Trish has been described as the most original and confident garden designer in Auckland. She stretches the boundaries of perception, and extends her clients’ experience of space. It has been said that Trish’s gardens reveal a starting crossover of interior design concepts into the great outdoors. For her, outside spaces offer more possibilities for provoking ongoing response than indoor spaces, because the exterior palette never stands still.

Trish loves the stimulation of working in tandem with different architects, including Pete Bossley, Chris Fox, Pip Cheshire, Malcolm Taylor and of course her husband, Mal Bartleet.

Trish has always seized the opportunity to travel overseas and her work reflects the inspiration this global exposure has provided. Underpinning this however, her gardens display a distinctly New Zealand identity, perhaps partly explained by her close observation of native plants and the environments they thrive in – the patterns and behaviour of nature – during her many tramping, kayaking and cycling excursions throughout the country. As she says, “Plants are the wild cards that can transform an outdoor space.”

In 2005 Trish was an invited speaker at the NZ Landscape & Garden Design Conference, Auckland, when she fully matched a raft of distinguished overseas speakers. Hearing Trish talk to her work that day, everyone in the wider local landscaping community felt proud that here was a garden designer who ranked with the best in the world.