Have a look at some well established gardens.
Shifting to more native plants and naturalistic design
What makes a garden good? A good garden can evoke joy and calm, quiet and song. A garden is good when it seems to belong in the very place it calls its home. A good garden also holds the potential to be a healthy ecosystem within the larger landscape of our neighbourhoods. It can nurture the health of the local environment by providing ecological services such as food and shelter for insects that help the environment and songbirds. Good gardens matter. Native plants often serve these functions much better than non-native plants, so to include them in our gardens matters.
Why naturalistic design? Naturalistic garden design seeks to create gardens which appear to be unstudied echos of natural settings – the meadow, the savannah, the woodland edge, the woodland. Carefully considered, dense plantings of layered plant typologies create beautiful effects while also providing optimal conditions for the plants and the creatures which will be drawn to the space.
I make gardens personal.
I help make gardens personal for homeowners by sharing my creative awareness of the beautiful possibilities of plant combinations. The plants are knit together into thriving communities suited precisely to the particular growing conditions and needs of their new home, their very own good garden.
I live and grow my garden in my Westboro neighbourhood (Ottawa, ON). I care deeply about this particular place. I believe that care for the earth can be expressed in beautiful, dense and diverse, thoughtfully tended gardens which attract and support an abundance of creatures.
Services
- Blank bed: I help homeowners imagine their garden starting from a blank bed to a thriving plant community. I design, purchase, install and help teach the steps involved in stewarding the plantings. I typically visit the gardens I have planted at least once per season to check in and say hello.
- Rejuvenate: I re-imagine and rejuvenate established gardens. The essential “bones” exist, but the plantings have grown weary or the gardener’s esthetic has changed.
- Design or consult: I may provide a detailed garden design or simply offer verbal consultations and DIY encouragement.
- Collaborate: Many homeowners want to do their own work, but lack plant knowledge and gardening skills. I often work alongside people, sometimes on our knees together in the garden, sharing my knowledge while gardeners learn skills, gain satisfaction and save on labour costs. Such collaborations can be very enjoyable for everyone, including me.
Credentials
I have more than 30 years of gardening experience.
- Bachelor of Science degree, Queens University
- Master Gardener Program Training, Dalhousie University (2017)
- New Naturalism Academy, (March 2023)
- Organic Master Gardener, Gaia College (April 2023)
Contact
- 613-869-7092 (cell)
- tapestrygardendesigns@gmail.com or use the form below