Since 2000 I have been designing residential landscapes with the intention of enhancing habitat for people, plants and wildlife. I started in the Twin Cities with my own design/build and maintenance company, Asylum Design. Over five years, with the help of an enthusiastic crew and a supportive family I worked on 30 garden projects that translated spirit of the prairie/savannah ecosystem into urban spaces. We also grew native plants and organic veggie starts for our clients, our annual plant sale extravaganza, and our market stand.

Now I’m starting a fifth season designing in Portland, Oregon with Dennis’ Seven Dees, a 60-year old family-owned company that offers a
design program for Do-It-Yourselfers. Recently I finished an amazing Permaculture Design Certification course. My mind is overflowing with new approaches and decision making tools to help clients move towards sustainable (and fun!) solutions to managing their property. Even better, I met so many resourceful and energetic people that are doing inspiring work. I’ve been able to immediately implement some ideas in my own garden, which is taking shape now. More to come!

Read my top 3 Landscape Design tips.

Here are some examples of past work. Click on images to see them larger.

Permaculture Design Course Project, PSU Art Building, 2010

Working sketch - Luso-Baroque style permaculture plot
Mulysa and Michael’s Portland garden, 2009

Master Plan - Family Garden
Southeast Portland, Oregon

Plan of a Front Yard Garden
St. Paul, Minnesota, 2003
A late 40’s brick ranch house on a large lot gets an update, adding wildlife value, seasonal interest and lower maintenance.

Illustration of a garden I visited
London, England 2004.

Fenton House has a 300 year old orchard with bees and a green house, a kitchen garden, a formal lawn with topiary, color boarders, tubs planted with Agapanthus, a sunken rose garden, clipped hedges, benches under arbors: all in a relatively small area. It’s delightful. I loved it so I drew this plan of it.

Concept sketch
Roseville, Minnesota, 2000
This suburban ranch house was surrounded by a lot of lawn and not much else. The property was backed by a railway right of way that was home to lots of wildlife and an interesting mix of plants, but the yard was so open it felt stark and exposed. In this working sketch, beds around the house extended to the front and back property lines, making a functional wildlife corridor that brought the scale of the yard in line with the house and created more private places to relax. The final design kept more lawn space, but still allowed for generous beds layered with native and drought tolerant plantings in shades of blue, white and silver. It became a place where the family wanted to be.

Cottage Garden Plan
St. Paul, Minnesota, 2002
A very small, bland front yard with a retaining wall became an exuberant flower garden that matched the homeowner’s fun-loving personality. Bold magenta, fuchsia and purple blooms brought in butterflies, songbirds and hummingbirds, and a structural backdrop of evergreens and wrought iron provided interest in the winter.