Katie Sinclair Reflects on the 2024 APLD Design Conference
Elizabeth Stuart's outdoor design studio with teak couch and chairs in a grouping with potted olive trees and vintage steel trellis.
This year, APLDWA held a giveaway for members to win paid conference fees for the 2024 APLD International Design Conference. The winner this year was emerging professional Katie Sinclair. Katie began her career as an edible plants specialist, moved to high-end maintenance, worked briefly as an Assistant Designer, and now holds the position of Lead Designer at Sage and Stone, a Seattle Area Design/Build Company.
The APLDWA board asked Katie to share her insights and takeaways from this year's conference:
It was such a treat to attend the APLD conference in Charleston, South Carolina, this year. So much of my working life is spent collaborating with different trades, from carpenters and stonemasons to electricians and painters. Getting to talk shop with so many other landscape designers with different practices and specialized skills was a real treat, especially while we poked around in the world-class gardens we were touring. Most of our time was spent wandering in and out of residential gardens in two of Charleston's neighborhoods. It's hard to overstate the delight of being in such beautiful spaces and also getting to mutually obsess over gate hardware and gravel compaction. The same goes for dissecting the planting plans, classic hardscaping, and occasional creative problem-solving we discovered. I also thoroughly enjoyed the extra treat of walking from garden to garden and seeing the city with its historic architecture, charming side alleys, and stunning window boxes.
A tree-framed view across lush plantings surrounding a swimming pool and an elegant southern-style seating area.
There is always so much more to a garden than just which plants are in it. How do people move through the space? How does the design create zones of privacy? What hardscaping materials are being used? How do you make even a tiny space inviting? How does the designer solve the problems we all run into? All of these elements deeply affect the final goal of creating a space people want to be in. They were all very much on display during the tours, especially when walking through with many other designers with plenty of opinions, advice, and curiosity.
The conference had lots of time built into networking, discussing the day, and, of course, enjoying local cuisine. From hors d'oeuvre parties in high-end garden shops and cocktail bars to relaxed box lunches on a waterfront lawn, my introverted self received plenty of time to absorb the experience and get to know fellow designers. We hailed from all over the world, and I also met several designers from my own city of Seattle who I hadn't yet met in person. They were all so quick to chat about their particular joys and challenges, and each interaction brought a deep appreciation for our joint work and clever solutions for the challenges we're all facing moving into the future. There was also enough time to step away in smaller groups to explore the city in more depth. I snagged some time before my flight home to get a walking food tour with a couple of local Seattle designers. The tour guide even threw in some city history as well.
A peek into a courtyard garden from the back porch featuring boxwood hedges lining pathways to the owner's office and work studio.
The 2025 conference will be in San Diego, California, from April 24th through the 28th. I'm really excited to see a familiar part of the West Coast from a design perspective. Each area differs drastically from the others, particularly in choosing plants we can design with. I find getting to see designs in unfamiliar territory very illuminating.
If you are able to attend, the conferences are a lovely way to get steeped in beautiful spaces, meet other designers, discover new ways to think through old problems and get some networking as well. The conference is definitely an investment, but it pays back in dividends with community building, collaboration, and access to a wealth of knowledge.
Downtown Charleston residential garden. Long and narrow (50' x 200'), filled with artistic garden stylizing, including a fountain, small seating areas, and finishing with a swimming pool in the distance.
A feel of the tropics in downtown Charleston! Lush tropical palms and bold foliage plants fill the space around a narrow pool.