We collaborate with other firms and lead our own landscape architecture projects.
The design of sophisticated, resilient planting is our strength. As horticultural subconsultants we support the design vision of other landscape architecture or architecture firms by developing custom soil and planting specifications as well as detailed planting plans for a wide variety of projects. Our work focuses on high visibility sites such as waterfronts, public gardens, parks, or green infrastructure where the combination of functional yet gorgeous seasonally dynamic planting is needed. For us, planting is not just ornamental filler, but a technology that through design can perform valuable ecological services. We are one of the world’s leading experts in ecological horticulture for landscape architectural projects. We continue to work with leading edge design firms such as Snøhetta, West 8, WHY, Stantec, and many others on sites of distinction and excellence.
Landscape architecture
As a full service landscape architecture and horticultural consulting firm, we often lead our own projects from concept design through construction administration. Sensitivity to place, architectural context, vernacular materials, and an amplification of character are essential to our design process. Finished landscapes have a feeling of rightness, expectedness; yet they are worlds unto their own, places of delight and escape, bringing the emotional uplift of the natural world into people’s lives.
Phyto Studio is a woman-owned, certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE / WBE) in multiple states and jurisdictions. We are also a certified small and micro business.
We specialize in creating long-term land management plans for larger estates or institutional landscapes. Our extensive experience in vegetation management and ecological enrichment is key in developing successful strategies for our clients. Our approach is based in realism: we understand too well the omnipresence of white-tail deer, invasive plants, lack of canopy regeneration, eroded waterways, and lack of functional diversity that plagues too many meadows and woodlands. These conditions also have an aesthetic impact, slowly diminishing the grandeur of our native habitats. Our recommendations always focus on what is possible with the resources available. We leverage small, iterative actions taken over time, rather than capital intensive efforts that too often fall apart with a lack of maintenance. Let us help you define a realistic vision that can be implemented in achievable steps to create lasting rehabilitation.
Planting maintenance toolkits
We develop hands-on toolkits to guide planting management and ensure planting becomes even better over time. Unlike traditional, static management manuals, our toolkits are interactive, adaptable, and efficient for optimal guidance and measuring of success. We design flexible deliverables to be used by crews in the field, not multi-volume reports that collect dust on the shelf. Our toolkits give crews the information they need to recognize problems early and respond with precision, avoiding the kind of systemic failures that plagues too many naturalistic plantings. These toolkits ensure your initial investment in the landscape has the right knowledge necessary to guide a landscape to its long-term goals.
The design and specification of meadows is a specialty of our firm. We have extensive experience in designing a wide range of meadows: from highly stylized, perennial meadows for public gardens, to quieter more evocative large-scale meadows for estates or institutions. Each meadow is specifically designed for the soils and pressures of that site. Too often meadow design overlooks soil fertility, compaction, herbivory, invasive species pressure, seasonal timing, or the lack of maintenance needed during establishment. We understand both the potential and pitfalls of meadow establishment and work carefully with clients to design a realistic, maintainable, yet gorgeous meadow system that stands the test of time.
Climate resilient canopy planning
Trees are key elements of livable cities and abundant ecosystems. But trees are declining everywhere due to weather extremes, new pests and diseases, and land use practices.
We analyze tree cover and health on campuses, estates, and in cities. We develop custom strategies to reestablish lasting tree canopy that provides abundant ecosystems services and improves human health.
• Heat and drought tolerant selections
• Strategies to minimize exposure to disease
• Canopy replenishment planning
• Cost effective techniques for planting and long-term management