"ecology by design" is this: We create our environment. Eco means “home” in Greek, and -logy is “the study of”. Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly observing and changing- designing on some level- our lives within constraints and opportunities. Opportunities in your landscape often go unseen or ignored, and the constraints are usually treated with excessive force in an effort to win over them or to impose an idea that takes much work and expense to uphold. I can help you see what your site is capable of, and I will work with you and your budget, your childhood dreams, your real estate, home, life, and other goals to find solutions. Hillsides are super usable, lawns are overrated, and small spaces rock. The constraints inform the design.
Please call me if you are pursuing a major renovation, or a front yard makeover. Call me before siting a new home build, before you make important decisions. Builders and architects are often caught up with their specific technical objectives, and I constantly find them missing important considerations relating to ingress and egress, solar aspect, drainage, microclimate, existing landscape features, and noise. Then there are the finer points of life and living, that can make the difference between living in, and maximizing and really enjoying, your home. To sum it up, I argue that landscape design is about everything, and I can help you with all of it. Why not enjoy the view out from inside your house, even if you never want to go outside?
My fees are $175/hr., described on this site if you poke around, and there is no job too small. I encourage you to reach out to see how I can help you. Beginning in 1999, I had the good fortune to work for and with a few sought-after landscape architects, designers, as well as a wide variety of contractors, in the Greater Bay Area and Santa Cruz. After exactly 20 years in CA, mid-2020 I returned to my hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. Now I’m back with the plants that accompanied me when I started this process at The Conway School in Western Massachusetts, and the native plant conference here at Western Carolina University.
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