Meet the designer of the Muscular Dystrophy UK – Forest Bathing Garden in the Show category at RHS Chelsea 2024
Ula Maria
Ula Maria is a garden and landscape designer based in London.
Ula has an innate connection with nature originating from her childhood spent in her family’s countryside home, surrounded by rural Lithuanian landscape – wildflower meadows, pine forests, wild streams, and rivers. Ula’s favourite gardens are those infused with ideas about time memories, and connections. They have the power to evoke an emotional response; spaces that might make one feel either a sense of comforting familiarity or the opposite – otherworldliness.
See the Muscular Dystrophy UK - Forest Bathing Garden
Ula believes there’s an art in occupying a space and creating a garden in an authentic and organic way. The most effortless looking space is often a result of a complex design process where every detail has been carefully considered and intricate ideas refined to their purest expressions. Ula finds such spaces often to be a combination of embracing the genius loci whilst incorporating glimpses into one’s formative landscape, where the garden has a deep-rooted connection to the surrounding context but tells a story of its current owner at the same time.
Ula says: “I first experienced the positive effects of creating a show garden when I became the RHS Young Designer of the Year back in 2017, which allowed me to showcase my work to potential clients and start my own business soon afterward as a direct result of it. The reason for designing a garden this year is very different and special. I’ve been approached by the wonderful people at Muscular Dystrophy UK to see how we could shine a light on their incredible work and community. I am so excited to be working with MDUK as I know how positive and meaningful exhibiting at the show this year will be. ”
Experience and Awards
Ula attended the School of Fine Arts in Lithuania which influenced the use of composition, colour and texture in her work, combining architecture and plant life. Ula moved to England in 2008 to study 3D Design and later on gained BA(Hons) and MA degrees in Landscape Architecture at Birmingham City University. She worked for several Landscape Architecture practices prior to establishing Ula Maria Studio in 2017.
Shenzhen Flower Show Gold medal 2020
RHS Young Designer of the Year 2017 , RHS Gold medal
RHS Best in Category 2018, RHS Silver-Gilt medal 2018
Landscape Institute’s ‘John Knight MA award’ 2016
MA Landscape Architecture 2016
Landscape Institute’s ‘John Knight Ba award’
BA(Hons) Landscape Architecture 2014
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