Soil + Ink's mission is to empower homeowners to create and enjoy a space that is beautiful, simple to care for, and beneficial for the environment. The name Soil + Ink represents a collaboration between client and designer - Soil representing the land my clients steward; Ink representing the plan that we put together to steer the landscape in a new direction. I prefer to design with a more naturalistic planting style using mostly, sometimes exclusively, native plants. The goal of my planting design is to create a beautiful landscape that my clients will want to interact with, as well as to restore ecosystem services that have been stripped from the landscape. Storm water absorption, carbon sequestration, support of wildlife, AND making humans happy are always our goals. If you are looking for a static, straight row of shrubs living in a sea of dyed mulch, I am not the designer for you. I will always recommend removing invasive plants and including as many natives as possible, but I also believe that if you love a non-native (non-invasive) plant, you should definitely have it in your landscape. I am becoming more intentional and selective about the projects I take on. I love working independently, I love working in collaboration with others, I love constantly learning new things. #wegotthis🌿

Delivery day! We first met about this project last fall and I finally got to deliver it today! This 99% native plan covers a remake of the front garden with new walking paths and no lawn! The back yard is a blank slate - these DIYers will put in brick-lined walking paths that tie in with the front walk and the home's Victorian feel. There's a small covered brick patio for grilling and serving, a deck for a hot tub, a large deck for covered dining, and a brick-lined fire pit area. A small lawn is provided for the dogs and kids to play in. The rest of the space is filled with native trees, shrubs, perennials, and ground covers with four seasons of interest. Espaliered fruit trees line the fence opposite the driveway. These homeowners plan to do all of the install themselves! With a complete plan in place, each element they put in will be cohesive with the whole and there will be no guessing where and what to plant. I can't wait to see it take shape! Made w/ @morpholio Trace #morpholiotrace #wegotthis🌿 #landscapedesigner #landscapedesign #gardendesigner #gardendesign #gardencoach #nativeplants #ecologymatters #diylandscaping #outdoordesign #sustainabledesign #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #soilandinkcoaching #letsdothistogether #mechanicsburg #southcentralpa #Harrisburg #plantingdesign #masterplan #landscaperendering #PlantMaster

"We need every single planting to perform better." Claudia West made this statement in a very off-handed kind of way during a discussion on a different topic during last week's NDAL design symposium. As in, of course we all know this. She was talking about including a native plants in your landscape plan. Her words struck me as a very succinct way to say to those of you who do not eat, sleep, and breathe plants and design why it's so important to include natives in your landscape. A typical American landscape does very little to benefit the environment. Does that seem weird to you? When thinking about our current climate crisis, it's so hard to know as a regular person what we can do to help. Should I put solar panels on my roof? Should I switch to an electric vehicle? Should I hire the teenager down the street to shovel my driveway instead of firing up the snow blower? (Yes). I think that including more native plants in your landscape and diminishing the size of your lawn are really accessible, doable things that every homeowner can accomplish while contributing in a positive way to our environment. Now, I am not a native plants purist by any means. I don't think you should remove or replace your favorite plants (unless they're invasive!). If you love and enjoy something, by all means keep it. But most of us can do better than what is already in our landscapes. Doug Tallamy recommends that we cut the size of our lawns in half and aim for 70% of the biomass in our landscapes to be native. Totally doable. Let me know how I can help. #wegotthis🌿

Welcome to the meadow in June! Well, I miss the cover crop of oats that provided a nice grassy texture last summer, the tuxed have exploded and are providing a very bright and cheerful spot in the neighborhood right now! Out front the Beardtongue have peaked and the Ohio spiderwort are still blooming away. Pale purple coneflower are also blooming. The drought is starting to affect a few plants, but on the whole it is still going strong. I did Chelsea chops out front on some of the plants to see what a difference that makes in bloom time and plant structure. Expecting to see some black-eyed Susan, beebalm and milkweed blooming soon. #wegotthis🌿 #lawnconversion #urbanmeadow #lawnreplacement #residentialmeadow #nativeplants #homegrownnationalpark #ecologicalplanting #naturesbesthope #americangardens #nativegarden #choosenature #pollinatorgarden #ecologymatters #landscapedesign #gardendesign #diygarden #diylandscaping #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #soilandinkcoaching #letsdothistogether #carlislepa #southcentralpa #Harrisburg

Echinacea pallida, pale purple coneflower, blooming in the meadow now. I think these are the few survivors that didn't get eaten by the rabbits. #echinacea #echinaceapallida #palepurpleconeflower #gardensofCumberlandCounty #gardensofSouthCentralPA #gardensofCarlisle

A well-designed landscape not only adds aesthetic appeal to your outdoor spaces but also provides many ecological benefits. One key element that can significantly contribute to the overall health of your garden is landscape mulch. However, mulch should be considered a gardening TOOL rather than a DESIGN FEATURE. What type of mulch is right for your landscape? I'll give you a hint: it's green. 🌿 In today's blog post, we explore the benefits of landscape mulch, the various types available, and the advantages it offers for your plants and soil. Link in bio and today's stories!

Current meadow situation. #tickseed #coreopsis #gardenart #wegotthis🌿 #lawnconversion #urbanmeadow #lawnreplacement #residentialmeadow #nativeplants #homegrownnationalpark #ecologicalplanting #naturesbesthope #americangardens #nativegarden #choosenature #pollinatorgarden #ecologymatters #landscapedesign #gardendesign #diygarden #diylandscaping #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #soilandinkcoaching #letsdothistogether #carlislepa #southcentralpa #Harrisburg

Time for another very amateur informative video from Soil + Ink headquarters. It's time to do the Chelsea chop! Native plants that you can Chelsea chop include fall blooming asters, black-eyed Susan's, goldenrod, tickseed, sneezeweed, coneflower, and tall phlox. Non-natives that you can try the Chelsea chop on include daisies, mums, catmint, upright sedum, and yarrow. Cut plants back by 1/3 to 1/2. At this time of year. It will create a more compact, densely flowered plant which will bloom slightly later than it normally would. Only cut back half your plants for an extended bloom season. You can use shears or hand pruners for this job. This technique is called the Chelsea chop because you were supposed to do it at about the same time the Chelsea Flower Show is going on in the UK. Spring came a bit early for us, so I wouldn't wait much longer to get your chop on! #wegotthis🌿 #landscapedesigner #landscapedesign #gardendesigner #gardendesign #gardencoach #gardenideas #ecologymatters #diylandscaping #outdoordesign #sustainabledesign #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #soilandinkcoaching #letsdothistogether #carlislepa #southcentralpa #Harrisburg #chelseachop #pruningtechniques #gardentips

Happy PA Native Species day! To celebrate native plants, insects, and all the wildlife that eat them, here's a quick video tour of the meadow I made a few days ago. It looks quite a bit different than this time last year, when we just had tiny baby seedlings growing. The oat cover crop filled in a lot of space last year, so we have a lot of bare areas happening right now. I did do some winter overseating in those more sparse areas . I'm hoping those later season plants will get going as the weather warms up. 🤞 Check out today's stories for a photo of what it looked like this time last year. Check out my saved stories "Lawn Conversion 1" and then "Lawn Conversion 2" to see the evolution of the meadow! #wegotthis🌿 #lawnconversion #urbanmeadow #lawnreplacement #residentialmeadow #nativeplants #homegrownnationalpark #ecologicalplanting #naturesbesthope #americangardens #nativegarden #choosenature #pollinatorgarden #ecologymatters #landscapedesign #gardendesign #diygarden #diylandscaping #gardenart #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #soilandinkcoaching #letsdothistogether #carlislepa #southcentralpa #Harrisburg

🌿 Design Delivery Day! 🌿 This morning @green.gardner.designs and I delivered the plans for this front yard native plant conversion. We are keeping enough lawn for their son to play in, while replacing nearly all of the plantings with natives. Year round interest starts with spring blooming ground covers, flowering shrubs and perennials throughout the season, and winter interest provided by seed heads and the bright red branches of red twig dogwood. A multi-branched fringe tree will grow slowly and stay small enough to fit under the overhead wires. A low growing deep hell strip planting will bring interest and ecological value to an otherwise unusable space. Still working on those renderings. 😏 #Ineedartlessons #wegotthis🌿 #landscapedesigner #landscapedesign #gardendesigner #gardendesign #ecologymatters #outdoordesign #sustainabledesign #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #letsdothistogether #camphillpa #southcentralpa #Harrisburg #plantingdesign #masterplan #landscaperendering #nativeplants #homegrownnationalpark #ecologicalplanting #naturesbesthope Made w/ @morpholio Trace #morpholiotrace

My steel sphere art for the meadow was finished and installed today! I think Tony qualifies to be called an actual artist now! This is a case of me seeing something I like, Tony looking at the price and saying, "I can do that". 18 months and three new BIG tools later, I have my meadow art! Including art in your "wild" spaces also helps convey intentionality to your neighbors. #wegotthis🌿 #lawnconversion #urbanmeadow #lawnreplacement #residentialmeadow #nativeplants #ecologicalplanting #americangardens #nativegarden #choosenature #pollinatorgarden #ecologymatters #landscapedesign #gardendesign #diygarden #diylandscaping #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #soilandinkcoaching #letsdothistogether #carlislepa #southcentralpa #Harrisburg #landscapeart #landscapeartwork #gardensofCarlisle #gardensofclCumberlandCounty #gardensofSouthCentralPA

I'm sharing my May blog post a little early so I can preempt some suggestions you will probably be seeing regarding "No Mow May." While this might be a positive idea in some parts of the world, in some circumstances, for residential landscapes in the Mid-Atlantic, it certainly is NOT. We should always take gardening advice with an understanding of who (and where) it was originally intended and under what conditions. I wish I had a part of my lawn that I was ready to convert to garden space, and I would use it to show you why this is such a bad idea. But I don't. So instead, head on over to my blog post today to read why you should NOT No Mow May. Link in bio! If YOU have a portion of lawn that you intend to convert to garden, give it a try! I think it would be an excellent way to kill your lawn. Please let us know how it goes! #nomowmay #letsnotnomowmay #wegotthis🌿 #landscapedesigner #landscapedesign #gardendesigner #gardendesign #gardencoach #gardenideas #ecologymatters #diylandscaping #outdoordesign #sustainabledesign #residentiallandscapedesign #soilandink #soilandinklandscapedesign #soilandinkcoaching #letsdothistogether #carlislepa #southcentralpa #Harrisburg