The Art of Landscape, in the Eyes of Frederico Azevedo

Award-winning landscape designer Frederico Azevedo is the owner of Unlimited Earth Care Inc., which is based in Bridgehampton. Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in 1962, Azevedo has studied landscape design in Brazil, England and the U.S. He is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, the American Horticultural Society and the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons.

Azevedo designs and executes most of his projects in the Hamptons. Considered one of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world, the Hamptons is a unique mix of farms, fields, woods, dunes, lakes, ponds, bays and ocean. The exquisite natural light has been compared to that of the South of France, and has attracted renowned artists from around the world. This marvelous combination has made the East End a magnet for the rich and famous for well over a century, and its unique architecture and landscape design is greatly admired worldwide.

Azevedo’s gardens integrate the natural landscape into a comprehensive and intentional landscape design. His understanding of architecture and the environment give each of his designs a perfect balance. His unique skills blend exotic with native plants, creating a landscape surprisingly reassuring and unexpected.

He has developed numerous major landscaping projects in the last two decades, both commercial and residential. In his projects he develops long borders, planting masses of the same species of flowers, shrubs or trees. Implementing a combination of basic concepts — repetition of color, texture and shape — he imbues his gardens with simplicity, balance and a special elegance.

 A Conversation with Frederico Azevedo

Is landscape design your expression of art?

Yes, garden and landscape design is definitely a form of artistic expression, but it does involve careful planning and a balancing of different elements. While my goal for a project is to create something beautiful, I am also tailoring the types of flowers and trees I include to the conditions of the site.

My designs have to live, grow and be healthy, so an Unlimited Earth Care design is an expression of art that develops through what is right for the site, for the plants and for the environment. My sense of design really thrives in these challenges, and I find it usually drives me to search for the most elegant and colorful solutions.

I am, of course, designing custom gardens for clients, so I really consider their lifestyle and how they want to use their outdoor spaces: Do they love to entertain? Work from home? Each project has to develop as the right design for each client, and I find a way to do that sustainably and in full color.

What is the beauty of nature, or using what nature has given us to create?

A love of nature’s beauty is what led me to become a designer and found Unlimited Earth Care in the first place. I compose my gardens in a way that uses the inherent allure of colorful flowers, soft grasses and grand evergreens.

It’s a collaboration — I design to heighten the experience of the natural beauty of what I am planting. In order to give the plants center stage, I design places where a little wildness comes through, where flowers seem to burst and reach out, then I temper this with graphic touches, like trimmed boxwoods.

Why do the Hamptons provide a perfect palette for you to express your art?

The Hamptons is an incredibly special place because of its diversity of environments: woods, bay, farmland leading to the ocean, all alongside village life. This has always meant that no two projects of mine have been quite the same, and that each one requires unique care and planning to design something colorful and beautiful.

I use native and well-adapted plants and flowers in my designs, and Long Island provides an incredible array of species and hybrids that thrive here. The Hamptons is a beautiful place with a rich design culture, and I love to create spaces outdoors that reflect its natural beauty and enhance life in the garden.

How can a landscape design tell a story or act as a representation of a client?

I have described my designs as narratives, and I do feel that it’s a fitting way to think about a landscape because of the way one experiences them. The driveway or entranceway is the beginning, and I like to create anticipation at this point with curves, tall hedges and trees — this also provides privacy for the home.

Then there are different chapters, each with their own feeling: stone patios for breakfasts and afternoons, dramatically colorful curving flower beds for mood-lifting walks, poolside areas that attract birds and butterflies to watch, moss gardens for meditation and trees with seating for reading under. Sometimes the story is romantic and dreamy, other times it’s bright and exciting, mysterious or fantastic.

Gardens and natural spaces can elicit these really strong moods, and it is so satisfying to me as a designer to build and maintain successful stories.

Visit Unlimited Earth Care Inc. at 2249 Scuttle Hole Road in Bridgehampton, unlimitedearthcare.com.

Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.