Vanessa Gardner Nagel

Author Vanessa Gardner Nagel, APLD, NCIDQ, is an award-winning, eco-conscious garden designer, and the owner of vanessa Gardner Nagel LLC. Her newest book, 'The Professional Designer's Guide to Garden Furnishings' is a must-have resource for landscape designers, landscape architects, interior designers, and architects. It provides so many alternatives to the Adirondack chair, that she suspects that chair could lose its status as the default garden chair. Vanessa's first book, 'Understanding Garden Design: The Complete Handbook for Aspiring Designers' was released In 2010 and describes the complete process of garden design in terms anyone can understand. It covers topics like what happens before design actually begins, working with contractors to construct your garden, and even open garden etiquette (because many folks are unaware it exists).

Vanessa became infatuated with plants as a youngster at her grandfather's side in Minnesota and subsequently learned the art of weeding in her mother's garden in California. She is a certified fellow of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and was on their international board, was the 2009 Oregon Chapter president, and served her community as a design review committee member for the City of Vancouver for 6 years. Vanessa has over 40 years design experience including 22 years of commercial interior design projects from the west coast, in the U.S.A. and around the world, as well as Pacific Northwest landscape design projects. She also taught as an adjunct faculty member at Marylhurst University and Portland Community College. Vanessa continues weeding and experimenting in her new Olympia, WA garden.

Vanessa has won various awards, including an Award of Excellence for Sunset Magazine's 2004 Landscape Design Competition. During her interior design career, Vanessa was certified by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) and was an Oregon-chapter president of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA).