About Living Senses
Melbourne Garden Design
About Living Senses
Living Senses is a Melbourne-based garden design and landscaping company lead by accomplished designer Kate Coenen. Living Senses also focuses on Healing Gardens and offers ecotherapy workshops, reconnecting you with nature. Our team crafts natural havens for relaxation, entertainment, and pure enjoyment.
We pride ourselves on friendly client interaction from the beginning to end. Both our design and landscaping teams are incredibly friendly and easy to work with. Of the three designers, both Kate and Amelia cross over into the landscaping team ensuring continuity of contact from the design to the landscaping phase.
Living Senses Values
Our Company Values
Kate has implemented a people first, profit second approach to building the Living Senses brand. She makes it clear that by taking care of the people first and foremost, clients, staff and contractors alike, the profit will always follow.
Value the person, first and foremost.
Client focused design. What are their wants and needs?
Enjoy the journey. All days on-site should be productive yet filled with laughter.
Clear communication. Set realistic timeframe and budgets. Be will to receive any and all feedback.
Melbourne Garden Design
Our Garden Design and Landscaping Team
Kate leads both the design and landscaping teams, in office and on site. Additional designers include Erryn, a Burnley trained graduate, and Amelia, an experienced horticulturalist and permaculture designer.
Lending a hand with business management and construction is Brendan while Dylan, Steve and the crew take care of landscaping.
Kate Coenen
Born in the Netherlands… and, yes, she’s tall and loves a chat.
Daughter of a bulb grower known as ‘Lubbe Lisse’
A life long love of plants
Lived in The Caribbean for 6 years and moved to Melbourne in 2012
Made many travels around the globe with her young family
Studies
Bachelor of Science in Horticulture (University of Delft, The Netherlands)
Graduate Certificate in Garden Design (The University of Melbourne, Burnley)
Healing Garden Design Course (Dirtscape Dreaming Melbourne)
Certificate of Eco-therapy (Earth Create Heal, Australia)
Outdoor Classroom Course (Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar)
Industry roles
Garden talk Waverley Garden Club – Topic: ‘Healing Garden Design principles’ 2021
The University of Melbourne – Garden Design guest lecturer 2021, 2022, 2023
Garden talk Ringwood Garden Club – Topic: ‘Planting Design’ 2022
The University of Melbourne – Therapeutic Landscapes guest lecturer 2022
Therapeutic Horticulture Australia – Open Garden for Conference Tour 2022
Therapeutic Horticulture Australia – Presenter ‘Eco-Art’ Workshops’ 2023 (Melbourne & Sydney)
Therapeutic Horticulture Australia – Presenter ‘Introduction to Therapeutic Horticulture’ Course 2023, 2024
Erryn Tenuta
The quiet achiever, Erryn is a greatly valued member of the team.
Trained at Melbourne University in Landscape Design, Erryn has extensive plant knowledge and is very attuned to client needs. Such skills ensure you the client, are listened to and ensures that your dream garden moves from design to reality.
Erryn works closely with the Landscapaing team to bring new ideas, products and market innovations into the Living Senses portfolio.
Amelia Clapton
With a wide variety of skill sets, Amelia is our classic all rounder. Qualified in Landscape Design, Permaculture, Geography and Sustainable Development, Amelia works across all aspects of the business from client engagement, sales, design and landscaping.
She also has experience within the Nursery industry and project management for landscaping in public spaces. These extensive skills make her a valued member of the team.
Brendan Hughes
Brendan brings a well rounded set of skills to Living Senses with two decades of experience in international business and product development.
Along with his wife Caitlin and four daughters, he also owns and runs the successful Big Little Farm permaculture property that produces most of their needs and which is used as a vehicle to educate others about home food production, preserving, animal integration etc.
Dylan Chandler
Be it an excavator, skid steer, power tool or shovel, Dylan is a can do operator. Handy on all tools and machinery he leads the landscaping team and will be seen ever sweating it out and just getting it done.
His go get it attitude, attention to detail and kind demeanour makes him one of the most valuable members of the team.
Melbourne Garden Design
Who we work with
Melbourne Garden Design
Where we work in Melbourne's Eastern suburbs
Although predominantly Easter Suburbs based, we love working on exciting projects regardless of location. Some areas we have completed projects in are as follows:
- Inner City
- Eastern Suburbs
- Mornington Peninsula
- Yarra Valley
- Dandenong Ranges
- Gippsland
- Country Victoria
Contact Living Senses for garden design, landscaping, training and workshops, and commercial projects.
We endeavour to respond in a timely manner. However, some landscaping tasks are all hands on deck so if we do not repsond within 24hrs, do not worry, it is only because we have committed to an existing project and do not wish to let our clients down. We always try to respond with 24-48 hours.