Melbourne-based landscape designer Sam Cox speaks with est garden editor Will Dangar about how his formative training under an Australian icon shaped his ethos of designing in place, for place.
In partnership with B&B Italia Outdoor.
I have a real sense of envy when I look at Sam Cox’s portfolio, and I enjoyed the pleasure of getting to know him through this interview process. He is incredibly talented yet very modest, and I admire his steadfastness in adhering to the design principles he follows. He has built a practice around his endemic natural style, much like his mentor, the late Gordon Ford, and skilfully crafts landscapes that appear to have been in place long before any human intervention.
What led you to a career in landscape design?
Sam Cox: Growing up on a small farm in central Victoria, with a father devoted to conservation work, I developed an early connection to the land. My father’s passion fostered my interest in conservation and revegetation, and in the importance of caring for both farmers and the landscape. After finishing school, I wasn’t sure of my career direction, so I decided to travel and spent nine months working on conservation and environmental projects in New Zealand, Fiji and America. All of these experiences strengthened my Your work is quite structured and connection to nature and confirmed that I wanted to build a career outdoors, which aligned with my upbringing.
You were Australian landscape designer Gordon Ford’s last apprentice. Like you, I have a deep appreciation of his work, and I am envious that you got to work with him. How did you meet Ford, and what would you say were the most valuable lessons he taught you?
Sam Cox: We met by chance, actually. I was working for a retired landscaper named Maggie Edwards, who knew Gordon Ford and saw that I was enjoying what we were doing, so she introduced me to him before I went travelling after high school. What began as a week of work experience with Gordon turned into three and a half years by his side. I quickly learned that his vast knowledge far outweighed anything I could learn in a classroom. His naturalistic style, deep knowledge of native plants, focus on working with your hands and genuine appetite for the physical labour involved left a profound mark on me. All of these elements are a true connection to the outcome. I worked with him right up until he passed away, and his generosity, with his knowledge and unwavering commitment to the craft, remain among the most important lessons of my career.
Pictured: Landscape designer Sam Cox
Sam Cox’s Wattle Glen project features a ‘mass’ of themed plantings, mounds and basalt boulder outcrops, opening to pathways, ponds and low- planted areas. The landscape designer also heavily planted the boundary to improve the garden’s connection to the bushland beyond.
Your work is quite structured and disciplined, both in terms of creativity and delivery. In the early days of your career, were you less regimented?
Sam Cox: To be honest, in my early days, I was more regimented in following Gordon’s philosophy. I was very young and not yet confident enough to imprint my own ideas, so I leaned heavily on his principles and always asked myself what Gordon might do.
This gave our clients the results, so over the years, I never really found a reason to deviate from it. Although it may seem disciplined, there was a freedom in the work. Gordon had a very free and wild spirit, and he taught me that the land and landscape should guide the design. These days, I avoid overworking plans. I prefer to observe the weather conditions, how the sun moves across the site, and understand the client’s spatial requirements and their desired lifestyle. I believe designing in place, for place, is the answer. I know our industry has been segmented into design teams and construction teams, but I don’t believe that’s the answer. In my mind, the synergy between design and construction is so critical to achieving results.
Have you found your clients accepting of your design process?
Sam Cox: Yes, and we hold our ground on this. I saw the freedom and level of trust that Gordon had with his clients, and we strive to maintain that same level of trust by keeping our concept designs intentionally loose. I create a feel from our design work because the results are the key. Gordon always spoke about under-selling and over-delivering, which is a great way to go about business. The real outcome only reveals itself over three to five years as the plantings grow and nature takes its course, which can’t be fully drawn or rendered. The problem with Instagram and the modern world is that it constantly shows people snippets of images they want, but those images are not a reality. Every garden will be different, have its spirit and its version of our aesthetic, but it will vary. Communication is key from the start, so expectations are aligned, and in the end, we tend to find that the outcomes outweigh our sell, which I enjoy.
Are your plant choices always native, and if so, do you tend to use endemic natives or a blend of both?
Sam Cox: For me, a naturalistic garden should reflect elements of the Australian bush and landscape, so it makes sense to me to use natives. It was Gordon’s way, and it resonated with me straight away. The idea of endemic species is gaining ground as availability improves, allowing us to create more complex planting layouts. We’re not purists by any means and have always worked with traditional natives and layered in endemic species where appropriate. We’ll retain existing plants, trees and shrubs if they hold meaning for the client and don’t clash with the overall aesthetic.
Sam Cox worked with Sean Godsell Architects on ‘House on the Coast’, responding with a purely indigenous landscape design that emulated a coastal dune system. The home and swimming pool precinct is located on a steep dune, so the brief was to heal and rehabilitate the site, through a series of grassed voids, ‘islands’ of existing coastal vegetation with new plantings and mulched paths.
With the growing emphasis on native landscapes—a longer-term undertaking than planting exotics—do you find it challenging to find nurseries that offer both botanical diversity and mature stock?
Sam Cox: Working with natives is unique because they’re usually only available as tube stock or in six-inch pots, and there are rarely advanced trees or shrubs. The clients are not receiving a finished landscape when we hand it over. Instead, they receive a garden with multiple small plantings that will take time to develop, so setting that expectation with the client is critical. While advanced trees can be sourced, I don’t believe there’s a need to produce mature native shrubs or ground covers. Our work originates from a humble space, and if people can’t connect with that, they turn to others. We ask our clients for patience.
You have a property in Tasmania. Is this where you develop fresh ideas and recharge to stay motivated?
Sam Cox: Our property in Tasmania, Swansong, gave my wife Lisa and I the opportunity to design the dwelling and the landscape as a total living environment, which was deeply inspiring. But my approach still comes back to the principles Gordon developed. They’re sound, enduring and I don’t feel the need to influence or reinvent them. I purposefully travelled to Japan to draw on the aesthetic and the centuries-old principles and practices of Japanese gardeners. This aligns closely with my own thinking that by holding onto strong principles, we can continue a valuable tradition without chasing trends.
Do you have a preference between regional, larger-scale work and more suburban projects?
Sam Cox: Creating native gardens in the city is more challenging, but it’s also rewarding. When you don’t have scale, it means you need to create it visually by softening boundaries and connecting to distant horizons or canopies. This gives a sense of expansion and feels softer, more natural. We then hone in on the use of stone sculpturally rather than structurally, and on planting with greater precision. Water also plays an important role by adding reflective light, movement and sound to take the edge off urban living. I reflect on the Japanese ability to distil nature into a small space, and it’s those little moments that make you feel connected. Even in compact gardens, we allow for voids and open mulch areas, as you would find in natural bushland.
Currently, you only work in Victoria. Do you have any intention of working further afield in Australia or abroad?
Sam Cox: Yes, we’re focused entirely on Victoria. We’re already turning away projects locally, and I have no interest in expanding internationally. Our approach is about working with place—designing ‘in place for place’—and to implant a naturalistic bush garden anywhere else in the world doesn’t make sense to me. This adventure of discovery, observing every detail, how they interact, and how they solve the more practical problems, Vanwelden says, wouldn’t have come without the friendship first. “It’s now a space I can feel really proud of, and say, ‘Oh, you want to see that artist? I can take you upstairs. It’s hanging in my living room’.”
This feature originally appeared inside est magazine issue 59: ‘Living with Landscape‘.
