I offer comprehensive landscape consultation, design, and project management, bringing to the table 25 years of ecological landscape design and a masters degree in the subject. The objective is to blend your budget and dreams with pragmatism that benefits you and the environment. I can help you see your property with new eyes, and extract more utility and enjoyment from it than you thought possible! If you are looking to renovate an existing landscape or add features or usability, I am your (native, wild) huckleberry.
If you are doing new construction, I hope you will contact me before siting your house on your land. Builders and architects often gloss over what I think are very important details relating to ingress and egress, solar aspect, drainage, microclimate, existing landforms, and noise, as they get caught up with the building itself and don’t always have the landscape literacy. At multiple points I was so glad I am a landscape designer when I was designing my earth-sheltered home, and integrating it with the renovated quonset hut on my childhood property outside of Asheville..
A rule of thumb is that landscaping can cost about 10% of your home’s value. Landscape design fees are generally 15%-20% of the projected project cost. I use a composite of various metrics to arrive at your design fee. Landscape design and “landscaping” in general have been grossly undervalued and underutilized in my opinion. Design has the power to change your life, with repeated use and viewing of a landscape that pleases you and that fits your lifestyle: Every drive down a well placed driveway, each look out of a window onto a colorful display, each downpour when you know your drainage plan is working, all can add up to a boon to your quality of life and to your resale value. Your home is everything within the confines of your property line, and beyond. Isn’t it time to start thinking and designing that way? Call me!
AWARDS:
Design team won Sunset Magazine's 'People's Choice' award, 2004 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show
36" x 72" x 3/4" glass & steel sculpture, permanent display, Fine Arts Center, University of TN, Chattanooga