Two designers. One way of working.

A manifesto of sorts

Why we work the way we work.

Most residential landscape design in America is the wrong shape for the land. Imported palettes, high-water plant lists, hardscapes sized for photographs rather than life, and maintenance programs that require replacing a third of the plant stock every year.

We started Meadow & Stone because we wanted to design gardens that could survive their own third summer. That meant native and climate-adapted plants, drystone instead of poured concrete walls, and a design process that doesn't try to hide from the place we're actually working in.

What we ask of the land.

Every site has a truth it would rather be. A south-facing decomposed-granite slope on the Front Range wants to be short-grass prairie. A shaded north-side courtyard wants to be fern and moss. Our job is to listen for that truth, push back where the client needs something the site can't easily give, and find the middle.

What we ask of the client.

Patience. A garden is a living thing; the first year looks like nothing, the second year looks like a start, the third year looks like it was always there. If you want a finished picture opening day, we're the wrong studio for you.

Also a willingness to spend time in the garden. Our clients don't hire a gardener for weekly maintenance, they tend their own gardens, with our quarterly help, because that's how a garden becomes theirs.

What we won't do.

• Standard turf lawns, we'll replace them but won't install new.
• Fire pits or outdoor kitchens as the primary design element.
• Plant species imported from wet-climate nurseries that can't hold their own here.
• Maintenance programs that depend on us showing up weekly.