Ecological Gardens . Sustainable Landscape . Habitat Management
A personalized approach to help you better understand your ecosystem. steward the land. create vibrant beauty. and find joy connecting to nature with
your own eco sanctuary
Services
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Education
If you want to understand the ecosystem you’re surrounded by in your yard, learn what plants you have, or work as a family to come up with a stewardship and habitat management plan- there’s a class or consultation for you!
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Design
Whatever project you have in mind, big or small, my design services help you create beautiful, sustainable, and ecologically beneficial native gardens and build, restore and manage habitats around you. If you’re ready to turn your home habitat into one that works with nature, let’s create your eco sanctuary together.
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Tagging & Invasive Removals
Available as a stand alone service or an add on to an educational consult, these services provide some extra help for DIY or your existing landscaper to successfully remove invasives and save natives present on site. Or, have it done for you.
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Events + Workshops @ The Island
Join one of our hosted events or workshops like Nature Crafting + Tea, Firefly Nights, Seed Collecting, or Wildlife Photography and more- or book privately!
About My Work
My work is my passion. And if we didn’t live in a late capitalist hellscape I would honestly be happy to wander around everyone’s yards and woods and streambeds all day for free just showing them plants and how to help the ecosystem and brain dumping all the ways we can make your space in your yard and home be your happy place (for you and nature).
The great news is- this in fact the work I get to do! And while I do offer some free workshops and educational talks (so join the mailing list), I offer a wide variety of services at varying price points. There’s something for everyone!
Many people are so ready and willing to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly in their way of living- and a great place to start is in your homes and yards! I work with folks of all ages to provide the education, customized designs, and strategic plans and support needed to empower them move forward with a more developed sustainability lens through which to filter the way they move through and understand the world around them.
I LOVE working with beginners. Folks who have the heart and truly want to participate in reducing harm and becoming a beneficial component of the ecosystem they’re living in- but just don’t know where or how to start. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the various information available online and it’s super easy to feel overwhelmed by looking at a mass of plants and not knowing what you’re seeing. My offerings are designed to help filter out the noise and use nuance and critical thinking to help you gain knowledge about the ecosystem you’re living in and make choices that work for you, your life, and your space- and the planet.
When working with folks to create their eco sanctuary and build beautiful native gardens, wildlife habitats, and manage the natural ecosystem around them as stewards, my approach is rooted in science, systems, and education combined with getting a nuanced understanding of your goals and preferences as well as listening to what the land needs.
On My Design Work
When it comes to my ecological garden and habitat designs or land management planning and custom strategy work, I’d love to give you some insight into how I work.
In new spaces, I work only with native plants- and generally stick to CT native straight species wherever possible as this has the most benefit and is a holistic approach to building a cultivated space that is also a healthy ecosystem. My goal in design is to have your ecosystem contain a minimum of 85% native species (but I love to see more!).
All land management practices taught or strategized will be with the goal of maximizing sustainability. I work with invasives to remove and manage them to bring your ecosystem back into balance and restore the native plant life which support our food chain and survival. I follow removal strategies that make sense for site and are rooted in science. I will avoid chemicals as much as possible with manual techniques but I do believe some specific scenarios are appropriate for a targeted application via a paint brush to a cut stem of specific herbicides depending on location and species.
I will incorporate ornamental non-natives in designs if they are already present or sentimental at the owner’s request but not if they are known for being aggressive/invasive and always after reviewing any contradictory care needs. I do my best not to generate waste and so for plants that may be moving out of your space, I will help you donate through mutual aid or guide you to sell if it helps you purchase the native replacement.
When it comes to edibles- I’m happy to incorporate some non-native vegetables and herbs and will certainly use native edibles like native species of strawberries and blueberries. I can also include spaces/beds dedicated to vegetables in plans, but I’m not the person for perfecting vegetable beds or edible-only spaces. My designs are focused on feeding the wildlife as much as ourselves and to encourage balance and the ability to share our space. If you’re okay with organic raised beds that you enclose with mesh for food growing -or- a bed or planters where you’re okay with sharing the goods with critters and that’s not going to send you into a panic attack, we can do that! But if you want to focus on what type of tomatoes to put in those spaces and how to prune them and eliminate pests from them (which usually means introducing insecticides- even ones labeled ‘organic’), that’s not my jam.
My personal take on using a lot of space for edibles is that if you live in proximity to small farms that run CSAs or sell edibles (of which we have many in CT), resources are better spent collectively to grow food for our whole community and support those experts in what they do. Vegetables require a lot of soil care, different land management that is not always copacetic with what a healthy natural ecosystem needs, and often, pest management. Whereas the goal of a healthy ecosystem is in fact to make a safe haven that balances itself where all life can thrive. So, much of our work may be shifting our perspectives around what we’ve learned defines ‘pests’.
In land + garden care strategies, we may of course discuss the most sustainable approaches to dealing with invasive or harmful insect species- but broad spraying to kill everything, or attracting insect life to our garden where they will be killed from plants treated with chemicals defeats the ethos behind participating in and regenerating ecosystems.
Space is valuable and the way we choose to cultivate it should be with much intentionality. My ethos is that our yards and naturalized spaces hold a ton of collective power when they collaborate to replace the habitats and ecosystems we have lost at an alarming rate over the last 70 years (which are needed to support food production on farms).
Across all of my services, my goal is creating customized solutions for your goals, life, & land and providing engaging + motivating education for all ages with the aim of achieving a healthier, more sustainable world where people can live once again as part of our ecosystem, rather than against it.
Please take a look at the available services below and I can’t wait to work with you!
Educational Consultations + Classes
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Learn What You Have- Invasives
$150
Ever look around your yard and get overwhelmed and just wish someone could tell you’ve got?
In this 1 hour home visit, I’ll help you learn what plants on your property are invasive species; how to identify them; understanding how they impact the ecosystem around them; and what to do about them. This private class seeks to minimize the feeling of overwhelm and empower homeowners with knowledge to begin better stewarding the land they call home.
With this service you’ll receive additional helpful resources like:
-guide on easy, super beginner way to identify plants on your own
-guide to managing common invasives
-garden practices or ecology + pollinators guide
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Learn What You Have- Natives + Invasives
$250
If you want to take it a step further and get an understanding of not only what ‘bad plants’ but also what ‘good plants’ you’ve got in your space, this is for you!
In this 1-1.5 hour home visit, I’ll help you learn what plants on your property are invasive species + native species; how to identify them; and what to do about them. You’ll learn about how they impact the ecosystem around them. This private class seeks to minimize the feeling of overwhelm and empower homeowners with knowledge to begin better stewarding the land they call home.
With this service you’ll receive additional helpful resources like:
-guide on easy, super beginner way to identify plants on your own
-guide to managing common invasives
-garden practices or ecology + pollinators guide
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Ecological Garden + Land Management Consultation
$350
For the homeowner who is really seeking to become the best steward of the land they call home and truly wants to understand the ecosystem they’re stewarding…PLUS wants to start approaching some design or landscaping projects- this is for you!
In this 1-1.5 hour home visit, we will discuss your specific desires and goals for your yard, gardens, or land and where you are at in your stewardship journey, then provide customized guidance, insights, + education for creating more sustainable, beautiful, and ecologically beneficial spaces.
This service is appropriate for folks who are looking to understand the ecosystem at their home, provide/build habitats, ecological gardens or sustainable landscapes, pollinator and bird gardens, improve biodiversity and health of their ecosystem, or manage naturalized areas like woodlands or watershed.
We may discuss specific projects or your property at large to help you narrow down a project scope. This service can cover land management and habitat restoration for more naturalized areas like watershed or woodland -or- more cultivated spaces like yards + gardens (or a combination of both).
With this service you’ll receive additional resources mentioned in smaller consult services as well as the following customized reports:
-Your Biodiversity Report (what natives/invasives we identified on your property, photos to identify them)
-Prioritized Task List customized to fit your goals/project needs for your ecosystem management or garden (as fits: resources and specific instructions for invasives and disposals; site care; recommended practices; + layouts/placement of beds or landscape features; recommended plant list).
*Please note this service may recommend species but does not include specific design/planting maps.
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Sustainability Consult + Assessment
$300
This private service takes a holistic view of environmental footprint- in and out of the home- and helps you find ways of improving your sustainability that fit your life and needs. If you’re interested in getting a better understanding of sustainability and improving the sustainability of your own habitat and life- your home and/or garden and the little habits and practices that color our day-to-day living, this is for you.
This service is designed to get a holistic understanding of the needs of your habitat and lifestyle, your desires and preferences, the needs of the environment around you that you impact, and then create an actionable plan and motivational goals for you and your household to achieve an improvement in your sustainability.
I provide customized and personalized guidance and creative solutions around water, waste, land management for home and garden, energy usage, consumer goods, and more to help you work towards a more sustainable home, garden, and lifestyle and to give you the sense of understanding of your ‘why’ and motivations.
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Land Stewardship for Kids + Families
$150 (base price for 4 people, $30/person beyond 4)
Get the whole family involved! This 1 hour private class at your yard engages kiddos of all ages with their family in developing a land stewardship lens and gets the whole family involved in the stewarding of that land!
We’ll take a look at the ecosystem present in your own yard that you are stewarding, learn about our roles in the ecosystem, and how we can support it. We’ll also identify land management tasks that are appropriate for the various ages so we can come up with a family plan to work as a unit for the land stewardship of your nature at home.
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Private Tour with Wildlife Watching + Seed Collecting at Old Mill Eco Island
$150 (base price for 4 people, $25/person beyond 4)
A private tour at Old Mill Eco Island to learn about the ecological gardens and habitats we build and steward here. We’ll also look for the wildlife that lives here- lots of bird watching, butterflies and pollinators, fireflies, and larger creatures to behold! We’ll discuss what practices and designs you may be able to duplicate in your own home. Depending on the time of year, we will also collect seeds or seedlings for your own garden.
Looking for an educational workshop or talk for your organization?
Check out my educational workshops and presentations on a variety of environmental and sustainability topics available for your group or event.
Ecological Garden + Habitat Design Services
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1 Pollinator Habitat Eco Garden Design
$200
A design map and plant list for 1 pollinator habitat eco garden of up to 30 sf. Design developed based on site conditions + goals and aesthetic preferences of owner. Design may include landscape feature or hardscape design recs.
I work with nearly all CT native species, but may incorporate a small number of native adjacent species (only if their range is also in the northeast/our ecozone and only if they are known to not be aggressive/invasive non natives). I will incorporate existing plants on site at owner request into a design if they are not invasive.
This service includes:
-30 min site assessment and consult
-planting map
-native plant list + recommended native nurseries/sellers
-site prep + planting instruction
-1st, 2nd, 3rd year maintenance plans
-guide for landscape practices for pollinator and habitat gardens
-guide for common invasive removal
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Design Consult
$75
Just want to pick my brain for an hour on projects, strategy, or design? Need someone to talk to about some ideas for plants, design elements, or making sure your plan is ecologically beneficial or reduces harm as much as possible? Or maybe you’re another DIYer and just need to talk to someone who has already completed a similar project!
Let’s chat! This Custom Design Consult is a one hour appointment where we can talk about whatever you want! Whether specifics or general ideas and strategic plans, my brain is yours for an hour!
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Ecological Garden + Habitat Design
Custom
Whether you’re looking to overhaul your landscape into vibrant, biodiverse, beautiful native gardens and sustainable features like dead hedges, organic fences, or recycled hardscapes and pathways… or wanting to create a dedicated habitat space or restore an ecosystem in a naturalized area,
this service provides the customized design plans and resources to achieve it.
Based on your site conditions and landscape features plus your preferences and goals, design plans are fully customized and built using CT native plants and sustainable practices.
I work with nearly all CT native species, but may incorporate a small number of native adjacent species (only if their range is also in the northeast/our ecozone and only if they are known to not be aggressive/invasive non natives). I will incorporate existing plants on site at owner request into a design if they are not invasive. I love working with small spaces to maximize their impact. For habitat restorations, I work with woodlands + watersheds.
Your plans will be created so you can either successfully DIY your project, hire your existing landscaper to follow the plan, or do a combination.
Price depends upon size of project and quotes will be provided after initial consult. I am happy to meet and take a look at your site/hear about your desires for a free initial consult. Most of my clients begin with one of the paid educational site consultations which include education and deliverables and decide to add on their design package from there.
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Design + Project Management
Custom
While the Design Service provides just the design plans and instructions for DIY or using your current landscaper to execute, many clients would like oversight throughout the process.
This service gives you the option to have me be present on site to oversee your contractors/landscapers or yourself and helpers on the install of your project. For large projects, the project management service allows you to use your own trusted contractors but have an experienced project manager take over from there and bring the gardens into reality.
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Design + Build
Custom
If you’d like to be completely hands off with all or some portions of projects, the design and build service allows me to not only create your design and strategic plans but to execute some or the entirety of the projects with my crew. We can provide invasive removals, site prep, building of sustainable design features such as dead hedges, creative fencing or recycled hardscape, and garden or habitat installs.
Let’s create your eco sanctuary
For the above design services, if you are interested specifically in working with me on a design project with any of the custom services, and you’d just like to meet me and chat about what you’re looking for, you can book a free Design Inquiry Meeting. This is a great way to start!
If you are, however, looking to get very specific feedback, insights and guidance, this would fall under the Design Consultation service -or- by selecting one of the educational services.
Tagging + Marking Services
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Add On: Tagging of Invasives for Removal
$150
If you did a consult or class, this add on service is available to you at this discounted rate:
If you did a consult or class and learned what invasives you have- but it’s a lot and you’re overwhelmed by the idea of remembering where they all are….
This add on service allows me to mark and tag all invasives in an area for removal so either you or your landscaper will know what to remove. You can refer them to the removal guide you receive for the ‘how’.
*This is for up to an hour of labor. For large or dense spaces that will take longer than an hour, it is $100 per additional hour.
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Add On: Tagging of Native Species to Save
$150
If you did a consult or class, this add on service is available to you at this discounted rate:
This service allows me to mark any native species I located in order to make sure either yourself, your family/helpers, or landscaper knows what plants NOT to remove (or which ones to dig up and relocate). When prepping a site or removing overgrowth or invasives, this can be super helpful to know you’re not also losing the beneficial plants already on your property! Particularly if they are understory species that blend into the mess easily or look similar to invasives.
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Add On: Tagging of Invasives for Removal + Native Species to be Saved or Relocated
$250
If you did a consult or class, this add on service is available to you at this discounted rate: This service tags both the invasives- marked for removal- and native species present so you/your family or your landscaper knows what plants to save.
*This is for up to an hour of labor. For large or dense spaces that will take longer than an hour, it is $100 per additional hour.
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Tagging of Invasives for Removal
$200
If you want to be able to have invasive plants removed from your property either by DIY or having helpers or a landscaper perform the labor, but you don’t know what to remove and the correct practice to not make their regrowth worse…
In this service I will mark and tag all invasives in an area for removal so either you or your landscaper will know what to remove. You’ll receive a removal guide with instructions you can follow for the ‘how’.
*This is for up to an hour of labor. For large or dense spaces that will take longer than an hour, it is $100 per additional hour.
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Tagging of Native Species to Save
$200
This service allows me to mark any native species I locate on your property in order to make sure either yourself, your family/helpers, or landscaper knows what plants NOT to remove (or which ones to dig up and relocate). When prepping a site or removing overgrowth or invasives, this can be super helpful to know you’re not also losing the beneficial plants already on your property! Particularly if they are understory species that blend into the mess easily or look similar to invasives.
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Tagging of Invasives for Removal + Native Species to be Saved or Relocated
$300
This service tags both the invasives- marked for removal- and native species present so you/your family or your landscaper knows what plants to save.
*This is for up to an hour and a half of labor. For large or dense spaces that will take longer than an hour, it is $100 per additional hour.
Invasive Removals
If you’re looking to have me do the actual removal of the invasives and would like me to perform that with my crew, please select the Invasive Removals option in the inquiry form and provide details about square footage/species that you may know. This is a custom quoted service.
Nature Events + Workshops at The Island
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Nature Crafting + Tea Gatherings at Old Mill Eco Island
Does sitting under the shade of the giant yew tree next to the brook babbling by and surrounded by bird song and beauty while enjoying making a craft or art using materials from nature and sipping tea sound like an absolutely perfect day to you?
Book this service as a private event or join an open workshop when I host these events. Event pricing starts at $50/person depending on the craft being offered. Some examples of crafts have been botanical dying, silk scarf water dying, botanical inks painting, watercolor botanical printing, making holiday ornaments, mending and patchwork and more.
Submit an inquiry to book a private event or join the mailing list for events to find out about the next available event. Space is limited.
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Firefly Viewing
The magic of late June and early July nights when the air fills with fireflies here on the island in undeniable. Our ecological practices have increased the firefly population on the island 5 fold in the last 5 years and we are home to at least 5 species between our tall grass open space, forest, and water’s edges.
To sit in the quiet and watch the dark sky fill with their various blinking lights marking their flight patterns, is nothing short of zen. Folks have been moved to tears, felt it to be deeply healing in this connection to nature, and filled with joy and reminded of childhoods long ago.
Join the mailing list to find out about available events or book a private event.
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Bird Watching + Wildlife Photography
If you’re an avid bird watcher or photographer, the island is host to a wide variety of native bird species including Great Blue Herons, 5 species of woodpeckers with visible nests, and more. Not to mention all the other fun wildlife around here! Submit an inquiry to book a private slot on the island to watch and photograph or join the mailing list to find out about classes or joining a larger group.
Hi! To book any of the eco garden and habitat services on this page, simply fill out this form! If you are booking an educational service, design consultation, or private event, I’ll reach out to get it coordinated. If you are reaching out with an inquiry about custom design services and would like to start that process with an Initial Design Meeting or get a quote, you will find a section for that in this form. If you are starting with an educational service or consultation, but would also like to discuss a custom design project, you may select everything you’re interested in below! I do my best to respond to all inquiries within 4 days (but usually sooner).
Book Your Service
For Landscape Professionals
If you’re a landscape professional whose clients have been asking you more and more about native plants, invasives, and more sustainable yards, and you’re feeling like you need to learn some answers to your clients’ questions or get more familiar with designs for natural gardens, I offer classes to teach you and your staff about these topics.
There is fast growing interest in the public for native plants and sustainable landscaping so let me help you serve your clients and meet this incoming demand!
Submit an inquiry to schedule or get a quote.