Process: Ecological Gardening

As a gardener I work to support our insects, butterflies, birds, and mammals by providing them with the biodiverse plants that they and we need to survive. My process starts with looking at a site and finding the native plants that want to be there. Instead of working against what is inherent to a particular location — which is the way the commercial landscape industry operates, with soil amendments and massive structural changes — I seek to take advantage of the qualities that some may perceive as flaws or limitations (a steep dry hillside or a boggy swale, say) working with the existing soil and finding its most suitable plants. In the end, since I match native plant communities to local conditions, the gardens I create flourish, supporting the food web, and requiring far less maintenance and fuss than non-native gardens. I take great joy in being involved in every step of the process, from site analysis and preparation, plant selection, installation, and finally maintenance.

Gardener and Teacher

While I have a doctorate in Art History and have been teaching for eighteen years (currently at MICA), gardening is in my blood and I have been working with plants my entire life, starting off as a teenager helping my dad with his garden business and public space projects, transitioning to vegetable gardens, personal projects (like a Shenandoah mountain farmhouse on 12-acres), and culminating in a mentorship with native-plant specialist Kay McConnell. I founded Baltimore-based Bluestem in 2016 and have been working consistently on residential projects in Mt Washington, Roland Park, and Ruxton (in Baltimore City and County) and recently expanded my repertoire to include work at schools, churches, and community gardens. Since I am an educator at heart, it is a central goal to teach clients about the landscapes we are building and the species we are protecting.