Read the site first
Slope, aspect, wind, salt, soil and existing plants. The design follows what the site already offers instead of correcting it afterwards.
About
Danylo
Riabchenko
Landscape architect & botanical designer · Madeira, Portugal
I design gardens and outdoor spaces on Madeira — private gardens, hotel grounds, terraces and planting schemes for sites that ask for something specific.
My work sits between landscape architecture and botanical practice. That means thinking about levels, circulation, structure and materials, and at the same time knowing which plants will actually hold on a salt-blown cliff, which will take shade and cloud, and which need a sheltered pocket to establish.
Madeira is an unusual place to practise. Within half an hour you can move from dry volcanic coast to cloud forest, from banana terraces to exposed ridge. Each of those conditions suggests a different garden. Most of my work begins with reading which one a site belongs to.
Monte, Funchal — shade, water and fern canopy.
Principles
How the work is approached
Structure before decoration
Levels, walls, paths and water come first. Planting then works with that structure rather than hiding it.
Plant for ten years
Palettes are chosen for how they will look when mature, not only on the day of planting — including what survives wind, drought and neglect.
Few materials, used well
Local stone, gravel, timber and planting. Restraint makes a garden calmer and makes maintenance realistic.
“The island gives you the palette. The work is deciding what to leave out.”
Contact
Working on something?
Private garden, hotel grounds, planting consultation — describe the site and what you have in mind.
Get in touch