Landscape Consultation & Design

For any kind of project, design plays the most important role in achieving your desired outcome with minimal waste and frustration.

Whether you want to resolve a few landscaping issues or completely transform your outdoor space, an experienced, outside perspective can be just the boost your project needs. Our design approach and philosophy are inspired by permaculture, regenerative ecology, and a background in engineering and construction. No matter the size of your site, we’d love to help by bringing our knowledge and unique perspective to your project. Based on the scale and purpose of your site, we have 3 primary consultation and design categories: homeowner, landowner, and farmer.

Common Threads

Regardless of the size of your lot or your goals/vision for your land, there are many common threads in the way we approach permaculture-inspired landscapes.

• Plant for abundance

• Encourage diversity - of species, ecosystems, microclimates, landform, experiences, etc.

• Simplicity

• Natural water management - surface guiding and stormwater devices for retention, infiltration, and detention when possible

• Improve soil quality (fungi, organic matter)

• Turn “problematic” conditions into resources/opportunities

• Create paths/trails to encourage greater experience of the site and to guide animal energies (yes! rabbits, squirrels and deer will use them)

• Opportunities for play/whimsy, which leads to learning and experiential education (creeks, plantings, landform, boulders, structures, art, etc.)

• Multi-purposed/stacked functions when possible (purposeful and artful, for example)

• Resilience through redundancy

• Capture readily available resources (sunlight, heat, water, animal partnerships, etc.)

• Anticipating and guiding external/off-site influences (upstream water, invasives/weeds, pollution, visitors/deer, etc.)

The resulting landscape will require ongoing, active participation. In return you receive beauty, balance, productivity, higher quality of life, health, entertainment, expanded living spaces, natural white noise, etc. We want to draw people outdoors and inspire them to engage with nature!

Homeowners

Whether you’re a new homeowner wanting to learn about your existing landscape or an existing homeowner wanting to improve your outdoor environment, we would love to bring some fresh, innovative ideas to your site. The higher population density of residential neighborhoods comes with its own set of challenges, but also creates unique opportunities to collaborate and strengthen ties with neighbors (think combined water management). Special accommodation must be given to those neighborhoods organized through an HOA, but we have found success with attractive, multipurpose designs. Our goal is to inspire you to love and engage with your landscape, encouraging a culture of life-long experiential learning for both kids and adults.

Whether your house sits on 0.06 acres (like ours!) or you have a large lot (like our farm!), we can create microclimates that emulate larger ecosystems and maximize the potential for diversity. We love to mix food and ornament into an integrated aesthetic that inspirational, while being productive, balanced, and healthy. One of our goals is to help move the needle so that these types of landscapes become more the norm. A thoughtfully designed landscape will not only increase the functionality of your outdoor space and increase property values, it will also improve your family’s quality of life and benefit your local community.

For the typical residential lot, we can walk the whole site and stitch a rough concept together relatively quickly. This site visit can include the following services as needed/desired:

• plant identification & inventory

• observation & assessment of trouble spots with potential solutions (a spot where plants won’t grow, ugly views, accessibility issues, etc)

• water movement analysis - how to improve stormwater management, drainage/infiltration & prevent erosion

• quick concept sketch & direction for the future

• resources for client to take on the project themselves (if preferred)

If additional help is desired after the consult, the next step may be design, installation, or gardening services.

Landowners

Landowners have the great opportunity to build more resiliency and self-sufficiency into their lifestyle while reducing their impact on the planet and their reliance on the globalized infrastructure. We can work together to create a long-term direction, mission, and perspective for your site, including phased development, successional management, legacy plantings, and timber management.

Folks who have larger tracts of land (compared to urban/suburban residential lots) have amazing opportunities to choreograph the entire experience of their site. From siting driveways to taking advantage of topography and views to creating ponds for stormwater retention and fish stocks, landowners can highlight the unique characteristics of the piece of Earth that’s under their stewardship. Land at scale provides greater opportunities to provide wildlife services while also producing plentiful harvests for the human community… true abundance - imagine having more plums than you, your family, friends, and neighbors all care to eat! When you have multiple acres to develop, you can realize the benefits of listening to and playing with the site and its unique resources.

It’s important to understand the challenges and necessities for infrastructure when designing a productive site. Accommodating deliveries/trucks, siting turnarounds, flex spaces for gathering/projects, storage, workshop(s), harvest processing, guest accommodations - all of the practical functions of the site are better accommodated and feel more intentional when assembled through the use of a comprehensive design. A thoughtful, detailed design will also soften and anchor the constructed world into the natural world, creating a more pleasant interface between human-made and undisturbed spaces.

Farmers

Farming in today’s world is inherently risky and difficult. We want to help you create a plan to make your farmland more productive and resilient, decrease your labor and input costs, and improve the planet. With a focus on the future, it’s important to manage and guide succession over time and incorporate longer-term crops when possible (like perennial vines, shrubs, and trees). When space abounds, you can grow your own inputs: mulch, fencing (cedar, willow, espalier, wattling, etc.), wood chips, firewood/fuel, building materials, etc. Capture and guide water, take advantage of solar power, or use stones and clay found onsite for construction or microclimate creation.

Whether for workers or guests, improve comfort by creating spaces for rest and reprieve from the heat. Spaces that are aesthetically pleasing, well-designed, and don’t look strictly utilitarian can increase your opportunity for revenue streams (farm tours, workshops, etc), boost worker productivity and enjoyment. A well-designed site will create a more welcoming environment and a more compelling story/mission for your farm. Increasing customer loyalty and support leads to increased resiliency.

We’ll conduct an audit, of sorts, to identify inefficiencies, new opportunities, and unrealized potential. Let’s pinpoint the “low-hanging fruit” that has been overlooked and solve problems creatively and holistically.

Extension agents and other government agencies offer valuable resources and information regarding some of the more specific components of farming. Our value lies in an artful design, weaving together practical elements with a whole-systems approach. While government agencies answer questions and explain the rules of the existing agricultural system, I ask questions (regardless of the status quo) in search of healthier, more stable, balanced systems that mimic nature. We offer advice and opinions (solicited or unsolicited!) to help you develop and achieve your goals.