Quick Takes With: Wambui Ippolito

We’ve interviewed landscape designer Wambui Ippolito before (read our Q&A with her here), and we were so enamored of her that we decided to have her take our Quick Takes questionnaire. The daughter of a Kenyan diplomat, Wambui has lived all over the world, including Costa Rica and throughout Europe. Today, she resides in New York City, where she designs for clients in the tri-state area (her speciality is in fine estates). “But my home is in East Africa,” says Wambui, referring to her family’s lush estate in the suburbs of Nairobi.

Below, Wambui discusses her respect for those who grew up in the countryside and the reason she despises “Instagram gardenening.”

Photography courtesy of Wambui Ippolito.

Your first garden memory:

Watching my mother work in our gardens when we lived in Nairobi when I was a very small child. Another memory is watching my grandmother talking to her gardener at the farm in the Rift Valley when I was little. I was always surrounded by pretty flowers and lots of trees and green.

Instagram account that inspires you:

I am always inspired by Kenya’s marathoner Eliud Kipchoge (@kipchogeeliud) and Nirmal Purja’s account (@nimsdai). Eliud grew up a few miles from my family’s home in the Rift Valley and his mindset and work ethic are a great influence on me. Nimal Purja is Nepalese, an ex-Gurkha and record-breaking mountaineer. I love that he has shifted the focus towards the Sherpa community who are the backbone of high-altitude climbing. I worked with a group of Nepalese gardeners early in my career, and they were very kind to me and looked out for me. I’ve always felt an affinity with Sherpas from those days.

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

Clear. Simple. Open.

Plant that makes you swoon:

Tussock grasses and mulleins always make me swoon.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

Hosta, except for Hosta ‘Empress Wu’ which is so majestic.

Favorite go-to plant:

Anything in the Lamiaceae family because they work so well together. I especially love Perovskia atripcifolia ‘Denim ‘n Lace’ .

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

I have learned that unless I am gardening for myself, there is no guarantee that my gardens will last for years. Clients may sell a property and the new owners can come in, tear out the garden and replace it with a pool or concrete slab. I have learned non-attachment and to take lots of pictures!

Unpopular gardening opinion:

I don’t think it’s an unpopular opinion; I think it’s a realistic opinion to say that I tend to trust the design aesthetic of people who grew up in the countryside more than I do people who grew up in a city. I believe that people whose childhood was spent out in unspoiled nature—whether desert, mountains, savannah or forest—tend to have a deeper gardening optic.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

Instagram gardening. Gardens are looking the same all over because we all look at and follow the same social media accounts. One person does something pretty and ten people try to replicate it.

Old wives’ tale gardening trick that actually works:

I like how my mum gardens. She places things where they “look pretty” and leaves them alone. Over time, she creates very beautiful spaces. She doesn’t really worry about light, shade, watering, etc., etc. She is very connected to the land.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.

Big windows. In my home in Kenya, we have huge floor-to-ceiling windows that let the garden in. The garden is our wall art. When I am here in New York, I love to look at photographs of my Kenyan home.

Every garden needs a…

…a birdbath and a tree.

Favorite hardscaping material:

I eschew hardscaping. For paths, I’d rather just have river stone or wood chips.

Tool you can’t live without:

Any sturdy Japanese weeding hoe.

Go-to gardening outfit:

In the past, I invested in all the fancy gardening gear. Now, I just need good knee-pads, quick-dry gloves and a hat and I’m good to go.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

I love Emma’s Garden in Long Island, New York, because the proprietor Greg knows everything and in two minutes, can bring clarity to any plant palette I am wrestling with.

On your wishlist:

I wish all kids growing up in cities could spend their summers in open countryside.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

I recently was in Scotland and really enjoyed the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. I spent an afternoon their with a group of gardeners and it was so fantastic. The collections are outstanding.

The REAL reason you garden:

Because I am an East African girl who grew up outside with cows, sheep, goats, and chickens; with a mum who is an avid gardener and who took me plant buying with her; and because I spent so much time with my grandparents who were successful farmers.

Thanks so much, Wambui! You can follow her on Instagram @wambuilovesplants.

For our archive of Quick Takes, go here.