Services
Design
Design begins with the practical and moves to the magical. How can one move through this space so that it flows? How can one find the beauty and the awe that nature offers along that path? It starts with the path, the view, and then the desires of the client for scent and color, food and flowers, birds and atmosphere. Andrea will always try to plant thyme, as a simple example, because who doesn’t need more thyme?
Installation
Installation experience will guarantee a successful garden. Irrigation, soil type and preparation, siting and planting, are the areas of expertise a customer should expect with the installation. With Andrea guiding the work, these are standards that come with her years of experience with Marin’s various microclimates.
Maintenance
A garden is only as good as it’s maintenance. As a gardener, proper pruning, staking, fertilizing, irrigation management, and problem assessment are skills that an experienced gardener like Andrea and her team provide. Andrea is all-organic. Blowers are not her specialty unless on hardscape only, and she is a firm believer that leaves on the ground are a valuable resource for the soil and can be managed without a blower scouring the earth away.
Specialties
Edibles
Andrea was a farmer before she was a gardener. She developed her skills at food production as a farmer at Green Gulch Farm in Muir Beach, growing and harvesting kale, chards, spinach, beets, potatoes, favas, lettuces and broccoli. Now she sees how fabulous it is to have these beauties in the home landscape. From raised beds to integrated inter-cropping to herbariums to citrus, Marin can have so much food abundance. Why not?
Natives
The plant that will survive the best in Marin is the native plant. They can find nutrients in the heavy clay soil, water in the depths, and survive the fierce sun or wet foggy dells without fuss. Sticky monkey flowers, cistus, yarrows and salvias, penstemons and native grasses, arctostaphylus, oak/bay/madrone guilds, ferns, nettles, columbine and california poppies, the options are many and strong choices for a landscape that is hardy and perfectly appropriate for the microclimate.
Vertical Walls
Vertical walls are plants on walls. These are custom panels, designed for your space with considerations for light, colors and interest. I sell these with a maintenance package so that your panels are always looking beautiful. More information coming soon!
Habitat
The habitat of a garden is a refuge for both humans and creatures. From hummingbirds to salamanders, habitats will attract them if we build them. With habitat loss and species extinction on the rise, this consideration in design can be met in many ways. Do you have a bat box to bring in these mosquito eaters? Bird feeder? Fountain? Plants that butterflies need to survive? A garden has something for every living thing,
“Andrea is so creative and visionary. She looks for color, form, and texture, but always focuses on water usage, habitat, and scent as her priorities."
— S. Rawlins