SUMMER 2025
WELCOME NOTE | 6.25
Greetings from Charlotte,
Every summer, Juneberry Ridge—a 750-acre regenerative farm in Norwood, NC and our amazing client—hosts three weekends of local food, music, and farm education. I was fortunate to participate this year in Juneberry Jams as a speaker. In a roving fireside chat with Ashton, the COO and resident bard of Juneberry, we talked about the power of stewardship at home and on the farm. Something—now plane bound—I am reflecting upon. Ashton framed out the conversation with a biblical definition of stewardship: to have full authority and decision-making over a parcel, but no ownership. This aligns with an indigenous framework for stewardship from the Iroquis. The Seven Generations principle puts forth that we should assess the impact of our decisions today on the wellbeing of those seven generations from now. Both of these frameworks place stewardship as a calling beyond the individual.
This is perhaps easier to understand on a farm (farms tend to be generational, the land outliving individual farmers, and the success of a farm is inseparable from the care put into the land) but I would like for us to ruminate for a second here on land stewardship at home. We will, at most, own a piece of land for the duration of our lifetime. Given our short tenure, what do we owe the trees that pre-suppose us, the birds, the last and next steward? The talk advocated that we center ecological abundance within land stewardship AND land ownership. That we resist the vice grip of tidiness as the key indicator of care in landscape and embrace species diversity, ecological fitness, and bird counts. I have put together a list of actions everyday land owners / managers can take to increase ecological abundance at home. Please share if useful. The rest of the newsletter covers recent press, our South African plant installation, and field photography of work in progress.
Thanks for the read!
Cali
10 STEPS | 5.25
Campo Guide to Ecological Stewardship at Home
Know your soil: roughly two thirds of a plant’s matter resides underground. Knowing what kind of soil you have (sandy, clay, loamy, silty, etc); whether it is alkaline, neutral, or acidic; if it is compacted or well draining; whether it is nutrient rich or poor will help you match plants to your soil, rather than trying to amend the soil for plants that don’t belong there. Beware of over-amending your soil. Many native plants—such as prairie species—thrive in nutrient-poor soil. Overly rich soil will cause these plants to root shallowly and they will be less resilient to drought and floods. Hardware stores and nurseries carry soil tests you can conduct at home for $15-$20. Ag schools offer more extensive tests that you can mail in at an affordable rate.
Study the sun: right plant, right place, right exposure. Map out three key zones: full sun (6+ hours), partial shade (4-6 hours), and full shade (4 hours or less) and identify hot spots in the morning and evening. You can even use spray paint to map out these areas directly in the garden. This paired with your soil results will give you excellent data to find plants well suited to microclimates across your garden.
Plan for succession: Gardens are an inheritance; the actions of past occupants are present through the plants and infrastructure remaining. Do an assessment of the bones of the garden: how old are the trees? What species are they? How long do they live? Same for shrubs and start to map out a native-forward succession plan for your garden. Multiple generations of trees and shrubs within a landscape will increase its resilience and lessen the heartache when you lose a big tree.
Aim for 70% native: in studies by the National Wildlife Federation, they found 70% native is an important threshold for ecological fitness (i.e. the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment). There is plenty of room in gardening for planting ornamentals or edibles that you love, preserving mature (non-invasive) trees, and having a small lawn in the right spot. But there is so much room to incorporate natives into conventional landscapes. You can replace mulch with native ground cover, auxiliary lawns with meadows, bluegrass lawns with native grasses and sedges, a decaying hedge with species diverse hedgerows, sterile ornamental trees with fruiting native trees. Local extension schools, water districts, and garden clubs have great online resources on native plants.
Double down on what thrives: Flourishing plants can be split, shared, and expanded in range. In perennial beds in particular, repetition can give a sense of order that signals to other people that the planting is deliberate, so plant in profusion. Just keep in mind that some species are inherently more aggressive than others so as your garden establishes leave room for less aggressive plants that fill in ecological niches or gaps in the bloom cycle.
Prioritize keystone species: in every ecosystem, there are plants and animals that are power players, supporting a web of life beyond themselves. The National Wildlife Federation has a guide on keystone plant species by ecoregion that you can access here. If at all possible, prioritize these in your planning and planting.
Add water: Nothing will increase the amount of wildlife on your property more than adding water. It can be as simple as a bucket with a recirculating pump. Put a chair nearby so you can watch the show.
Shift the market: If you don’t see the native plants you want at the local nursery or big box store, ask for them. Consumers have immense power to move the market and to support small businesses already doing the work.
Share the joy: Gardening is contagious. I see it all the time walking around cities where one exuberant garden on a block leads to two, then three. So talk to your neighbors; share seeds, information, fruit, war stories, meals.
Get outside: the best thing you can do with your garden is to spend time in it. Pick one habit that you do everyday (drink coffee, read the news, eat dinner, etc), commit to doing it outdoors, and adapt your garden to accommodate that habit as comfortably as possible for all four seasons. Move an umbrella, a chair, put a blanket by the door; give yourself what you need to be as cozy in the garden as you are on your couch.
COVER GIRL | 4.25
Recent Press
This spring saw a big press run for us. Over a year in the making, below is our cover story in Landscape Architecture Magazine: “One for the Books.” It shares the story of the Rocky Mountain Land Library, a 50,000 book library dedicated to man’s connection to nature. The story delves into the story of the organization and ranch, as well as the analysis that went into planning its headquarters at a historic working ranch in the high Rockies. Many thanks to the talented writer Sarah Shaw, the hardworking team at LAM (Jennifer, Chris, Kristen, and Leah), and to the client team (Ben as well as Ann and Jeff now at Habitat Library) at the Land Library for supporting the story. The full spring press rundown is below.
Landscape Architecture Magazine, April 2025 Cover Story, Sarah Shaw. Project: Land Library. “One for the Books: Storybook Beginnings For The Rocky Mountain Land Library."
Architectural Digest, May 29, 2025. Firm Profile: “Rocky Mountain Region Interior Designers, Architects, And Builders To Know From The Ad Pro Directory”
Colorado Public Radio, May 27, 2025. Project: Fishers Canyon. “Trails, Rock-Climbing And Conservation Are Part Of New Master Plan For Fishers Canyon Open Space In Colorado Springs.”
Southwest Contemporary, May 2025. Project: Fynbos Abstracted. “5X5: Our Top Five Picks For The Next Five Days.
Travel + Leisure, April 13, 2025, Mary Holland. Project: Trailborn Rocky Mountains. “The Latest Luxury Hotel Trend Is All About Embracing the Outdoors.”
Travel + Leisure, March 16, 2025, Mae Hamilton. Project: Two Capes Lookout. “This Glamping Resort on the Oregon Coast Just Opened With Mirrored Cabins, Geodesic Domes, and Cliffside Ocean Views.”
HOUSEPLANT MANIA | 1.25
Fynbos Abstracted Exhibit
Throughout May and June, our horticultural installation Fynbos Abstracted was up at Understudy art incubator space at the Colorado Convention Center. The installation contends that we can become better stewards of indoor plants by integrating the mechanics of their native ecologies into the design of the armature, soil, and plant palette. Using field research conducted at the De Hoop Nature Reserve as the basis of design, this project aims to create indoor armatures for three plant communities–limestone, sandstone, and granite–tied to soil type. Through these imaginative displays, we can connect people to the extraordinary complexity of the fynbos, a globally threatened environment, and to the plants in their own homes. Field research was funded by the JSR Foundation and the installation was funded by Understudy and the Denver Theatre District. Many thanks to Annie, David, and Thad (formerly) of Understudy, to Third Dune Productions for beautifully capturing it, and to everyone that came out to see it!
You can find a free fynbos plant guide on our website: Fynbos Abstracted Chapbook and more photos here.
SPRING CONSTRUCTION | 4.25
Work in Progress
How the sausage is made…
Thanks for the read! The next newsletter will cover the late summer bounty, canning, and our collaboration with photographer Trent Davis Bailey on his garden and ours. If you prefer to opt out, please click the link below.
THE END