HAVEN:
DEPTH AND PURPOSE: GROUNDED IN PLACE, AN INTERVIEW WITH BERNARD TRAINOR
23 June 2026
I’ve admired Bernard Trainor’s work in the landscape for years, long before I had the chance to meet and get to know him. For thirty years, Bernard has carefully nurtured a practice built upon observing and listening to the land, tapping into its essence to connect to the spirit of place that makes each site unique. Innately connected to the landscape, he has a reverence for soil, plants, and nature that runs deep. I think the things I admire most are his passion, his deep sense of purpose, and the way he has continued to evolve in his creative practice.
A few months ago, Bernard invited me to stay at his guesthouse in the hills of Carmel, where we sat down to talk about his practice, his passions, and the deep sense of connection that lies at the heart of his work. Gentle, kind, and a consummate host, he walked me through his hillside garden, a living place that is constantly evolving as he continues to learn from the land. My visit to his magical home was a precious gift. An opportunity to deepen my own understanding and appreciation of the work we are all so fortunate to do. Our relationship is something I cherish, and our conversation was one I won’t soon forget. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."
MQ: Let’s start at the beginning. When did it all start for you?
BT: It started in my grandmother’s garden in Australia, probably around the age of five, then it grew from there. My first school was a paved environment, which was typical at the time. Then I moved to a more progressive school, with a free-form, planted environment. Later, my family moved to the Mornington Peninsula, where I became fully immersed in the landscape. The things I experienced in Australia were so context-specific. I took them in and kept them with me.
MQ: You look back at it with such clarity.
BT: Many things came together to fuel my passion. I can point to another important moment of clarity. A friend of my parents was a professional sports figure, and would bring me to sporting events to meet the players and soak it all in. He was a tough guy, but he always insisted on bringing me to the botanical garden first. As a kid, I was annoyed and impatient, but it was pivotal. We’re still in touch, and that garden is still one of my favorites.
MQ: Have you always felt so clear about what drives you?
BT: I’ve always felt highly attuned to the landscape. It’s a connection that is hard to explain. I’ve worked with a few architects who are like that as well - Howard Backen, Tom Kundig, Jess Field. When we’re together walking the land, we almost don’t need to communicate with words. Our ideas channel directly from the landscape, and we then use mind maps and diagrams to distill them. I feel like the best architects I know could have been equally successful as landscape architects.
I'm profoundly interested in people in the landscape."
MQ: How do you tap into the spirit of a place?
BT: I try to go deep inside, accessing history and memories. I can’t say exactly why, but I know that I can only think in terms of the spirit of a place. I think broadly, then distill it down to find depth and purpose. I can’t do it any other way.
MQ: As we walk through your garden, it is so abundant, yet you’ve told me it gets no water.
BT: My garden is like a research and development project. I get to test what works and bring that knowledge to the landscape studio. It provides a canvas for long-term study.
MQ: And you’ve created space in the garden for your art with two light-filled studios. How do your practices overlap and inform one another?
BT: I paint when I’m inspired by something. I also paint to provide inspiration. It goes both ways. The series I’m working on now is called Absorb, part of an exhibit at the offices of Anacapa Architecture in Santa Barbara, on view from July through October.
My passion lies at the intersection of my art, my garden, and my landscape practice."
MQ: One practice fueling the other.
BT: When I was younger, I didn’t know that I could design gardens, make art, collect ceramics, and change systems. But when you feel a sense of purpose, it’s all connected. Life doesn’t have to be compartmentalized. Painting is significant for me as a pathway to other things; it gives me the chance to think more fully.
MQ: What drives you now?
BT: At Ground Studio, our projects range from conservation work to projects in urban settings like San Francisco, where there are almost no natives left. I think a lot about human ecology. I’m interested in the formation of a new paradigm. We think of creating perfect gardens, but nature is not perfect. It can be hostile. Its beauty lies in evolution, in resilience, in what adapts to survive, and in what is contextual. I’m now driven by conservation projects - people experience these landscapes, but they are created first to serve nature. We’re working toward new ecologies that are not grounded in the belief that nature is to be adored and that the urban environment is awful. The intersection of urban environments and nature, and how each informs the other, is what interests me now.
MQ: In bringing nature to urban spaces?
BT: Yes, but we’ll have to remediate, work with what’s there. As humans, we struggle with understanding systems. Landscapes and gardens are complex systems, like the human body. In California, we’ve lost so many natural ecologies. This is now our starting point. It’s what we have to work with. In California, 50% of the water for residential use is used in the garden. That’s simply not sustainable.
MQ: Changing the paradigm is a big lift. You are imagining a whole new system.
BT: I’m comfortable with starting small, keeping it local, and in the community, taking what I’ve learned from natural systems and applying those lessons to our human environments. It’s not a question of replicating nature, but of applying the principles and systems found in nature to form a healthy and sustainable built environment.
MQ: In the end, it’s about connection.
BT: The broader purpose is to reinstate the connection in a forward-thinking way, letting natural and urban environments come together. Bringing back nature isn’t new; it’s just going back to where we took a wrong turn. When humans truly lived in nature, the stakes were much higher. You could die if you didn’t get it right. Now the disconnect is so great that it will take systemic change to reconnect. I’m trying to bring it back.
MQ: We’ve become so disconnected from our senses. You’re reintroducing sensuality into our modern lives.
BT: I am. I also think it’s important to care for something, and that’s what we do in the garden, at any scale. When we care for something, we nurture and protect it.
MQ: How else does that intersection play out?
BT: For me, it plays out in land-art projects, like the work of Andy Goldsworthy. Permanent, site-specific installations that interact with the natural landscape.
MQ: Can you distill what you’ve learned? What brings you the most joy?
In retrospect, the most important thing is knowing what filled my heart. Everything circles back to the soil, plants, and landscape."
BT: You know, I can feel when a landscape painter really connects with the landscape or, conversely, is disconnected from it. It comes through in their art. When they’ve been in it, living with the landscape, you can feel it in their work.
MQ: You have to become it.
BT: In the garden, it’s not 10,000 hours; it’s much more than that. It’s also being humble, always learning.
MQ: So true…
And now some rapid fire questions:
What’s the one thing you love most about what you do?
Arriving at a new project site for the first time.
Who -- or what -- inspires you?
Who — Sidney Nolan (for helping me see the Australian Landscape with fresh eyes as a young boy).
What —Traveling and spending time within a wide variety of ecotypes throughout the world.
What’s the single best business or creative advice you’ve ever received?
A voice in my head that told me I add value to people’s lives in designing their gardens -
I learned to value myself more as a person and in business.
If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?
I found my passion - working with plants in any capacity.
How do you love spending time outside of work?
Traveling with my daughters.
What is one thing that most people don't know about you?
I experience social anxiety.
Last book you read?
Last favorite, “The Overstory” - there have been a few since, however this one sticks.
Do you have a favorite quote? If so, we'd love to hear it!
Here is one that I try to remind myself of in life: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” — Rumi