Project
Experimentation Station
My home landscape is the Sweet Smiling Experimentation Station. Sometimes messy, raw and rugged, my personal garden has no obligation to a client, and I am free to push limits, see what works, then bring that knowledge to future projects. Painting with seeds, mulching with weeds, trusting my faith in integrated pest management, and testing how much or how little light or water different species nee—these are all things I can get away with in my garden.
When it comes to hardscape in my garden I am led by re-use and by refuse. There is so much waste in the construction industry, and I do what I can do to reduce what ends up in the landfill. Whether it’s repurposing materials on a job site, or shuffling materials from one job site to another, I cannot tolerate seeing usable building material hauled to the dump. I often have materials taken to my side yard for future projects. Eighty-percent of my hardscape is built with post-consumer hardscape waste. A constant project, my 7000 square ft mini botanical garden/ laboratory teaches me so much and brings me so much joy.
