Rhoda was asked to give her professional advice and be a mentor at a Speed mentoring day for the Wings of Hope Charity. The whole ethos of the charity is to ‘empower through education’ and this day offered 6th form students the chance to ask questions and advice from professionals to help them explore numerous industries.
Hopefully some were inspired to take up careers in Horticulture.
To see more of the great work that the Wings of Hope do, please click on this link:
While studying at college, Rhoda won a competition to design a Sensory garden for Rosemary Lodge, a residential care home in Wimbledon.
Everyone was asked what they wanted in the garden which had to look good when visitors were in it, but just as importantly in the cold winter months when everyone just looks at it through the window.
The sensory garden was carefully thought about to take everyone’s desires and requirements into consideration. This garden is based on the song ‘A Sentimental Journey’ with the design taking the visitor on a path which “sets their hearts at ease” and “renews old memories”. We have created a sensory garden which is; safe, inspirational, has stimulation for the residents and is a haven for birds. Which seemed to please everybody.
See details of this in ‘our work’ – care home garden.
The garden was a resounding success and received quite a lot of local publicity
The Chief Executive of the Wimbledon Guild said “we can’t thank Rhoda and the college enough. Residents, carers, their families and friends can now start making the most out of the garden during their visits.”
The Landmark Trust wanted to create a new knot garden for their 13th century Warwickshire castle Astley. This was to complement the castle, reflect upon its history and celebrate its conservation in the 21st century. The new garden also had to be designed by a member of the public.
Rhoda decided to have a modern spin on the traditional knot garden so created a contemporary design using cubes of Buxus rather than having an intricate woven design. Also rather than having bedding or intricate planting in between she planted it with grasses that would complement this modern feel.
Despite the competition receiving well over 100 applicants Rhoda’s design came second in her category:
In 2010 Rhoda worked at Chelsea Flower show helping Gold medal winners Mark Gregory and Jo Thompson plant their gardens. This even reached the press in Slovenia!
If you can read Slovenian please do have a look what they had to say in this Slovenian magazine
Rhoda won a competition run by the Society of Garden Designers for ‘Research for a Design Outcome’. This was for a photograph of a dry-stone wall which was used for her design of a garden on a steep sloping site.
And this was the article that was published by the Garden Design Journal.
Rhoda decided to become a professional garden designer in 2009, so decided to go back to college.
Having previously worked in the graphic design industry she could combine her interests of Horticulture and Design to achieve this qualification. She was very pleased to be accepted at the prestigious London College of Garden Design where she qualified with a Distinction.
Rhoda worked in the Design industry and one significant project was her involvement in A Smile in the Mind – a great book about making graphic design memorable by using wit.
Rhoda had a lot to do with collating all the images from the different design agencies, so she was credited in the book:
This book is so successful and is used as a ‘bible’ to illustrate how wit is used in design, that a second volume was released in 2016, 20 years after the original was published.
Horticultural expertise started at an early age for Rhoda Maw!
In the days of ‘black and white’ she would holiday with her family, go for walks and was introduced to the beauty and importance of the environment, nature and wildlife.
This interest grew until she qualified with a Diploma in Garden Design in 2010, starting her professional career where she started to transform people’s gardens.
See here for what she has done for some of her clients.
