My name is Ayla, and ecological garden design is my passion.

I am certified in permaculture design, a Franklin County Master Gardener Intern, a Stinner Climate Ambassador, and the founder of a local food forestry-focused nonprofit called Rooting Resilience. I’m excited to bring my years of experience in growing to your yard!

When I started learning about growing food, I was shocked to discover that not all gardens are eco-friendly. I thought that home gardening was always more sustainable than conventional agriculture - we aren’t using tractors and backpacks of pesticides, right?

But after learning more, I understood how high-impact home gardening often is. There is evidence that resource-intensive home gardens can sometimes be worse for the earth than conventional agriculture. If you’re surprised, that’s okay! I was, too.

This knowledge gives us an incredible opportunity to rethink how we garden. We can grow food, flowers, fiber, and other plants in ways that don’t just do less harm, but actively regenerate our soils, our ecosystems, and our souls.

Ready to start growing?

  • Much of the landscape design we see today works against nature rather than with it. Little thought is given to water conservation, soil health, and helpful insects, so the gardener ends up spending a lot of time, money, and energy watering, fertilizing, weeding, and managing pest outbreaks. Permaculture design is the antithesis to this traditional approach; everything from sun to water to plant groupings to pests to climate change impacts is taken into consideration to create an edible landscape that works with nature. We also believe it is critical to integrate the lifestyle of the gardener into the design plan - if you love basking in the sun, we’ll go easy on the shade trees. If you have a dog, we’ll find plants that don’t mind being trampled. These design philosophies result in a beautiful garden ecosystem that works for nature and works for you.

  • Our yards have the potential to feed us and our communities, taking stress off of our agricultural system and bringing us delicious, local, organic, nutrient-dense food. And worry not: you don’t have to choose between beauty and edibility. Many edible plants are beautiful, and many ornamental plants are surprisingly delicious (did you know that hosta shoots taste comparable to asparagus? Now you do)!

  • With regard to the distribution of plants, there are typically three categories. The first is native plants, which originated in the region they are found growing in. Planting native plants can create food sources and habitats for other native species, allowing the ecosystem to flourish. The second is introduced plants, which come from another region but are not disruptive to ecosystems. The last category is invasive plants, which come from other regions and can cause significant damage to native ecosystems. Despite ecological concerns, the sale and planting of invasive plants is still a common practice. We place an emphasis on native plants and often recommend introduced plants, but will never recommend the planting of a species listed on Ohio’s or the USDA’s invasive species list.

  • Forest and prairie ecosystems don’t require regular watering, fertilizing, weeding, and spraying: they capture and retain the water they need, produce their own fertilizer, outcompete their weeds, and manage their own pests. This is what we seek to replicate in gardens, food forests, and edible landscapes. Our backyard food-producing ecosystems should largely sustain themselves, with the gardener acting as a supervisor.

Here’s our eco-friendly garden “L.E.N.S.”

Raised bed gardens | Kitchen gardens | Rain gardens | Edible landscapes | In-ground gardens | Pollinator gardens | Forest gardens | Wildlife gardens | Herb gardens

We design…

Permaculture is a landscape design philosophy that works with nature rather than against it. It emphasizes perennial plants (that come back year after year), water conservation, and bringing ecosystems into balance.

Permaculture History

The term “permaculture” was coined by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison in 1978, but these concepts have existed for much longer. Before European colonization of the Americas, many indigenous communities practiced what we would now call regenerative agriculture or permaculture: managing forests and prairies in ways that promoted balance and inclusion of all species. With the genocide of indigenous peoples came the loss of these practices, and they were replaced with the European ideas of agriculture that we are familiar with today. Holmgren and Mollison are visionaries worth learning from, and we must also remember the roots of permaculture and center Indigenous voices in conversations about land regeneration. To learn more about the history of the land you reside on and the indigenous communities who lived and live in relationship to it, visit native-land.ca.

FAQs

  • We do not do garden installation, but we have partners in Columbus who are eager to work with you on installs! If you are interested in doing the install yourself, we offer design clients several consultation sessions to support you. Connecting with the land in this way has a host of physical and mental benefits, and it is the best way to get to know your edible landscape!

  • The process starts with a $179 site visit and consultation that typically lasts between one and two hours. During this consultation, we will talk with you about your landscape needs, wants, goals, and concerns, as well as observing and measuring the space. If you choose to proceed with a garden design, this cost is deducted from the price of the service. After this, we will get to work on your plan! Designs typically take a week (sometimes more for large properties or particularly complex ideas) and during this time we may schedule a follow-up visit to spend more time observing your land - at no charge, of course. Once the plan is complete we will schedule a meeting to review and discuss it with you. After you receive your final design and the accompanying materials, you’ll be invited to reach out whenever you’d like to set up your consulting hours.

  • Container gardens (which yes, we do design) are often a great option for renters! If you’re interested in a more in-depth landscape plan, we recommend contacting your landlord. Many landlords will be open to an ecologically thoughtful edible landscape - especially if you show them some of the pictures on our Instagram account! We are happy to work with both you and your landlord to find a landscape plan that everyone is excited about.

  • Absolutely! We are happy to create a design that works with the current state of your landscape. If you already have a garden, trees, or certain plants you’d like to keep, we would be delighted to integrate these elements into the final design.