Andrew Laidlaw

Andrew is most widely known for his long-standing role as the landscape architect at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.  In this position, he has designed and developed many projects including the Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden, Guilfoyle’s Volcano and the rejuvenation of the Fern Gully which includes three unique meditation gardens.

In 2020 he completed the current Master Plan that sets a vision for the RBG over the next 20 years, and in the following year finished the new Arid Garden (that won Victorian landscape of the year) the White Oak project and the Sensory Garden. His projects have won three gold medals at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show including two’ Best in Show’ awards, Landscape of the Year from the Landscape Industries Association of Victoria, and the Victoria Tourism Award for Best New Tourism Development.  More recently he has worked with the Wurundjeri council to design and install two ‘Being on Country Gardens’ that have won acclaim within the industry.

Andrew has taught Landscape Design at the University of Melbourne’s Burnley campus (previously VCAH) for over thirty-five years, teaching many of Australia’s gardeners and designers. He was a regular presenter on ABC 774’s Saturday morning gardening program and is a regular guest on Gardening Australia. Andrew is one of the founding directors of Global Gardens of Peace: an organisation dedicated to building gardens for vulnerable communities around the world. GGoP has successfully completed several gardens around Melbourne and has been working on a children’s garden in the Gaza Strip.

Andrew’s love of plants and nature began in childhood and was inspired by his father and mothers love of gardens. His childhood memories of playing free in the bush and nurturing his own four children to connect with nature and has inspired Andrew’s lifelong passion to not only work with nature, but to help others learn, enjoy and find their own connection with the natural world.