Hello Lisa.

I've been thinking about something. Every new member who joins The Garden Design Collective fills out a short questionnaire when they first arrive…and what I found there is still floating around in my head.

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I asked a simple question: what do you hope to gain from this membership?

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Honestly, I expected to only read about design skills. Drawing techniques. Planting plans. Color theory. And yes, all of that was there. But the thing I kept reading, over and over, in different words but the same idea?

I've been doing this alone.

It's lonely operating a business mostly by myself on a daily basis.

I didn't know this kind of community existed for garden designers.

I feel like I've been going around in circles and not making progress.

I hope to be surrounded by people who understand why this matters.

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Yes, these women may have been hinting at a desire for community, but I also think they were writing about relief. The relief of finally being in a room where you don't have to explain yourself. Where the person next to you understands what it feels like to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and love it and dread it at the same time. Where you can share something you're not sure about and have it met with genuine thoughtfulness instead of a polite nod.

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So many of us chose this work because we love it…really love it. And somewhere along the way, loving it started feeling a little lonely, too.

That's exactly why I built the Garden Design Collective. To be the room. The one where your questions land somewhere real. Where someone else's project sparks something in yours. Where the conversation keeps going long after the Q&A ends.

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And if you've been on the edges of this decision for a while…following along, curious, not quite sure if it's the right moment…I want to gently say this: the readiness you're waiting for is built inside the work. Not before it.

The Garden Design Collective summer enrollment is open right now.

Inside, you'll find a warm, active community of designers at every stage…from first projects to twenty-year practices…all here because they love this work and wanted to stop doing it alone. We explore design topics together each month, share projects for real feedback, and make space for the questions you've been turning over quietly for longer than you'd like to admit.

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If you've been thinking about joining…this is a beautiful time. You don't have to keep doing this work in a quiet room by yourself. There are people on the other side of this door who get it, who are in it with you, and who can't wait to meet you. And if you’d like to meet some of the people in this room now, check out my recent Instagram post: Meet My Team.

We'd love to see you on the inside too.

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May you find your people…and may they find you right back.

From the studio + garden,

Lisa

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P.S. Enrollment for the Garden Design Collective is open through June 30. I look forward to meeting you. ♥

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Thank you to Mandy Orgler for designing the lovely graphics in all these newsletters.