I’ve had a love of gardening and the outdoors as far back as I can remember. My mother loved to grow plants from seed and propagation (she still does) so we frequently had flats of seedlings lined up in a sunny spot in our yard. My father grew up in Bakersfield which is known for it’s farming and agriculture so he always had some sort of crop growing. One year as a family project in a new house, we turned a hard patch of weed filled earth into a large garden of fruits and vegetables. It was so fun to go out to the backyard and pick ears of corn for dinner and fresh strawberries for strawberry short cake.
Fast forward to my adulthood, my husband and I loved to garden and entertain. One of our homes was on 3/4 of an acre and we tried to domesticate every inch. That’s where I received my practical experience for Southern California gardening. What to do, what not to do and what “Full Sun” really means!
In 1991, armed with BA in Design from SDSU, I worked in the Graphic Design industry for several years. In 1996, my husband and I purchased a landscape maintenance business. After 4 years, my husband went back to the corporate world and I ran the business myself until 2004 and phased the maintenance business out. My vision was to combine my degree in design with my love for gardening and create my own Landscape Design company. I took some time to raise my 2 daughters while slowly preparing to open my Landscape Design business.
As a life long learner, I continued to pursue classes, workshops, and seminars to stay on top of what is happening in this ever evolving field. In 2010 there was a resurgence of home vegetable gardens and free gardening classes offered around the county. I attended a class to refresh my memories which led to 2 more classes on starting and maintaining school and community gardens. That led to my involvement with the San Carlos Community Garden in 2011 when it was just an idea and a group of committed people determined to make it a reality.
This community garden is unique in that is has public gardens in addition to rentable plots. I was on the leadership team for the garden from 2012-2021, first as co-chair of the Planning, Design and Installation committee then as the point person for design and organic maintenance of the public gardens which include a 38 tree fruit orchard, formal herb garden, native stream bed, succulent garden, a pumpkin patch and a pollinator garden.
As California has been in a drought status off and on for many years, I took advantage of the opportunity to become an EPA Certified Watershed Wise Landscape Professional in 2015. This method of design goes beyond low water to include designing in a way to help hold rain water on a property and to build healthy living soil which is the foundation of a beautiful garden, low maintenance garden.
I could go on but I think you can see that I have a passion for creating beauty, a varied skill set and the experience to help you achieve the vision you have for your landscape or garden project.
Call or email me so we can get started!
Austin Design – Landscape & Garden ~ San Diego, CA
619-846-5514 ~ austindesignlandscape@gmail.com