A Mediterranean Garden with Native Plants? Yes!
Lolly Jewett is a garden designer who loves challenges. One of her favorite things about her work? Puzzling through how to create a style of garden related to a far flung corner of the world with plants native here in the mid-Atlantic. Is it possible to design a Maryland native garden in the style of the Pacific Northwest? Turns out it is. The very same with Mediterranean and English cottage gardens too.
Lolly started Bees Knees Design with the goal of making gardens havens for wildlife and people alike. It was University of Delaware entomologist Doug Tallamy who steered Lolly in this direction when she asked him where the greatest need was. Today, even with the growing understanding and popularity of native plants, there remains a critical need for more designers who specialize in sustainability.
Much like an architect drawing up plans for an addition to your house to be built by a contractor, garden designers draw up a garden plan to bring your outdoor vision to life. The design is then typically installed by a landscaper. Lolly works with local landscapers to create the garden she and her clients envision. Employing a team approach with landscapers who specialize in native plants to build the garden gets the best result she says. It's also a win win for her, the landscaper and the client as all inevitably learn from one another. That is one certainty about gardens. No one person is ever going to know all there is to know!
How exactly does all this work? Bees Knees Design provides design and project management services. The design work is priced at a flat fee depending on the size and complexity of your garden and the project management fee is priced as a percentage of the installation cost. This is a common way for landscape designers to work. Designers can start a new design from scratch, create a plan to transition an ornamental garden to one with more natives or spruce up a portion of your garden.
You can check out that Mediterranean inspired garden here and more of Lolly's work here. As Lolly's website says "Do Good. Feel Great. Enjoy Beauty." Indeed. The perfect mantra for native plant gardens.
Happy Gardening.
Lovely article. I am a designer near Williamsburg Va. and also specialize in designing with natives. She and I have a very similar process. There is a HUGE niche for landscape designers in general and especially native designers. Many people are becoming aware of the benefits and wish to incorporate environmental principles into their yards but do not know where to turn. And most landscapers have little interest or knowledge of these subjects. We need to encourage more good training/educational opportunuties in this field. It is a wonderful career!
I love Lolly's work. Her designs are beautiful and she's a joy to work with!
I'm glad to see more designers and landscapers working with native plants. We need to see more in people's yards than Knock-out Roses and mulch volcanoes.
I'm glad to see more designers and landscapers working with native plants. We need to see more in people's yards than Knock-out Roses and mulch volcanoes.