Sam Moore is a Garden & Planting Designer based in Whanganui

Above all else I am a gardener that loves the natural world.

My professional life is rich and varied. I have worked with plants for the best part of 25 years taking on roles in residential gardens, diplomatic state houses, nurseries, large commercial landscaping construction and maintenance firms as well as the design and consultancy work that has occupied me for the last few years. I’m also the Chair of the Bason Botanic Gardens Trust and a Registered Master Landscaper.

I love what I do and never turn down an opportunity to further my education in all things plants and design. Books, friends, experiences, peers and courses are all sources I draw from to stay as up to date as I can while also looking ahead, innovating and anticipating what the future may hold for gardens and landscapes.

My own tastes lean towards naturalistic and ecologically focused gardens and my heroes of these gardens are people like Dan Pearson, Nigel Dunnet, Sarah Price and Piet Oudolf. Spaces in which plant communities have been designed and prioritised. Gardens that are sympathetic to their surroundings. Landscapes that have been designed beyond the needs of the human and allowed to exist beyond the reaches of human control.

Outside of my plant life I enjoy playing and composing music and hanging out with my wife and dog contemplating whether another dog would be the sweet spot.