Services
plant provides Landscape Design and Construction services, offers Garden Coaching, Consultations and Project Management and can help with Maintenance on the finished product.
Whole Systems Design
When designing, be it a private residence, farm, ranch or public space, plant aims to create a system with a diversity of functional connections. We look at the entire system as a whole not just the sum of individual parts.
Aided by putting things where they go, the components of the system act interdependently and waste is managed for productivity. An abundant living environment has now been created. Even as the problems become increasingly complex, with Whole Systems Design, the solutions become embarrassingly simple and the needs for shelter, energy, water and food can easily be met.
- Site Assessment
- Detailed Renderings
- Land Use Planning
- Holistic Mangement
- Eco-Community Development
- Public Landscapes
Edible Landscapes and Food Forests
Growing your own food allows one to control the inputs, save monies and conserve resources. Perennial polycultures are a main ingredient when designing our food systems. We use regionally appropriate plant guilds that boost production and give our systems the diversity and multi-functionality that we feel is so important. plant can help you turn garden maintenance into harvesting the abundance. And of course, we spend the time to make sure the soil is at optimum levels before we purchase a single seed or plant.
- Practical Food Growing / Food Not Lawns
- Multi-layered Food/Medicinal Forests
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Beyond Organic Farm Conversion / Farm Planning
- Composting / Teas
- Biodynamics
Drought-Proofing
As water becomes increasingly scarce, plant offers options for drought-proofing your site, giving you a diversity of strategies towards rehydrating and creating an abundance of water.
- Keyline Design
- Rainwater Catchment
- Grey Water Recycling
- Earthworks Water Harvesting
- Steps to Reduce Water Consumption
Ecological Restoration / Conservation
As the number of humans residing on the planet increases so, too do the number of degraded, damaged and destroyed landscapes. plant provides services designed to accelerate the healing and return to health of these places. We start with the soil and work through matters of water quality, stream revegetation, native plant revival and wildlife habitat re-establishment.
- Soil Improvement
- Native Plant and Habitat Revival
- Erosion Control
- Stream Revegetation
- Hedgerows, Shelterbelts and Windbreaks
Natural Building
We prefer natural building due to the environmental sustainability, minimal impact and shear beauty.
- Non-Toxic Building Materials
- Sustainable Homesite Planning
- Earthbag Garden Seat Walls
- Recycled Concrete Planters and Retaining Walls
- Cob Ovens
Maintenance
We use Battery-powered Mowers, Blowers and Weed Trimmers along with manual-powered Hand Tools and never any pesticides.
Sustainable Maintenance Programs at competitive prices
Tired of the “Mow, Blow and Go” care your garden receives??
Landscapes are living things which never cease to evolve. This constant change requires maintenance to keep them in step with human demands.
A sustainably designed and constructed landscape must have an attentive maintenance program in order for that space to continue as a sound environment.
This basically means that the living part of the landscape must be kept healthy and that the constructed parts kept in repair.
Many think of maintenance as “upkeep” or keeping things the same.
Here at plant we like to think of maintenance as “reacting to change”.
Conventional maintenance brings about considerable costs to the environment.
Conversely, plant has installed the following sustainable maintenance practices to lessen the strain on our ecosystems:
- Many maintenance tasks can be better done with hand tools because they produce high-quality results, a low environmental impact and much less noise pollution.
- When equipment is called for, we use electric/battery-powered machines, if such an option exists.
- ALL landscape care products will be organic and natural (NO chemicals).
- In the near future, we plan to power/charge our equipment with a portable solar-powered generator and switch our vehicles over to non-petroleum engines.
Maintenance Services available include:
- Care of Lawns…..mowing, seeding, thatching, aeration
- Weed, Pest and Disease Control
- Fertilization Programs
- Soil Health…..mulching, conditioning
- Pruning…..control size, improve shape
- Irrigation…..repair, water conservation
- Spring/Fall Clean-up
- Water Garden/Pond Care
- Edible Garden Design/Coaching
- Special Projects….reducing lawn size, restoring landscapes, composting systems
We will create a detailed program based on you and your landscape’s needs and then a customized contract will be drawn up. The rest is left up to our highly skilled crew of landscape craftsmen.
Let us care for your space so you can spend more time enjoying it.
Ask for a FREE ESTIMATE!!
Projects
Slack St., San Luis Obispo, Ca.
This client felt the time had come to remove their front lawn bordered by creosote-soaked railroad ties which was installed 25 years prior. The removal process involved planting right on top of the existing turf using a sheet mulch method where no machinery was used. Trees and other perennial edibles anchored this mini-botanical garden with paths weaving through drought-tolerant grasses, flowers and succulents. Some of the edibles included strawberry, blueberry, pineapple guava, loquat, pomegranate, jujube, Oregon grape and kumquat. The second phase turned the lower level into a 4-in-1 orchard where 24 trees were planted throughout 6 holes. Throughout this project, recycled and local materials such as lumber, hardware, drip tube, broken concrete, horse manure and woodchips found usefulness in very aesthetically pleasing ways.
Prickly Pear Way, Arroyo Grande, Ca.
This large back lawn area was quickly being overtaken by weeds when the family decided a transformation into an edible space would offer myriad benefits. Favorable exposure and soil conditions, close proximity to the kitchen and well-situated majestic oaks made creating the conditions for an edible wonderland fairly straight forward from the start. A thirteen tree food forest with earthwork swales and berms doubling as raised paths was constructed on a slope. Edible bushes, vines, groundcovers, soil accumulators, medicinals, pollinator attractors and natives were mixed in throughout to form a multi-layered polyculture. A level patio is surrounded by raised urbanite spirals, mandalas and keyholes which are filled with culinary herbs and annual edibles. Decomposed granite paths meander through local mushroom farm compost enhanced planting areas of white sage, leymus, opuntia, agave, yucca and protea.
Pichachio Rd., Cayucos, Ca.
Kings Ave, Morro Bay, Ca.
Tips
Plant’s Top Ten Reasons for an Organic, Sustainable Landscape
10. Good for bio-diversity
9. Wildlife-friendly
8. Encourages appropriate legislation
7. Builds healthy soils
6. Limits chemical use
5. Better for children
4. Reduces health risks
3. Cleaner air and water
2. Conserves resources
1. Healthier plants
Plant’s 10+ Ways to Make Your Landscape More Sustainable
13. Create a rain garden
12. Use recycled materials
11. Grow your own food
10. Install a green roof
9. Use electric or battery-powered tools
8. Plant trees/shrubs to block summer sun/winter winds
7. Plant native species
6. Install a rain barrel
5. Use permeable hardscapes
4. Convert to drip irrigation
3. Replace lawn with eco-lawn or meadow
2. Make a compost bin
1. Use organic fertilizers/herbicides/pesticides
Sustainable Gardens
- Sustainable gardens require 1/3 less maintenance and 1/4 the water consumption of the conventionally designed garden. They also avoid dump fees and removal/replacement of unhealthy plants.
- Over a 20-year life span, maintenance costs for a sustainable garden are 37% less than a conventional garden.
- Maintenance is 86% of the design/construct costs with conventional gardens vs. 62% for sustainable design.
- Doing design/construction right the first time ends up costing about 57% of doing it cheaply and without professional help.
The 7 F’s of Food Forestry
- Food, Fuel, Fiber, Fodder, Fertilizer, Farmacueticals, Fun
Press Releases
Links
