I help women who have pivoted into landscape design build the foundational drawing and design skills that shape their own creative voice...so they can finally trust themselves as designers.
I'm Lisa Nunamaker ā a garden design educator, writer, illustrator, and speaker who's passionate about helping women who love design finally trust themselves as designers.
After a decade as a landscape architect, I discovered something surprising: while I loved designing gardens, what truly lights me up is helping other women find their creative voice and design with confidence.
That's how Paper Garden Workshop was born. The word Paper is a nod to where all great gardens start...inspired sketches on paper (even when I work digitally, my pencil always comes first). Workshop is all about rolling up your sleeves and practicing those design and drawing skills. Together, Paper Garden Workshop is a warm, creative space where you can learn, explore, and grow...one foundational idea at a time.
100 days of 100 design tips
Enjoy a cup of coffee each morning with your daily garden design tip. A gentle way to step into this world. Doesn't get much better than that.Ā
Learn more here!
Do you see gardens differently than most people?
You notice the structure behind the beauty. You sketch ideas, collect inspiration, and crave more than just "what to plant." You want to create something meaningful...something that's unmistakably yours.
The Garden Design Collective is a monthly membership for women who are ready to grow that instinct into a real, confident skill...one beautiful topic at a time.
EnrollmentĀ opens againĀ June 2026.
Join the waiting list and you'll be the first to know.
WAITING LIST š¤You might have seen me here...
Peanut Butter + Jelly Garden
A super fun ebook to help guide your unique garden vision.
Garden Doodle Sheets
A engaging workbook with pre-designed garden outlines ready for you to fill in the fun details.
A little like a studio library, but way more fun.
A blog for women who see gardens differently.
Pull up a chair. The blog is full of posts that explore the full world of garden design...from the big-picture design process all the way to the details of how to draw a single plant on paper...and everything in between.
If you love learning how gardens come together, you'll feel right at home here.
Let's head over!
Bubble Diagrams
This is wonderful way to organize your spaces without a lot of detail and drawing investment. The purpose of a functional diagram is to study the relationship of spaces and the movement or visual connections between them.
Garden Structure
This can be the most challenging, yet the most fun part of developing your spatial design. Once you create a bubble diagram to organize your outdoor spaces, the next step is defining the structure of those spaces.
Preliminary Design
The preliminary design builds on the garden structure study by adding the location of plant and hardscape materials, though plants are not yet identified. The goal of this step is to create an engaging plan in which someone can start to imagine themself in it.
Line Weights for Landscape Plans
Proper line weights give your drawing depth and clarity. Few line weights will make your drawing feel flat, while a variety, used in the right way, will assist in communicating your design as a three-dimensional space.
Drawing Plant Symbols Practice Sheet
Step-by-step process of drawing plant symbols, a practice sheet, plus a collection of different types of deciduous and evergreen symbols that someone could use on a landscape plan.
Elevation to Plan
One of the best ways to design is to draw your ideas in elevation, especially when making a composition of plants. This allows you to visualize the plant forms in a holistic composition.
Everyone was so thrilled with your presentations. Learning and laughing at the same time is great! I enjoyed every minute of your visit.
-Susan, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
I'd love to visit with your group
There's nothing quite like that moment when a design concept suddenly clicks...when someone who's been staring at their garden for years finally sees it differently. That's what I'm after every time I speak.
I bring the same warmth and clarity to the stage that I bring to the classroom...making garden design and landscape graphics feel approachable, inspiring, and genuinely fun. Your audience will leave with ideas they can actually use.
Please tell me more!Hang out with me on Instagram
Every issue of THE PENCIL CASE explores one garden design or landscape graphics topic...clearly, creatively, and always with a little inspiration tucked in.
It's free, it's fun, and it was made for women who want to keep growing as designers. Come take a peek at past issues and see if this is your kind of creative space.
Let's do this!