Many homeowners either have never used design services before or have some misconceptions about it. The people who approach me are usually the ones who get it. So how can I help homeowners understand what landscape design is and the value of it?

“Gardening is like cooking. It is tempting to cook only with the goal of achieving great taste, with no thought of healthy eating. Similarly, it is tempting to garden only for beauty, without regard to the many ecological roles our landscapes perform. All too often, such narrow gardening goals result in a landscape so low in ecological function that it drains the vitality from the surrounding ecosystem.” - Doug Tallamy, the author of Nature’s Best Hope, A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard

The high profile work of influential designers in Holland, Germany, UK and the United States has in recent years led to a meteoric rise of the planting style known as ‘new naturalism’. The approach, which is both aesthetic and scientific, uses plant combinations that mimic wild landscapes, such as the American prairie and central European steppe grasslands, with herbaceous and evergreen perennials and ornamental grasses set out in bold sinuous swathes or smaller groupings.

Recognize that you can achieve beauty with fewer resources than conventional gardening law says you can.