Gardens for Life - Guest Speaker: Andrew Laidlaw & PYV Annual General Meeting

Join us on 2 September to spend an afternoon with Andrew Laidlaw from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.  Andrew is most widely known for his long-standing role as the landscape architect at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. In this position, he has designed and developed many projects including the Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden, Guilfoyle’s Volcano and the rejuvenation of the Fern Gully which includes three unique meditation gardens.

Andrew is a qualified landscape architect and horticulturalist with over thirty years of experience in the industry. Andrew is well known for his in-depth knowledge of plants, design, and his innovative approach to design process. In 2020 he completed the 2020 Master Plan that sets a vision for the RBG over the next 20 years, and in the same year finished the new Arid Garden that won Victorian landscape of the year and the White Oak project. His projects have also won three gold medals at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, Landscape of the Year from the Landscape Industries Association of Victoria, and the 2005 Victoria Tourism Award for Best New Tourism Development.

Andrew has taught Landscape Design at the University of Melbourne’s Burnley campus (previously VCAH) for over thirty-five years, teaching many of Australia’s gardeners and designers. He was a regular presenter on ABC 774’s Saturday morning gardening program and is a regular guest speaker at conferences around Australia.

Andrew is the special guest speaker for Permaculture Yarra Valley at an afternoon at the Sydney Halbish Memorial Hall in Don Valley. His presentation is “Gardens for Life” and will include information on garden design process, community gardens and the link between gardens and well-being.

The event will run from 2-5pm. Bring a plate to share for afternoon tea, and any plants, seeds or seedlings you would like to share/swap as we move into Spring. The event is free for Permaculture Yarra Valley members.

Please register here so we can plan for numbers.