A garden is a place to slow down, where people can be in contact with something greater than themselves.
Garden Design
Gardens come in all different shapes and forms. They should all be visually inspiring. And transformative experiences.
Gardens are both beautiful and functional, helping people to enjoy working in partnership with nature, giving them the satisfaction of creating an aesthetic surrounding, providing a place to tend and a site to sit where we can engage all our senses and connect our spirits with the earth.
I design all types of gardens: meditation gardens, memorial gardens, labyrinth gardens, peace gardens, and any place that could love a garden.
Design Approach
Whether I am creating a garden for a private residence, a small city, a spa, a hospital, or other facility, I begin not with solutions, but with questions:
- What quality do you wish to express?
- What is your intent for the garden space?
- What feeling do you want to experience?
- Where do you want to sit in your garden?
- What would make it special?
Together, we’ll explore your answers to these fundamental questions to arrive at a design solution that fits your space.
Along the way, we’ll consider basic and practical issues, such as the suitability of the garden to the location and environment, whether the design fits your lifestyle or the needs of the facility, and decide which planting materials are sufficiently hardy and environmentally appropriate. We’ll also address factors such as privacy, safety, accessibility, and other issues important to the use of the garden.
In any garden design, plant materials and hardscaping materials work together, providing harmony and balance. Trellises, arbors, fencing, gates, seating, water features, containers, birdbaths, stone walls and paths, chimes, and outdoor sculpture add another dimension and structure to outdoor spaces.
We’ll also take into account organic soil amendments, drainage, hardiness zones, maintenance, shade and sun site conditions, and other considerations that will influence the design, installation, and upkeep of the garden.
Design Services
No matter what kind of garden you want, I can help you think about and refine its design.
And I can help you with all kinds of challenges. Sometimes a garden-to-be is a blank canvas, with its bones and edges yet to be developed.
Often, though, a site for a garden has old trees, shrubs, and perhaps even outbuildings. Together, we can decide what to save and what to give back to nature while creating a new garden for the next generation.
And then there is the existing garden that does have good structure, good bones. Perhaps you want to add a special garden — a sacred place. A corner, a circle, or a walkway can be carved out to create a garden within a garden.
Whatever your gardening thoughts may be, The Garden Spirit can help you discover what needs to be done to bring your dreams to fruition.
The best way to begin, in my experience, is with a master plan. This will help you conceive of the garden one year from now, two years from now, five and 10 and 20 years from now. While some facets of a garden can happen very quickly, it is best to plan now to create an overall design that will keep the garden one that grows — with some sense of order — into the future.
After I provide you with a design, I can also personally oversee the garden installation and planting, assuring that all elements are arranged as intended to create the harmony and balance of the original design.