About — Earth Ecology, LLC

The Earth Ecology Style
‘What do we do differently?’

Our highest priorities are ecological health, and quality of life. This means we do things a bit differently than the standard landscape company. We hope some day our style will become more mainstream. This is how we are different:

Ecological health = diversity of species. Once we get enough species established in a garden, the result is usually a stable yet dynamic ecosystem, always adapting yet always thriving, with beneficial interactions all around. Our favorite designs are home to many different types of rare and beneficial plants, as well as wildlife, such as birds, bees and other beneficial insects, snakes, mice, rabbits & various other larger mammals, etc. We are inclusive and tolerant. As an example, we prefer to refer to “lawns” as “meadows,” or “grasslands,” which are the second most diverse ecosystems on the planet (second only to tropical rainforest!).

Edible Landscaping: Growing food is just what humans do! It is so easy to integrate food producing plants into a landscape meant primarily to provide beauty. It is also so fun to design a food producing landscape to be awe inspiringly beautiful! Whether you are a low maintenance garden lover or a high maintenance farmer, we'll do our best to optimize your yield.

Land Stewardship: We feel that land ownership requires responsible land stewardship. Our emphasis lays in helping you to feel great about how you steward the land for the health of future generations.

Certified! Our favorite designs meet the criteria for Certified Wildlife Habitats, Certified Organic, Certified Water Wise Landscape, Certified Botanical Sanctuary, etc. We offer a discount on our hourly rate if you are willing to invest in your garden enough to have it recognized as Certified in such a way. We can help you certify your garden so you can feel proud that you are doing your part to support a healthy environment.

Education: We will work directly with you to give you a long-term education in land stewardship. We will talk while we work, explaining our decision making process and our strategies from a beginning level to an advanced level. Nature is ultimately complex, and there is always more to learn. We are happy to learn together.

All Organic! - No pesticides and herbicides, for they inhibit the health of the overall ecosystem. Many of the desired outcomes can be achieved with compost tea / biological inoculant application on plants and soil, or manual removal of unwanted species.

An alternative aesthetic: This can be a tough one for some people, but it can be necessary to develop an appreciation for an alternative aesthetic to the standard ‘perfect lawn, perfectly trimmed hedge, weed free’ landscape in order to appreciate certain aspects of our ecological goals.

Weeds take on a different role: Weeds can identify soil conditions, and they are nature’s way of fixing a problem. We often choose to allow them to do their remediation work. If they must be removed, we must recognize that they were there for a reason (to do work), and then we are required to do that work instead of the plant. Perhaps they are useful medicine. It is always best to learn about a weed before deciding it is noxious.

Composting – Integrate Greenwaste: Biomass is a high value yield. This means we try our best to keep all branches, leaves, weeds, and your kitchen scraps on site, utilizing a sort of rotating compost pile system, or other interesting techniques such as hugelkultur (burying branches), mulching with what is grown on site (‘chop and drop’), or making art with these materials. We will only suggest removal of invasive plants that can spread too quickly and easily to maintain (In the PNW, this is mostly only ivy or thistle (if it has seeded).

Long Term Timeline: Our projects typically require a 1-year minimum commitment for proper timing of season-sensitive actions.

*Ecological landscaping is still partially experimental. Traditional landscaping techniques do not always solve our long term goals, and thus new methods are being developed.
*Investment in the landscape can raise property value, and generate value via food production, and value can be found in the joy of the space.