With a degree in biology and looking for a way to apply it, I interviewed a few professionals to get some advice. My conversation with a landscape designer brought my attention to a job that seemed to bring my background in biology and a childhood as an artist’s daughter together nicely. It also led to a job. As I worked at the garden center and took master gardener classes, I got to know a wide variety of plants. Being surrounded by gardeners who didn’t mind all my questions also gave me a quick boost. After leaving the garden center to start a family, I continued to garden at home, and then garden with children. Talk about a reality check! While I love to be outside, I found myself mostly inside, and wondering why. And wondering why most people didn’t use their yards. How often do you see people in their yards, other than behind the mower? After a few years, I began to do plans for friends. We would talk about their real lives, real yard conditions, real needs and dreams. I tried to help them install these designs on their own, as several of them didn’t want to hire professionals. During that process I started to learn what was practical, what people can do, and where they most needed help installing their landscape.
All the while, my husband and I (and then children) would go hiking and visiting his family in these mountains. I've always loved these mountains, always felt at home here. Tulip poplar groves, fern draped mountain seeps, intricate spring ephemerals, and glowing yellow hickories in the fall - I can't believe I get to live here. The plants that grow here are truly beautiful and I love to incorporate them into home landscapes whenever I can.
The biology degree never left me, and one of my favorite classes had been ecology. When I had the opportunity to take some classes in horticulture, the echoes of that ecology class came through in many of my horticulture classes and readings. There were people advocating horticulture and landscape design as a way to strengthen our ecosystems.
So now, I love to put those experiences and ideas to work. I enjoy getting to know each client, their tastes, desires and needs. I want to design landscapes that each homeowner finds beautiful and useful. And along the way, maybe I can help that landscape function just a little bit better with the wider, beautiful world around it.