WORK WITH ME

HOW TO BE A MODERN HUMAN WHO HAS A YARD

You bought the place partly to have your own yard. For you. For your kids. But it feels like a huge burden rather than an amenity.

There’s enough already about life that feels burdensome - your yard need not feel that way.

What usually happens when you buy a home

You’re chill and act casual about your ugly yard but it actually is really a bother. Not just because of vanity (well it’d be nice if it looked great) but it’s also a pain to keep from looking too terrible (like it takes work to not look terrible and yet it still kinda sucks.) You have a full life - how did your parents do it all!?

You’ve thought about improvements but get stuck in a Pinterest hole. Your to-do list is never ending, how are also to take care of this yard that isn’t sparking joy?

I get the dilemma

I used to blanket ‘not like’ gardens, but really I do like gardens. I just don’t like fussy things.

I watched my parents experience their yard as a burden. The distant weedy corner was always calling “weed me, weed me.” Insatiable. Meanwhile, I was running and screaming joyfully and naked through the yard (I was a child).

The native forest, next to our official gardened ‘yard’, was always the most magical part. I thought - why not restore more of the yard to native forest and give yourself less weeding? The looser wilder parts were the magical ones (where the best spells could be cast).

I wanted to recreate that nostalgic sense of ‘wild’ through gardens. I studied landscape architecture at UC Berkeley and worked in high-end design, and experimented a lot myself. I’ve learned that it is possible to have a yard and to enjoy it. I’m pumped to say - a garden can be easier and more enjoyable than you think.

Imagine simply feeling happy to see your garden

Imagine taking your laptop and tea to a cozy table and chair, feeling the coolness of shade, hearing the leaves rustle, smelling green. Imagine you are actually in your garden enjoying it. Imagine that you know how to take care of your garden. You just do it. It feels good. It isn’t endless. Imagine your kid out there - truck in the sand pit - enjoying themselves full with the neighbors. Imagine the sense of play and discovery as they find a frog chillin’ or when you notice a new species of bird on your feeder.

Here’s where garden design comes in

I’ll steer you through an easy process, from design through install, so you get a garden that delights you and doesn’t weigh you down.


We’ll start with your goals (lofty or humble) and explore how they can harmoniously fit into the place. We’ll start with a broad framework to guide us in honing in on all the decisions - from where the Douglas Maple goes, to the metal finish of the path light. When the design is complete, we’ll bring in a landscape contractor to build it.

What you’ll learn

  • How to make the most out of your space

  • What sort of garden will feel good to you and your family, and be manageable

  • Priorities for your outdoor space so you can optimize your budget for what counts

What you’ll get

  • Outdoor spaces that feel magical and where you want to be

  • An ecological garden without sacrificing beauty: there will be a balance

  • A garden with a high ratio of reward to input of resources and effort, both in the build and in the maintenance

  • An easy design and build process, with preferred contractors and gardeners to work with in building and maintaining the garden

  • A garden that looks good and is nice to to be in in the long PNW off-season. Gardens should be functional places to be at all times of the year in the temperate PNW.

  • Climate-adapted planting that will live through weather extremes and neglect, informed by my broad knowledge of climate-adapted native (and not-native) plants

“Jonathan’s designs combine fun surprises and refined taste. Seeing his imagination at work is a joy.”

Steve Hanson, Back to Forest Garden

What would it be worth to come home to a garden you love and can easily take care of?

Consider these outcomes

Money - Less money on water and maintenance

Time - Less maintenance and headache

Health - You’ll be outside enjoying more

Love - Your kids and people will be out there too

Freedom - Your garden won't need diapers

Reach out now

Please fill out my questionnaire now to see if we are a good fit!

I just take on a handful of projects at a time, so please get in touch now. I like to give each my projects plenty of attention and want to feel fresh for each, so don’t take on many.

After you fill out the questionnaire, I’ll get in touch within a week. If it seems like we could be a good fit, we’ll have a phone call (or meet up at your property if you’re in the Seattle area), and have a conversation about the project.

From there, you’ll have a sense of how it would be working together. I’ll follow up with a fee proposal for design work and you can decide if you’d like to move forward.

FAQS

  • After we meet up, I’ll follow up with a fee proposal for design work. You can decide whether to sign up for a full design process, or whether to start with concept design to test the waters. Design cost will depend on the complexity of the project and site.

  • We can phase it out! It works well to start with a framework plan for the whole project to see how the design fits together. We can figure out the best way to phase a build so it is the least disruptive and that your garden becomes useful in the near-term (while planning for the sauna to be built later).

  • I’ll help steer you through a clear and easy process to solutions that make sense for you and your humble 
or lofty garden aspirations. Glad to collaborate if you have a lot of ideas, though I typically guide the ship and give clear alternatives for you to choose from.

  • It all depends on the project size. Small renovations can take a few months to complete. Larger projects can take 3-9 months to design and then longer to build.

  • One of the most frequent things that comes up is that design-build contractors are great at sorting out project budget and ballpark costs very quickly before you get into design, and then designing around those budget parameters. For me (and landscape architects generally), we typically do a bit of basic investigative design work first with you before going to a contractor for costing. So, typically you invest a bit in the design before getting full budget clarity. On the flipside, if you don’t know exactly what you want, it’s helpful to start with a bit of design work to get to clarity on what the ideal project scope is. We can always scale back to meet budget goals.

  • Yes, I work regularly with a number of contractors in the Seattle area and the San Francisco Bay Area.

  • I will leave you with a general guide for what to expect and care of my gardens, can offer a specific care guide for the plants in your garden, and connect you with a trusted gardener to help. I also offer maintenance consulting to help you (or your gardener) understand how to take care of your garden over the seasons and years (especially over the first few years of establishment).