A Top Garden Design Expert Shares His Tips

In 2001, Fernando Wong emigrated from Panama to the United States, arriving in Miami with only $400 and a suitcase. “I learned English by watching television, and my first job in the industry was working on a landscape crew. I moved up to drawing in the office and was eventually able to start my own firm in 2005, acting as both the owner and only employee,” he reminisces. Today, Fernando is responsible for some of the most breathtaking garden and landscape designs in the world and has become a respected authority on the subject.

Plants and other landscape elements should highlight the architecture and its nuances rather than steal the show. Fernando illustrates this point, saying, "My main principle is that the architecture is the picture and the landscape is the frame. The garden should enhance the architecture, not overpower it."

Having trouble finding inspiration for your garden design? Fernando believes that inspiration for garden design can truly come from anything, saying he finds inspiration everywhere -- "My extensive landscape library, Netflix, travel, photos from clients, design magazines and, most of all, nature."

One thing Fernando credits his success to is his "photographic memory," explaining that he can see images of plants, learn what they are and remember them forever. This has created an extensive resource in his mind that he constantly pulls from in each of his designs. As for his go-to plants, he says, "Cuban laurel and coconuts — The Cuban laurel (seen in the hedge above) is very easy to shape and create perimeter walls for my gardens, and coconuts because they are a universal reminder that it is time to relax and decompress."