Philosophy

Our planet is in a warming cycle…the weather is changing. Our regional locale, a high desert plateau near the foothills of the Sangre de Cristos Mountains is at an altitude of 7000’ and often experiences extreme conditions and low rainfall. To address these challenges, we approach a site with sensitivity and with an eye toward renewal. Our initial directive aims for minimal disturbance of natural habitat –to work with nature rather than dominate Her. Developing the sites unique potential can encompass several phases – our team of skilled assistants and contractors, all with a keen grasp of local requirements, will implement sound and functional solutions to the issues of drainage, erosion and disturbed soils. Our sustainable resources include harvesting and organizing water, land contouring and re-establishing plant communities. Further hardscape elements – lighting, stonework, irrigation and custom features will include when applicable, recycling of on-site materials. The hardscape design is well organized and fluid, providing a clean backdrop for planting. Our efforts toward refreshing the lands vitality is demonstrated through our expertise in cultivation practices* and appropriate resilent plant selection, sympathetic to existing architecture and flora. We group plants compatible in moisture and cultural needs strengthening self-supporting communities. The addition of a good layer of suitable mulch will buffer temperature extremes while retaining moisture and soil coolness. *(Please refer to Terra Simpacto article).

Maggie’s designs are informed both by her travels and her eclectic study of primarily European and American designers including Beth Chatto, Carol Klein, Rosemary Verey, Christopher Lloyd, Monet’s Giverny, Herbert Dreiseitl, Dan Johnson, Gwen and Panayoti Kelaidis, Lauren Springer Ogden, Jay Griffith and especially the Dutch designer and nurseryman, Piet Oudolf (Gardens of Remembrance at Battery Park). Piet reminds, “create the spontaneous feeling of plants in Nature – recreate the emotion.”

True to the spirit of the West, our gardens celebrate and echo its unique sense of scale and spaciousness, light and atmosphere   Our surrounding terrain creates a tapestry…its textures, forms and colors weave a rhythmic pattern. This distinctive, harmonious pattern informs our designs and is applied to a range of garden design styles – from sparse Modernism to New Wave Naturalism. Whatever the style, our essential aim is to create a setting at ease with the surrounding landscape – to create a visual cohesiveness.

We develop a discerning, site-specific design and a palette both diverse and responsive to the existing sense of place; a design which complements and unifies the structural elements. This serves in seating the buildings to the site, softening the hardscape and defining the mood. Generally, it is the grouping of materials with rhythmic distribution of accenting and contrasting shapes and colors that sustains the design and develops its character…that leads the eye around the garden.* Toward the boundary areas, planting spacious drifts of shrubs and grasses create a transitional link lending a gentle naturalness. *(refer to articles New Wave Naturalism and Singing the Praises of Gardening in the Shade).

We welcome an open exchange of information with clients and invite opportunity to include their architect and builder to further develop the essential relationship between building/home and the environment.

By romancing the regional, we can showcase the seasons as they unfold through their four dimensions displayed in a fluid, fractal and jewel-like animation. We may find ourselves in a nurtured thriving garden, in awe and delight - communing with birds, butterflies and animals while refreshed by water, sound and scent.