About Tanja Boehm, Gardens by Design
Dubai-Based Garden Designer
Trained at Kew and designing contemporary residential gardens for this climate since 2018
I believe exceptional gardens are the product of three things: thoughtful design, understanding the environment and genuine attention to how people live.
Take away any one of them and the garden suffers. Design without climate awareness produces gardens that look beautiful for a season. Climate knowledge without design produces gardens that survive but never delight. And both, without listening properly, produce a garden that belongs to the designer rather than the people living in it.
That’s why I start every project by understanding you before I consider materials or plants. The garden that follows should feel inevitable, as though it could only ever have been designed for your home, in your community, for your family.
Meet your Dubai-based garden designer
Hi, I’m Tanja and I’ve designed more than 128 gardens across the region.
I believe exceptional gardens are the product of three things: thoughtful design, understanding the environment and genuine attention to how people live.
Take away any one of them and the garden suffers. Design without climate awareness produces gardens that look beautiful for a season. Climate knowledge without design produces gardens that survive but never delight. And both, without listening properly, produce a garden that belongs to the designer rather than the people living in it.
That’s why I start every project by understanding you before I consider materials or plants. The garden that follows should feel inevitable, as though it could only ever have been designed for your home, in your community, for your family.
The team behind the build
I design, I don’t build. The distinction is deliberate and it’s what allows me to stay entirely on your side of the table.
When your design is ready, there’s a clear route to having it built. I work with a landscape contractor and his team I’ve collaborated with for many years. He understands how I detail a garden, why the planting beds are prepared the way they are and what ‘as drawn’ actually means. There’s also a specialist maintenance team I work with who know these gardens and how to keep them.
You’re never obliged to use either but when the people building and maintaining a garden already understand how it was designed, far less is lost along the way.
Training and qualifications
I’m a qualified garden designer, trained at the London College of Garden Design at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. My specialism is the design of gardens for arid landscapes, the discipline of making something elegant, liveable and lasting in one of the most demanding climates.
The Gardens by Design approach
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Every element in a garden earns its place or it doesn’t go in. Restraint is a design decision and usually the right one.
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Clean, elegant, current. Gardens that sit comfortably alongside the architecture and community they belong to.
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You’ll always know where the project stands, what happens next and what it will cost. No ambiguity or surprises.
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With you and with the trusted people who build and maintain what I design; everyone working to the same intent.
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Seventeen years living in Dubai and eight designing gardens in the region and the reliability that comes with knowing exactly what works.
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Every material, plant and construction method chosen for the desert, not adapted to it as an afterthought.
Where we work
Based in Dubai, UAE
Based in Motorcity, I design gardens throughout Dubai’s residential communities including Arabian Ranches, Emirates Living (The Meadows, The Springs, The Lakes) Victory Heights, Al Barsha, Meydan, Dubai Hills and Jumeirah Golf Estates. If your home sits further afield, so ask. For the right project, I’m happy to travel.
“Tanja's expertise and vision culminated in a garden that exceeded my highest expectations. I am very grateful to her for her extraordinary vision and to Gardens by Design for ensuring a very smooth and enjoyable design process and implementation. I couldn't recommend Gardens by Design enough. They have truly transformed our garden into the best version I could have imagined.”
Elen - Al Furjan, Quortaj
Enquire about garden design
I work with discerning clients who want an elegant, contemporary garden designed properly and understand that good design takes time. If that’s you, completing my enquiry form is the first step. It’s detailed by design to ensure we’re the right fit for one another.