Sam Cox

Sam grew up in central Victoria with a deep affiliation for the natural environment.  Leaving school, he travelled overseas, dabbling in eco-tourism, farm work and national park maintenance.  Upon his return, he had an opportunity to meet Gordon Ford at his Eltham garden, where they discussed his style of landscaping at length.  Gordon offered Sam a few weeks of work experience while he waited to begin studying at Burnley Horticultural College.  Work experience soon became full-time work, which continued until Gordon passed away in 1999.

In developing his practice, Sam has endeavoured to maintain the integrity and approach of his mentor.  He takes every opportunity to increase awareness of the naturalistic landscape school, bringing a wealth of creative purpose to his life. Sam was a keynote speaker at the Australian Landscape Conference in 2018 and contributed to the 2023 conference with the opening of the Wildcoast Garden in Portsea.  Sam works on numerous projects in collaboration with leading Australian architects, and his work features regularly in both national and international publications.  A renewed enthusiasm for native gardens heartens him, and he encourages landscape design students to study the local design tradition Ellis Stones and Gordon Ford pioneered.

To achieve a happy work-life balance Sam takes time off for family, fly fishing, hiking and spending time at his shack in Northeast Tasmania.