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Aesthetics. . . AND Ethics!

Design By Nature Studio was founded in 2001 by a human rights activist and environmental steward who was looking to turn a passion for creating a more beautiful, and just, world into a profession.


At that time, garden design defaulted to a limited palette of ornamental plants and lawns; fertilized and controlled by toxic chemicals. The most frequent request was for a 'Tropical' style garden. As you can imagine, being a native, drought tolerant, and edible plant specialist in those first few years was extremely challenging.


Yet from the greatest challenges arise the greatest victories! Today, there are frequent requests for native and drought tolerant plants. And, instead of fielding requests to install and design around lawns, We're recieving inquiries about lawn substitutes and, better still, requests to remove the lawns entirely.


It's difficult to imagine a parameter or metric for determining if this company was a large or small part of the transformation of the landscape marketplace. However, I like to think that it was a valuable component, regardless. Witnessing the improvement of the original, coupled with a hope for continued progress, inspires us to continue fighting for the next evolution of garden designs, construction, and maintenance. Will you be a part of the borderless garden movement too?