The deceptively striking gate which protects Arabinda Fernando’s home from the bustle of the outside world, little prepares visitors for what awaits them inside. For, beyond the vibrant red gate, on a gradually ascending slope lies a beautifully landscaped garden of breathtaking tranquillity.
At the base, fish dart around inside a pond as a curved frangipani tree snakes its way upwards to the sky. The foliage around is a veritable sea of green, with the occasional burst of crimson, tinges of amber and the hint of a flower here and there while twisting, pebbled paths along the corner of the garden enable its visitors to make their way upwards.
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| Arabinda Fernando |
The awe-inspiring view from the verandah of the sprawling garden holds the visitor enrapt, with its rustling trees, myriad textures and rivulets of water dotting the garden below.
Arabinda Fernando is a landscape designer, who has been sculpting gardens for over a decade. Featured recently in the book, ‘Gardens of Lanka’, Arabinda’s designs speak volumes and remain distinctive of his style.
“Twelve years ago, I was in a state of mind where I wanted to do something new,” says Arabinda who earlier worked in the airline and travel trade, explaining how it all began. “I used to sit in the garden and get an image of the garden and then I began to put the image into reality.” One thing led to another and soon, Arabinda began landscaping gardens for friends.
When inquiries began to pour in, Arabinda decided to expand his scope and now runs a landscape and interior design business for professional, domestic, interior and commercial design.
Arabinda’s signature style is creating gardens of character. While designing them, he also endeavours to imbibe and incorporate characteristics of the client into his creations.
“I judge each and every individual client by assessing their lifestyle. I can pinpoint, to a large extent, what they want. An up and coming businessman, for instance, would have a different expectation of refinement from an established professional.”
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| Something beautiful to come home to: Arabinda’s
landscaped garden |
In the preliminary stages of designing, existing foliage is always taken into consideration elaborates Arabinda. “I try to work with natural materials. I don’t believe in destroying nature. I try as much as possible to work with existing infrastructure,” he says.
Key aspects such as texture, light and space also come into play when designing the garden. Other features which need to be taken into consideration are the time available to maintain the garden and the sun factor.
High maintenance plants and flowering plants need to be fertilized and attended to regularly, while appropriate foliage needs to be used for places with partial sunlight. Proper drainage, affirms Arabinda, is imperative for any garden, as clogged water results in rotting roots.
The designer believes that when building a house, the landscape designer needs to work along with the architect to obtain the best results for the client. Distancing the house and the garden (or even an inner courtyard) from each other would result in a sense of detachment between both.
While every assignment is unique and challenging in its own merit, possibly one of the biggest obstacles he has to overcome in his profession, he confesses, is convincing the older generation to venture out and experiment instead of playing it safe.
Brimming with ideas and new innovations, Arabinda resolutely believes in pushing his boundaries and setting his sights high. Says Arabinda: “If you judge what I’ve done already, it’s a case of balancing proportions in a restricted area and weaving a character within that. I have so many ideas in my head that I would like to carry out. It would be a great opportunity and a challenge to work in a large area, like a holiday bungalow or an estate for instance.”
“My creativity is based on instinct,” he adds. “I always believed it’s a gift from god and I try and make use of it by creating a serene concept for highly stressed people. I create a space in their homes where they can sit back and unwind so that people who live there look forward to coming home after work.” |
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