The Ecological Vision
To promote ecologically restorative landscape design, install and maintenance.
It All Starts in the Soil!
Revitalized gardens and landscapes are the key to restoring the global ecosystem and it all starts with the soil. Healthy soil is comprised of adequate supplies of nutrients and the presence of beneficial species of bacteria, fungi, soil critters and insects. The sustainability of the health of the soil requires the recycling of nutrients in the system or ecologically responsible inputs that do not disrupt the balance.
Healthy soil provides plants with a nurturing environment in which they are able to grow in accordance to their genetic design, produce an abundance of flowers and fruits, and then die back with adequate storage of energy in their roots to jump start the next season. Plants grown in healthy soil systems are less prone to chronic garden problems of insect invasion and disease, because they have the nutrients required to build a strong immune system, allowing energy to be diverted from survival and put into building bigger bounteous blooms.
Plant Selection: Right Plant in the Right Place!
The most common mistake among landscape designers who have little experience in maintenance of their designs, or had very little plant physiology in their land care education, is putting the wrong plant in the wrong ecological setting. There is more to making sure a plant is able to survive in it’s new environment beyond just sun and shade.
The Alternative Horticulturist, begins every design with recognizing what plants are thriving in the areas that are going to be enhanced or redesigned. With over ten years of garden maintenance experience throughout New England, we pride ourselves on building beautiful low maintenance gardens with plants that thrive in their habitat.
Some gardens become an experiment in figuring out why plants are not thriving, but solutions are always found to building sustainable landscapes.
Knowledge is Power: Know Thy Garden!
The Alternative Horticulturalist hopes to help connect the people, the plants and the land through beautifully designed gardens that function as sustainable ecosystems.
We have begun a new program this 2021 season to help homeowners who have recently purchased homes with perennial gardens learn how to take care of their land. We recognize not everyone can afford to have a gardener and we want to help empower those who might not have the money but have the hands and heart to transform their land into beautiful gardens that are manageable with their busy lives.
We want to make your time in your garden a relaxing and enjoyable experience that continues to feed you heart, mind, body and soul year after year.
