Thoughtful, Personal, Wild
An Interview with Our Founder, Sarah Wallace.
What is your passion for gardening and what made you want to turn your passion into a business?
Gardens are a way to connect people with the natural world. A love for the wilderness has always been in my nature. I love the idea of giving people access to the healing power of plants by bringing them into their own living spaces. I truly believe the ways in which we talk about, use medicinally, eat, and experience plants visually is a meaningful part of human life.
What does a perfect day look like for you?
A perfect gardening day is one in which I am able to convey the beauty of plants: individually or in unison, by planting, dividing, and sorting them. I like to build gardens for people who want to add a softness to the yard. I like to incorporate plants that draw out discussions. Plants create a relationship that includes the landscape and can become meaningful connections to the wild.
What is your value system? What’s important to you as you approach your life and work?
One of my favorite quotes is from Gary Snyder, this quote relays much of what I strive for in every aspect of my life including my work. “To work for the wild is to restore culture”. If we perform tasks in our lives that improve the natural world—this could be wild language, like poetry, or planting a tree to give habitat to an animal, or talking with a neighbor about the ways we grow and prepare our food—this is the way in which we heal our culture. I see the wasteful and disrespectful ways humans degrade the Earth as being opposite to our true nature and it is destroying our collective human culture.
Who could benefit by your unique approach to lifestyle and gardening?
I think people who are thoughtful and care for nature but maybe don’t know how they want to use their unique space or can’t visualise the end product. People who would like to use plants as medicine or food but lack the plant knowledge to get going. I am not really drawn to creating large lawns or super structured, linear garden designs, but anyone who would like to use their outdoor space as a calming visual break from the overwhelming rigidness of modern structures, that is something I do a lot for people.
What problem do you find yourself solving for them?
Plant knowledge really is our specialty—native species, how plants work together and how they work in different landscapes, elevations and micro-climates. Also, ideas and strategies to help manage the chaos that currently exists in their outdoor spaces, while really listening to their dreams and goals for how they want to use their outdoor space in future. Helping clients see the final product before it is finished is a huge thing we can offer as we have the drawn out plans and planting designs always in hand even as we stage our builds across the seasons.
How would you describe your business for the first time to people who did not know you or your company?
Ecologically friendly, low impact gardening company. Building projects include monoculture removal, working toward plant diversity and habitat restoration, and to commit to the beauty of a wild natural plant design. I like to use plants which people can use in their daily lives year round, as I believe that our interactions with our gardens is meaningful.
What is your value system for how you treat your customers?
I keep communication very thoughtful and personal. Gardens are a very important and very personal thing that can often also feel very overwhelming for them to manage. I like to convey as much ease and enjoyment as possible throughout so that the whole process is rewarding.
Are there any dream projects or landscaping ideas you would love to work on one day?
I would like to create a large scale meadow garden. I’ve done smaller ones but the dream is really about the scale, how the whole product ends up being in the frame, with no determinate end/structures impeding the flow. That would be an incredible thing to be a part of creating.
