Joane Pim was born in 1904 in Johannesburg, South Africa, of Irish-English Quakers, Howard and Rosamund Pim. Her father was a prominent figure in South Africa in accountancy, philanthropy and art. Her preliminary schooling was at St. Andrews School, Johannesburg, and later at the age of fourteen, she went to England, where she attended St. Stephens in Folkestone, followed by a period of two years in Paris studying singing and French.

She returned to South Africa and spent several years of enjoyment with no fixed occupation and then became interested in horticulture and the maintenance of private gardens. She subsequently worked in an architect's office to learn draughtsmanship and worked with a professional horticulturist. She was ill for three months and went to England to recuperate, where friends suggested that Brenda Colvin, P.P.I.L.A., President and Founder of the Institute of Landscape Architecture, Great Britain, and leading landscape architect of the day and who is still one of the active leading landscape architects in Europe, would welcome a pupil. From that day on she had no other thought and her one desire was to qualify as a landscape architect.

During the war of 1939-1945, she was occupied in other fields and only started to practice in 1946, being accepted by the British Institute in 1947.

She was appointed Consultant to the Anglo-American Corporation in 1952, which position she held until her death, and entrusted with the landscape and garden planning of an area of virtual desert, 24 miles square, the layout or rehabilitation of fourteen mines and mine villages under the control of the Corporation and the landscaping of a town designed to accommodate 30 000, the plan of which had already been approved.

This appointment proved to be the forerunner of many others and her interests covered a wide field. Her landscape developments covered all Provinces of the Republic, Zambia, Rhodesia, Botswana and Swaziland. In 1954 she was appointed as Consultant to the Harmony Gold Mining Company and other mining groups. Travel by air and road averaged 48,080 miles per annum and schemes were planned for six different climates.

She was twice guest lecturer at the International Federation of Landscape Architects Congress in Zurich. In 1963 she was invited to address a similar Congress in Israel. She was a part-time lecturer in the Architectural and Town Planning Department at Witwatersrand University. She lectured in Pretoria and was instrumental in starting a degree course in Landscape Architecture at Pretoria University, as well as lecturing at the University of Stellenbosch and the Pietermaritzburg Architects' Forum. She contributed to many landscape Architectural journals, her most important publication being her book, 'Beauty is Necessary' published by Purnell & Sons (S.A.) (Pty) Ltd. Cape Town, in 1971.

Her other interests were Youth Clubs, of which she was also founder and chairman, as well as horses, dogs and photography.

Miss Joane Pim died suddenly on 27 November 1974.