Formerly a photographer and film director, Martine launched her first professional Landscaping venture in 2002 and has been in the industry ever since. She entered into the Flower Power Designer Gardens partnership in 2009 and then broke away in 2015 to establish her own company, De la Harpe Landscapes (Pty) Ltd. After sixteen years of in depth, hands on experience in all aspects of building high-end, residential gardens, she has established herself as a reputable designer of classical, contemporary and naturalistic gardens. She is as inspired by the symbolism and meaning of Renaissance and Mughal gardens as she is by the simplicity and minimalism of Contemporary, Modern gardens. She applies principles of freedom and restraint to arrive at designs that marry formal structure with loose plantings.
Sustainability is paramount at de la Harpe Landscapes. Inspired by the water generating Highveld Grasslands, we strive to create 5 Green Star Landscapes with hardy ‘citiveld’ gardens. Each garden is an ecosystem that has biodiverse plantings which are supported by natural gardening techniques. The power of our gardens comes from lively, fertile soil that supports healthy plants which thrive naturally.
De la Harpe Landscapes offers a flexible service from an initial consultation through to final installation. Each client is free to taylor-make the scope of the work that they require. Specific services are delivered to ensure greater value for money. Client satisfaction is a priority. We meet the dictates of each brief through a process of collaboration and careful consideration, taking the desires of the client and the details of the site into account. Existing buildings, architectural style, organization of spaces and aesthetic preferences all influence the direction of our designs. We present our ideas though a variety of media including visual references, Revit plans and 3D elevations.
“Each site is a canvas on which to compose a landscape and to paint with plants!”