I favor a light touch that uplifts California’s intrinsic beauty and respects the history already present around us.

Native plants bring life into gardens. They remind us of simple pleasures like the buzzing of bees, the chirping of hummingbirds, and the passing of the seasons. Connecting with these rhythms helps remind us of the ways that we are always in community with the life around us.

When we center native habitat, we respect the histories of our ecosystems, uplift centuries of indigenous stewardship, and celebrate California’s unique beauty. The land around us is a living record of these collective histories, written by the life around us. We can learn from these patterns by reusing materials and working with existing topography to help ground us in what is local and familiar. Of course, it always helps us save time, cost, materials, and waste, too.

I believe each of us has the desire and capacity for healing relationships.

It’s important to me that we choose native plants and materials that make you happy, and that you have the capacity to care for. I also make time for us to explore plant and hardscape selections, so we both understand how your built landscape will look and function.

During this process we often talk a lot about expectations, learning about what we need from the world around us and what it can sustainably provide. Sometimes we have expectations that aren’t sustainable, and that’s okay to recognize. The world we live in moves fast and sets high expectations for us, so it makes sense that we would also project those expectations outward. I believe we can each take conscious steps to disengage from anxiety, urgency, and competition. By poking small holes in the illusions of dehumanizing systems, we can expand our opportunities for self-reflection, healing, and play.

I encourage you to consider opportunities to incorporate slow processes of growth, rest, and seasonality in your life, such as weeding, watering, harvesting, pruning, planting, and observation.