My work with plants in California began many moons ago at Berkeley Horticultural Nursery, during which time I worked as an apprentice to a local landscaper on my days off. After five years, I grew tired of seeing the majority of plants I tended to relegated to pots day after day, and ventured out on my own. That was early 2014.
At first, I took any and every job that came my way (for the most part), but it wasn’t until I found myself putting plants in the ground with greater regularity that I realized that this is what I had wanted to do most, that which made everything a little bit better.
Even though there had been flirtations throughout, learning about native plants here and there in dribs and drabs, their essential importance had truly dawned me in 2020, when it felt like the whole state, if not world, was on fire, in one way or another.
I began focusing my time and energy on learning about how the different local plant communities function in nature, and how they might be translated to a garden setting, where they can perform all of their ecological magic, and still be aesthetically pleasing.
On my off time, I volunteer for various local stewardship projects, and am also a certified California Naturalist, so I think it’s safe to say that tending to the plants that naturally populate this state, along with the countless organisms who benefit from their being, has become not only a passion, but my life’s work.
My business is rooted in trying to do my part to help create a place where the birds, bees, butterflies, flies, moths, spiders, worms, ants, opossum, squirrels (that’s right, I said it), and all the other unsung heroes of the outdoors have a place to call home, where they can do the work that often goes unseen, yet is essential to the health of not only their natural habitat, but ours.
Using only plants native to California, I design, install, and maintain Native Habitat gardens that help restore the wild natural order that most gardens utterly lack, and that we all need so desperately, as plants indigenous to this land are best equipped to deal with the soil and changing climate. With the addition of responsible irrigation and light maintenance, I will keep your native garden looking its best throughout every season.
I also prune trees and shrubs up to twenty feet, including the Coast Live Oak at Oaktown Nursery, as well as begrudgingly install, repair and maintain irritation, err, I mean irrigation systems.
Also, I am proud to announce that one of my gardens, a complete front to back redo, will be featured on the Bringing Back The Natives Garden Tour this coming May 2025: https://bringingbackthenatives.net/namita-and-mayur-trikannads-garden
Lastly, before I get back to work, I’d like to share this great article from CNPS (California Native Plant Society) that will hopefully get you even more excited about what I can do for your garden:
Hope to hear from you.
Jason.
