Water Retention Landscapes

We design, install and care for landscapes with an emphasis on native and edible plants that balance beauty, function, and ecosystem cohesion. Based on each client’s unique location and goals, we can add to local biodiversity, grow an abundance of food, and reduce irrigation needs. No project is too big or too small, and if you want a single tree planted, we’re happy to do it.

We use earthworks to “plant the rain”, by slowing, spreading, and sinking precipitation in the soil. Earthworks include terraces, ponds, swales, beaver dam analogs, check dams, infiltration basins, hugelkultur beds, sunken beds, and curb cuts. Earthworks are designed to passively store water in the soil to provide more consistent hydration and organic matter collection, which improves the biological life in the soil. Greater amounts of water on the landscape throughout the year means improved resilience to drought and wildfire, less supplemental irrigation, more food production, more wildlife habitat , and replenished aquifers.

Modeled after patterns observed in natural forest ecosystems, we can help you create polyculture agroforestry landscapes focused on climate-adapted perennial tree crops grown among mutually beneficial understory plants. Imagine something like an orchard, but with a variety of species all intermixed, and without the herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, synthetic fertilizers, and endless watering. These deep-rooted forest gardens produce food for decades while requiring less maintenance every year.

We can help you transition a conventional water-demanding lawn into a much more drought tolerant lawn composed of native grasses and/or wildflowers that provide superb habitat and beauty.

If you’re looking for personalized stewardship assistance, we offer on-site and remote consulting to help with observing, analyzing, and caring for your landscape. Our goal is to help you work with the natural elements in your site to have the greatest impact with the least amount of effort. We can work with you to understand the ecology of your site and formulate approachable plans for actualizing your landscape vision.

Greywater is the outflow from showers, baths, and washing machines, which can be gravity fed to irrigate plants. When done correctly, this is a safe and low-tech way to passively irrigate your landscape with water that would otherwise unnecessarily go into the sewer or septic. We’re happy to help analyze your site to see if greywater would be an effective strategy, and if so, we can install a system that fits your usage criteria and the landscape it will support.

Using locally harvested small diameter trees from thinning projects, we build roundwood trellises, arbors, shade structures, and more. If you have logs on-site, we can transform them into shelters that serve a purpose while blending in with the landscape.

Turn your abundance back into rich soil by recycling organic matter with composting bays, made from reclaimed or local materials. We can build composting setups that fit your specific aesthetic and usage.

Betsy M.

Kristen J.