our team
julia holbert
hallie schmidt
adrienne beck
Favorite quote: "Design is a good idea"
Special interests: California native ecology, pollinator attraction, edible/ usable gardens, xeriscape, Permaculture, rainwater harvesting, soil science, upcycling, and sculpture-gardens
Favorite plant: Quercus lobata, Valley Oak
Controversial gardening tip: Don't deadhead - leave the fruits and seeds for the animals
Favorite native plant for the garden: Salvia apiana 'Compacta'
My go-to color palette: gray, peach, white, with a touch of lavender. I love designing with many shades of green.
Julia's background in fine art, design and botany is fused with a love for California wild-lands. She sees her gardens as living sculptures as well as part of the greater ecosystem. Above all, Julia enjoys the rich collaborative process among designers, clients, and the fellow contractors and craftspeople that propel each project through to a successful ecological landscape.
Formal education from University of California, Santa Cruz (BA Art, BA Biology), the Permaculture Design Certificate (2021), Cabrillo and West Valley College (Landscape Design & Architecture, Horticulture, Engineering Technology, Graphic Design) has provided a solid backdrop for continual ongoing studies.
Adrienne is passionate about creating stunning, natural, and useful outdoor spaces. Her thoughtful design work is informed by over a decade of holistic and regenerative farming and gardening experience. Her love of art and nature leads her to design and maintain organic and native landscapes managed with care and respect.
Adrienne has a degree in Anthropology and Studio Art from the College of Charleston, focusing on cultural food systems and drawing. After getting her Permaculture Design Certificate in 2014,she became captivated by California Native plants.
She spends her free time exploring the different microclimates in California enjoying the flora, fauna and fungi around us.
Hallie Schmidt is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Public Horticulture program where she studied California native plants and ecology, horticulture, landscape design, sustainable farming, and outdoor education. Her formal career began in the renowned and historic gardens and orchards at Filoli, but has been informed by a lifelong fascination with the natural world and good design.
She has written for and been featured in Pacific Horticulture Magazine. She is also the founder of Tierra Madre HIVE, a collective of female landscape business owners of the Bay Area.
Her latest plant obsession is dyeing cloth and yarn with foraged plant materials.
