Growing Together: Meet the family creating gardens of balance and harmony

Planting the first seed

Lina started Lina’s Trädgård after feeling empowered to make a career change in her 40’s, and the business has been up and running for 11 years.

Lina: “I have always dreamed about becoming a garden designer, but I thought I’d never be able to live on it. When I turned 40, I wanted to make some changes in my working life, so after taking some classes alongside my regular job I started Lina’s Trädgård.”

Her daughter, Lova, who worked at the business part-time as a teenager, joined the team 6 years later.

Design stories

One might think designing a garden is all about the greenery, but creating beautiful designs depends on knowledge of sun hours, the natural climate, as well as the landscape of the existing garden.

Lina: “The plants are only cosmetic. It’s most important to have the right floor, or the right walls or hedges. If you don't have a structure, you can have as many nice plants as you want, but they won’t thrive.”

For Lina and Lova, the process of working with clients begins with a consultation.

Lova: “Depending on the climate in the garden and the sun hours, we find out what the garden is really longing for. We then create sketches to kind of measure out the space, and to give suggestions on what would fit and what would look nice.”

They then work with builders, landscapers, and specialized gardeners during each project, but they love getting their hands dirty when it comes to planting.

Lina: “It's like painting with plants! You have it one way when you do the sketch, but in reality you always get creative and change things a little.”

Shifting landscapes

When it comes to current trends in garden design, Lina believes the most important thing to take into account is the home that accompanies it.

Lina: "You need to read the client’s taste together with their house. So I don’t really believe in following trends. Some materials can be more popular than others. But if it doesn't fit the house, I wouldn't suggest it."

Lova: "We try to stick to classic approaches. For stonework, we use a lot of Swedish stone, and lately we’re using a lot of slate and granite."

The Kitchen Garden is another trend that is very much here to stay, with homegrown produce and greenhouses becoming more and more popular.

For those who don’t have room for a greenhouse, Lova shares that making a small space for a garden feel bigger is all about creating the illusion of room.

Lova: "Working with different levels and working with light is a really good way of creating space, or imaginary space. You can achieve this with structures like pergolas, but also with tree crowns and hedges. It's the same thing as remodeling an internal space inside a house. You can't have all the furniture in the same level."

Inspiration in the everyday

Lova and Lina find inspiration for their designs in nature and the world around them, and believe that the little extra touches to the designs can really enhance your mood.

Lova: "You can do a lot with lights in a garden. We have so much darkness during the winters in Sweden, and if you light small plants and trees with a really nice warm light, it can look really nice."

Lina: "One other thing that is very important in the Nordics is to use evergreen plants. We have so many months of grey and white, so evergreen plants bring colour. Also, if you have beautiful stone materials in your garden, they look nice when it rains on them and it gives a beautiful shiny finish. You can look out of your window and really come to appreciate these everyday details."