Recently I wrote an article about the link between using Japanese Barberry shrubs in landscaping and an increase in human Lyme disease infection rates in the surrounding neighborhoods. As people in Saratoga Springs, NY are learning about how we the people are collaborating against ourselves in a public health crisis through lazy and shortsighted landscaping practices, [...]
Invasives and Nuance I've had a long and complicated relationship with Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum), and we finally broke up for good this year. The opening photo shows C. perfoliatum's cousin, Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum). It's Invasive Species Awareness Week, so I thought maybe it's a good time to open up about my experience of [...]
Drone View of a Saratoga Lake Garden Natural Landscaping Photo Shoots in Saratoga Springs, NY This summer past we had the happy occasion to work with Ray Stockwell of Stockwell Media on a natural landscaping photo shoot in Saratoga Springs, NY. The sites photographed were naturally landscaped properties we designed or renovated over the past [...]
Butterfly Garden at the Ballston Spa Church This year we were delighted to be asked to create a butterfly garden in Ballston Spa at a Church: Christ the Savior Orthodox Church on Eastline Rd in Saratoga County. The butterfly garden was designed to accent the lovely roadside sign the church recently had built. This [...]
New Woodland Garden in Saratoga Springs, NY This summer we designed and installed a new woodland garden in Saratoga Springs, NY, in the neighborhood near Saratoga Lake. Shade gardens are one of the easiest places in the property to landscape sustainably, because of the rich and diverse body of available native plants that [...]
Privacy Landscaping in Saratoga Quick, don't think about it just answer: what do you think of your neighbors? Do you secretly cringe when they catch you at the mailbox? Or do you like them enough to comfortably share the neighborhood without overthinking it? I'm asking because "landscaping for privacy" is brought up [...]
On August 9th there will be a Habitat Benefit Garden Tour in Saratoga Springs from 4pm-7pm. The tour is self guided, consisting of ecosystem friendly, sustainable gardens designed by Jessecology. Tickets are $10 and will support the Saratoga Code Blue Shelter. They are available at 2 locations: the help desk of the Healthy Living [...]
This summer a longtime landscaping dream crystallized into reality for me: I was called on to be the landscape designer at a new Saratoga County construction site. The homes are located in a new subdivision in Clifton Park and use a lot of high end, eco-friendly building materials from the Saratoga Springs based Green Conscience [...]
Imagine my delight to see a Monarch caterpillar at the Saratoga Springs Healthy Living Market's certified Monarch Waystation during a visit this week! When I initially wrote about the Monarch waystation project, I mentioned I didn't expect to even see butterflies this year; I definitely didn't think we'd see Monarch breeding success in the waystation [...]
Last year I did a landscape renovation for an urban client that I felt crystalized a wildlife corridor in Saratoga Springs, NY through the positioning of multiple individual local properties with eco-savvy landscape design. This habitat renewal space is located in front yard gardens by the Oklahoma Track, on East Avenue in Saratoga Springs. The [...]
This spring I was delighted to be asked to be a part of one of the loveliest projects I could imagine. There's a health food store in Saratoga Springs, NY called Healthy Living, which occupies the former JC Penny retail location in the Wilton Mall. Healthy Living sells organic and artisan foods, much of it [...]
This spring there's been a sharp rise in the call for native plant woodland gardens compared to previous years. Landscaping in Saratoga is always delightful because people are so open and receptive to natural landscape designs and native plant use (especially when they hear how much lower maintenance native plant scapes are!) This spring has [...]