"Each site has its own special qualities of stone and earth and water, of leaf and blossom, of architectural context, of sun and shade, and of sounds and scents and breezes. Seek these out, and you will discover promises of formal order or of artful naturalism – the beginnings of your garden." — Charles Moore, The Poetics of Gardens

Sometimes a site offers inspiration readily, in the angle of afternoon light, a venerable oak, a view worth framing. More often, the qualities have to be coaxed into being, or created outright. Either way, the work of creating a garden flows from a genuine reading of the land, its light and soil and seasonal rhythms, its relationship to the surrounding architecture and the broader landscape beyond. My job is to work closely with you and to help each garden become something it couldn't have arrived at without collective vision and care.

Living Landscapes, Rooted in Place

My work is rooted in one of the most ecologically distinctive stretches of coastline in California, a landscape that rewards close study and never stops revealing something new. Where the Transverse Ranges meet the Pacific and the Channel Islands stand offshore, a south-facing shore enjoys a climate of exceptional mildness, distinguished by a rich mosaic of microclimates and an extraordinary diversity of plants. Distilling this ecological tapestry into deeply personal spaces is the heart of my practice.

For planting inspiration, I work from the site outward, reading its topography, soil, water, and light, and looking to the nearby wild ecosystems shaped by those same forces. That California natives form the foundation of this palette is intentional. These species co-evolved with local pollinators, birds, and wildlife over millennia, and a garden rooted in those relationships sustains the living community around it while growing more beautiful and resilient with time.

Ecological commitment doesn't mean a narrow palette. By reading your site's unique microclimates, I reach beyond local natives to include resilient species from several nearby ecoregions. This approach not only adapts your garden to potential future climate shifts but unlocks a richer aesthetic potential, introducing unexpected textures and extended bloom times. The result is a landscape that is as visually rewarding as it is ecologically generous, one that deepens biodiversity and thrives amidst environmental change.

Beauty, Sanctuary, and the Garden in Time

An ecological garden is also a garden in time. Plant communities settle into one another, self-sow, fill gaps, and shift subtly from season to season and year to year. The garden becomes a living thing with its own momentum, gently guided rather than rigidly controlled.

None of this comes at the expense of beauty or human pleasure. On the contrary. A garden that hums with pollinators, shelters birds, and responds visibly to the seasons is simply a more alive and engaging place to be in, and a more restorative sanctuary for the people who inhabit it. Paths, seating, and planting compositions are designed to draw you in, slow you down, and reward close attention — the difference between glancing at a garden and actually being in one. A mature garden also has a quality that is harder to name: a sense of depth and enclosure, of its own ecology and order, of having arrived somewhere. There is always room, too, for a plant chosen simply because it makes you happy.