Little Interviews expanded: Debbie Carroll
Off the back of FutureScape 2024, Little Interviews catches up with some of the speakers from the Pro Landscaper theatre.
Name: Debbie Carroll, MBALI
Job title: Garden designer & author
Company: Debbie Carroll Garden Designs and Step Change Design
Seminar title: Finding Your Niche: Passion | Anger | Mission
How did you first come into the landscaping / garden design industry?
I’ve always gardened, and am from a family who always gardened, mostly for food. After a move to a house with a very overgrown garden that turned out to have been a previous nursery of plantswoman Marina Christopher I went back to college. I did an RHS horticultural qualification and then a Garden Design course too – by the end of which people were asking me to help with creating their gardens.
I built my business over time gradually reducing my days in a previous employment until I was full time. Debbie Carroll Garden Designs, my domestic garden design business, is celebrating 20 years this year while Step Change Design is 10 years old. The latter works with care settings to ensure gardens are actively used and is based on a research project I did with a colleague in this area and that led to the writing of 2x books on a series called ‘Why don’t we go into the garden?’ sharing what it takes to create actively used care gardens for designers and care setting teams too.
How did you find your niche in the industry?
I was asked to redesign three dementia care home gardens that had been designed before but fallen out of use. This felt like there was something missing from the design guidance out there. I didn’t want my gardens to fail too, so I undertook a research project with fellow designer Mark Rendell. The rest as they say is history; with Step Change Design formed to share the findings in both the care and design sectors, two books written and a range of other support provided to enable those who live in care homes to continue to enjoy stepping into the garden when they wish to.
Strangely, I am now finding I am being drawn back into wildlife and productive gardens – which is where I thought I’d end up 20 years ago. So who knows which niche I’ll retire from in 10 years time!
What is one positive about working within your niche?
I love helping people and creating gardens for my domestic clients that help bring their hopes and dreams to life. It never fails to give me joy.
For care settings, knowing that my work can improve care practices and ensure that gardens are used by residents living there gives me hope for if I, or a loved one, should need a care home and want to be able to still get outside.
What is one negative about working within your niche?
Juggling two angles of my work can limit what I can take on in each, but I’m not ready to give up on either and mostly love the mix.
In my care related work, finding like minded colleagues in our sector, it can feel like you are a lone voice. Our work is still not widely recognised as a key ingredient in creating successfully used care gardens, even though I’m widely seen as an expert within the care sector and our work aligns with their regulatory requirements. Being persistent and consistent with the sharing of our work continues to be our focus.
What advice would you give those seeking a niche?
Follow your passions while keeping an open mind to the unexpected opportunities and an evolving world with new needs we may not have even considered yet.
Why did you feel it was important to speak at FutureScape?
I was keen for people joining the industry to realise just how wide ranging the opportunities are and my own journey to be an expert on care and dementia gardens was not what I expected when I began. I wanted to share some of the highs and lows and some insights that have helped me along the way, and that may be helpful to others.
What do you hope people took away from the seminar?
Anything is possible if you choose to give it a go. Be prepared to be adaptable and to take a risk. Find and build your support network.