MOLLY HENDRY BIO
Molly toggles the worlds of design and plants as both a trained horticulturist and landscape architect. Up through July 2023, she was the Associate Director of Gardens Support for the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens for 5 and a half years. There she was actively involved in the horticultural and design development of the 26 unique gardens that make up Birmingham Botanical Gardens. She was also a key support player in the renewal of the Gardens's master plan, in addition to managing ongoing garden projects. Since recording the podcast, she has stepped out to create her own garden design studio, Roots and Ramblings, where she does design work for folks in the Birmingham, Alabama area. With this studio, Molly is most interested in the intersection between people and places. She loves designing gardens for "hands in the dirt" gardeners, focusing on how design is not just a masterplan on a piece of paper, but an ongoing dialogue between a person and a place... often with a spade in hand! One of her top honors is that she spent 10 months living in the UK, sinking her hands into the soil at some of the top gardens across the country as the Garden Club of America's 2016–2017 Royal Horticultural Society's Interchange Fellow. You can learn more about Molly by visiting her website Roots and Ramblings and by following her on Instagram @mollshendry.
SHOW NOTES
Molly on her childhood spent outdoors
Encouragement from her parents to pursue landscape architecture
Molly’s focus on horticulture and landscape architecture at Auburn University
The impact of study abroad trips on Molly and the stories she learned about gardens
How Rousham deeply touched Molly
Molly’s internship at Winterthur and a valuable lesson learned
Experiences while being the Garden Club of America's 2016-2017 Royal Horticultural Society's Interchange Fellow
Shadowing Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough to learn about naturalistic planting and how to think differently about plants and gardening
Time at Great Dixter and lessons learned from Fergus Garrett
Fergus’s sketches and mind maps
Molly’s roll as Associate Director of Gardens Support for the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Thoughts on how to illicit emotions in gardens
The analogy of garden design with Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
Molly’s approach to designing gardens and questions she asks clients
How writing helps Molly be a better gardener and how she reviews her thoughts on New Year’s Day
Using the app Notability in the field and Google drive
Favorite books including Anne of Green Gables and Russell Page’s Education of a Gardener
The myth that we can’t garden the same as the English do
Molly’s favorite ice cream flavors
Propagating horticulturists by bringing in the human element and engaging with children
Learn more about Molly by visiting her website Roots and Ramblings and by following her on Instagram @mollshendry