s I know what I’m doing. It’s no, let’s do it together. Let’s do this together. You know, like it’s when you work together on that, then the challenge is fun, you know? That’s why I like Yeah, you’re right. Yeah, exactly. I haven’t yet. I will I learn. So, so how does it work then? So if you’re engaged by from a client and they say, “Yeah, we want a garden designer. We know nothing about garden design. We got a plot of land. We want you to do something.” What’s your sort of how do you deal with the client? What’s your sort of process generally? You know, including things like do you give them budgets? Do you do a design then give them a budget? How do you how does it sort of work? If so, if someone came to you and said, you know, help me, I need a garden designer. What do you do? How’s it how how do you lead them through the process? Yeah. So, so it it all starts with an initial uh consultation um which is the most valuable meeting I think in the whole process and it’s it’s all about understanding what they want um how far they want to go with design but then also do they have a hard budget that they don’t want to exceed and if so then it’s part part of my job is to work out whether their whole wish list is is um yeah wish list if they’re able to afford that And if not, what’s what’s what’s the push and pull? Where where do we uh where do we meet in the middle? But then again, that that is drawn right the way through the design process because as you’re adding details, um some things become out of budget because it’s Yeah. The client brief is forever changing and even when the garden’s built, your tastes are also changing as well. Yeah. So I often think that a garden’s never done. It’s never finished because the planting changes, seasons change, and we’re we’re in a climate now where the climate’s changing as well. Yeah. So, it’s how do you deal with things like that if if a client cuz I imagine, you know, not looking into like details of fees, but in terms of you probably have stages for different payments for different stages of the design or whatever, however you do them, do you does it get difficult if the client is keep changing their mind and keep wanting changes? Does that make it difficult for you to go back to them and saying, “Well, look, hang on, you can’t keep or you can keep changing your mind, but there’s going to be a cost cuz we’ve got to go back and keep amending our design.” Yeah. Is do you get that? Is that a difficult thing for you to deal with or how do you manage those sort of situations? Yeah, it’s it can be really tricky. Um, really tricky and it’s it’s it happens. It does happen quite a lot to be fair. But I I do think part of my job is really understand is about really understanding what the client wants and if I’ve listened to them properly um then I I will be able to sort of answer those questions initially. But perhaps if I haven’t haven’t listened but it’s it’s when the client brief changes along the way which which can become quite complicated. But I’ve got to be very clear from the start. this is an estimated fee for design. If there are any changes to the brief, then um I’m more than happy to to take that on and because I think that’s right. I think a lot of time clients aren’t aren’t sort of aware. They want things to change and they see things as the job evolves. They think, “Oh, that would be a good idea.” But they don’t realize the implication on either the landscaper or the designer because the designer’s then got to go, “Right, I’ve got to go and redraw that. I’ve got to redo it. I’ve got maybe got to get a set out different levels, get more design detailing, and there is a cost implication for it. And sometimes it is hard to go back to them and say, “Look, you wanted this bit, but it’s going to cost you more money.” Um, so I have a lot of lot of sympathy with you guys for that cuz it’s tough. It it is tough. And I think it is, you know, being clear from the beginning, like you said, even even it is quite to keep bringing it up the whole time. It’s one of those things, but you’ve got to be I think you know in in you know in recent years it’s like you’ve just got to be straight on the bat. It’s like this is going to cost I think you know breaking down a project we’ve done in the past we broke down a project the client said oh actually I’ve taken all these things out and then added this and so it should be this much and you’re like look those figures are it’s going to be within this. We have to allow time for you know due to not doing that path it means the driveway is not going to be clear which means it’s going to take longer to do. So we’ve got to estimate we got to quote this project the price once you’ve done the deciding we’re we’re half if we’re in it halfway doing it and the team on site have stopped because you know yourself Cameron if you got to turn up to to requ the we’re as a contract we’re still paying the teams to do it our overheads don’t stop you know so it’s so it’s the it’s I think you know like you said JB it’s the educating oh you know yeah it’s educating the client that they understand So what they do is going to have an effect on price. It’s not just a I said it the other day. I said it the other day, you know, I don’t know whether it’s the same thing, but if you got into a cab, if you got into the cab and said, “Head towards Tom’s Wells.” And they said, “Yeah, where are you going?” You said, “Well, head towards Tom’s Wills.” And they they start going. You say, “Right, just pull over here and they’re on their phone.” Then they find the place they want to go. Right, go to this address. How comes cost me more? Well, because I had to stop and wait for you. The thing still runs. It’s like, hang on a minute. What does that and it’s just trying to sometimes it’s explaining that you’re like yeah but the the thing the thing was running you know like we’re on the job but if we if I have to stop it means I can’t take another person somewhere else which means I have less it’s like why why shouldn’t it should be go to t this address and I go straight there I don’t have the same amount of money why is it different for you so it’s kind of trying to explain that a we bit it is and it’s yeah it’s not always easy sorry I was just going to ask um so you just do you just work on your own now then because you have been working with you before be just on your own. Yeah. Designing. Just myself. But I do uh I rely more so this year on freelancers now um to help support me um because I’m struggling to keep up at that. Nice. That’s a good thing to do. It’s uh yeah, taking me by surprise, but um yeah, found some really good people to help out. Cool. And so so like going forward like what’s the what’s the plan for the for the business? Yeah, good question. It’s one I always make it to Friday. Um I I mean I I’m still quite young. I’d love to build a um a big studio and but just not just for the sake of it. I think just to have people more experienced than me, but also creatives and other people that can help inspire me as well to to to sort of elevate the final product, which is a great Have you ever thought I mean on that point cuz that’s a quite interesting one when when I set up my own company was like quite we were relatively young and really looking back quite inexperienced and we learned as we went along and there would have been a lot more benefit if I’d stayed with a more exper stayed more experienced company for longer. Do you ever feel that you’ve either started too early or you would benefit going to work for a more for a larger consultancy for a few years or are you just happy with how you’re doing it at the moment? Yeah, bit of bit of everything. I do I do have big regrets that I didn’t especially when I had no work for no design work initially when I first started out. I thought it would all fall on my lap naively as you do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Car. Yeah. But I um I I really wish in that period I’d gone and uh worked for for a big design studio and just understood how how they operate. Um so I think that’s why I’m seeing such value in working with some freelancers now because they also work for other design studios so they know how they operate. So it feels like I’m working with people more experienced and they’re teaching me but also reaffirming that some of the process I’ve got in place are the right fit. Um but the one thing I always like is like that that naivity when we all start up our own companies. We do we are all very naive when we do it and I think it’s because of that naivity that we do do it. If we knew a lot of the problems before we started we wouldn’t have done it. So you know it’s a double-edged sword. you’ve actually got to where you were just because you did have that lack of not lack of experience but yeah you’re just starting out I can do this and you’ve obviously proved that you can do it well but but I think it’s it’s uh I’m someone that learns from my mistakes and and learns very very well but it’s the hard way isn’t it and I think it’s a it’s a really tricky way to learn and you know these things can go wrong um but I you just sort of ignore them until it happens Um, but thankfully I’m a few years in now and I’ve made hopefully most of them. I think that’s how we all did this. I I didn’t even work for a tree surgery company before I started my business. I did my courses and never started my own company. Like I was I was doing gardening at the time and then just like morphed into street work. But like the amount of I did, you know, like it’s the only way you can learn, you know, but then you’re also you’re learning about business and you’re also learning about the work itself at the same time. And I think the longer you can be in it, the better. And you know, although I’m sure it is great to learn on someone else’s time, you are also losing the valuable time of just just doing it and just making the mistakes yourself. And and if you come out the other side, I think it’s, you know, sometimes it’s better. And then I’ I’ve met some people with some some very good companies like the guy I do uh who we do all of our training at, he literally never he started two companies and he said, “I literally did my courses. I just learned as I went and then I did my training thing and then I just did that as I went. He’s never ever worked for anyone else and I was like, “Well, if you got to this side, he’s he’s got a good company.” And I was like, “Yeah, fair fair place.” It made me it made me feel better. Anyway, I I probably the other day myself and you were talking and you mentioned that where where you where you are, where you work, there’s a few people that inspire you around you as well where you’re working. And I really like that cuz I left that conversation. I think about myself and JB and you know you said that you know we have conversations where I think god it’s really been it’s been tight it’s been hard and bill goes this is just how it’s not just me and it really helps you know it does help so it was nice when you said it and went yeah I’ve got these creative people around me it really helps me I thought man that’s what that’s what for me this is what this is about you know this is I think it’s all having a forum or somewhere to bounce ideas off is always that’s the one just whether see if the sticks you know what sort of size projects do you do at the moment And what sort of prize projects do you want to get into um in say about 5 years time or whatever that that’s the usual thing, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s it’s it’s a tricky one to answer because I love I love the really small courtyard gardens because the the turnaround is so quick and you can see the fruits of your labor um a lot quicker. Whereas I love the I also love the large projects where it takes it can take years and years for the for these gardens to develop. Yeah. Um, but I’d love I think looking forward I’d really like to work on uh some public spaces um but more so with um but ju just spaces that more people can use I think. Um and spaces that people sort of use uh every day as well. Yeah. No, I mean that makes sense. Yeah. But yeah, also I’d love to go and work abroad somewhere. I think that would be that would be cool, wouldn’t it? You worked abroad for a bit, Bill, didn’t you? Yeah, I did. Oh, where did you work? In Dubai. Oh, really? I was doing I was I was designing they were called food forests. It was like permaculture permaculture gardens. Yeah. So I Yeah. I did that for a little while, but it was it’s very different. Yeah. It was very different because you’re working with a very weird climate. Yeah. any planting we had to do, we had to like so like red sand is like what they’d normally plant in with like some other growing medium which they mix in cuz the the red sand had the had the the most amount of nutrient compared to the yellow stuff which was just dead basically. So every time you were doing plant like gardens were being done like you just bringing in loads of stuff basically. is very interesting cuz also working with people who were growing the most incredible stuff. They’d have these huge glass houses with like one of the walls would just be like a if you think about a radiator in a car like water just trickling down the front of it and fans just blowing through. Sometimes it was like 50° outside and inside the the glass houses were like 25. It was crazy and they’re huge as well. So it was all very interesting but just it was like what if you think it’s a faf doing it here? It’s a bloody faf doing it there. Yeah. Yeah. But it was cool though. Yeah. It’s so interesting cuz I I know there’s a lot of work because Dubai and the Middle East are they absolutely thriving, aren’t they? Really? Um and there’s so much work over there, but something that’s kind of put me off is how sustainable it is. And is that something that aligns with art ethics and and things like that? So, I mean to to you, how did you find that? Yeah. Um I don’t think they’re there yet in terms of sustainability. I know like they probably try and make it out as if they are but realistically you know all their water comes from deselination plants that just like pump out piping hot water and and if you think about it every sing cuz you got you got a lot of European plants there that have been brought in and there’s there’s a lot of you know desert plants and stuff but they are literally on a life support machine like every single bit of gr they got grass all down everywhere and they’re just permanently irrigated all year round you know the sprinkers come on for hours and hours and hours and I think you that there is a cost to the environment for that. You know, it’s not that they’re not living naturally. It is something that has been created by humans and it’s literally, as I said, on a life support machine. Everything you plant has to be Yeah. like growing medium, bought in, wherever that’s from, cuz it’s not from there. And there’s also things like they the natural stuff they have is like they’ve got mangroves and I think a lot of them got cut down. And they’re also like the palm that was created by just bringing up like destroying a load of coral. not coral, I don’t know what it was, but just like natural habitat. So, so you know, it looks very cool, but I think there obviously are there’s a lot of people who are concerned about the environment there and but it’s difficult to I think it’s yeah, when when you’re trying to work in that environment, I think it’s probably difficult to have those kind of ethics. I don’t I don’t know cuz it’s been created out of nothing. But um I same as here though, you know, we use a lot of lot of concrete and rip up a lot of Pete bogs and stuff like that and but I don’t know. Yeah. Yeah. I suppose we’re moving on in terms of time. Just a a couple of quick things I ask you highlights of what you’ve done so far. Have you, you know, all gone well? What’s the highlights? Won any awards, stuff like that. It’s funny you ask. So, last autumn I won um uh Pro Landscapers 30 under 30. Cheers. I don’t have to retire on sadly not yet. That’s good though. Good publicity. Yeah, it was really nice and recognition. That’s right. Yeah. And um Pro Landscaper, I don’t know if you know, it’s a magazine and um and they reached out a few times since then to sort of do features. Um so I’m very dyslexic, so they were very kind to me. Um but they yeah helped me write articles and sort of things which brilliant which was really nice. And ambitions going forward, would you fancy do something like a Chelsea Garden? Is that is that I always think that’s a that’s a land garden designer’s wet dream. Yeah. I don’t know if it is or not. I don’t know. I just know that. Is that one of the highlight? Is that something that you would Yeah. It’s it’s one of the reasons I first got into design with with that ambition, but um I’m learning more about it and I’m realizing how tricky it is, but it’s definitely something that I’ve got my eye on and and would love to sort of be involved in. Excellent. And it’d be good. It would just be great to work with some of the elite contractors creating the best work that I possibly ever will. You got two here. You got Ryan and Oh, no. Sorry. You said elite, didn’t you? Very bloody good stuff. You’re an elite quantity surveyor. No, I tell you that that’s really interesting. And I suppose the final thing is is there anything we missed that you want to mention about the company? Yeah. Where do but where do people get hold of you? Where do they contact you? All that sort of stuff. Um website best to look up my website or Instagram. Um my Instagram is um Cameron Trend Design and my website is Cameron Trend Design. Fantastic.co.uk. Excellent. No, that’s brilliant. That’s really interesting. It’s great to, you know, hear about a young successful designer. I think that’s brilliant. inspirational to especially to other people who are maybe thinking of getting into the industry and I know just from talking with people around when I’ve been to Corkers and that you got a good reputation. You did one of the show gardens there, didn’t you, as well? So, you know, it’s brilliant. So, thank you very much indeed for coming on. Yeah, thanks. That was very interesting. Yeah. Wish you all the success for the future and uh hopefully we’ll have you back in a few years as well if we’re still going. the elites. The other thing, the other thing is to thank everybody for listening in on the podcast. We really appreciate it. If anyone can um you know, comments, put them on there. You know, we and if anyone wants to come on, just let us know. And uh apart from that, it’s thank you from Cameron. Thank you very much. Great stuff. Nice to have you. Thanks for Bill. Thanks guys, Ryan. See you next time. Great stuff. And we’ll see you next time for another Outside Crowd podcast.
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