We design and build residential landscapes along the Colorado Front Range, gardens that look like they were always there. Native planting, drystone walls, climate-adapted design. Three to eight projects a year, done well.
We don't do outdoor kitchens, fire pits, or checklist-style backyards. We design gardens, places that change with the seasons, that need the right amount of care, and that look like the land they're on.
Every planting plan leans on species that belong here, Rocky Mountain beardtongue, pasque flower, little bluestem, serviceberry, skunkbush sumac. Less water, less maintenance, more wildlife. Non-natives only when they serve a specific structural or seasonal purpose.
Hand-built drystone using local sandstone and quartzite. No mortar, no fresh grout lines. Walls that will still be here in 80 years and that let the garden drain, breathe, and self-seed through the joints.
A real garden takes three to five years to settle. We design in seasons, spring emergence, summer pollinators, fall structure, winter seed-heads. You won't get a "finished" look opening day, and that's the point.
A cross-section of what we do, residential scale, a mix of prairie, terrace, and courtyard. Each one took its own time.
A half-acre south-facing slope that had been over-watered turf for 30 years. We stripped it back to soil, regraded for rainwater retention, and reseeded with a 20-species short-grass prairie mix. The first year looks like nothing. The third year is unrecognizable.
Install: Oct 2024 · Pollinator count season 2: 43 species · Water use down 78% vs. prior turf.
A three-level drystone terrace set into a steep lot behind a 1902 Queen Anne. Sandstone sourced within 40 miles, hand-stacked over five weeks. Planting keeps to the 1900s horticultural vocabulary, wild rose, peony, fern, but sized for low-water reality.
Install: Apr–June 2024 · Materials: local Lyons sandstone · Homeowners garden every morning.
A small (650 sq ft) walled courtyard off a mid-century modern. Quiet, evergreen, introverted, meant to feel like an extension of the living room. Paved in reclaimed flagstone with moss encouraged in the joints. Six carefully chosen plant species.
Install: Fall 2023 · Plant palette: 6 species · Used year-round.
We ask every client to write a short note a year after install, when the garden has had a chance to settle. Here are a few.
The first year I kept asking myself if we'd made a mistake. By the second spring, I understood. I've never had a garden that felt this much like it belonged to the place we live.
My water bill dropped by two-thirds. More importantly, I spend 10 minutes a day in the yard instead of forty. It's become the room I want to sit in.
Consultations are $175 for the first 90 minutes; credited back against design if we work together. We talk with everyone before saying yes.