Arbor & Ivy Designs

I’m back! And ready to design some landscapes! I’ve been on hiatus for a few years, so let me reintroduce myself.

I took a break from this landscape design service while I ran off to graduate school at Northwestern and the Chicago Botanic Garden. While I was earning my Master’s degree in Plant Biology and Conservation, I was also working with the Rethinking Lawns team at CBG to study a wide range of lawn alternatives and the ecosystem benefits they can offer.

Now I can blend my design sense with this enhanced familiarity of native plants to create landscapes that are both beautiful and good for the ecosystem. My passion is increasing biodiversity without compromising style. We can have the best of both worlds!

If this aligns with your gardening values, too, feel free to contact me at [email protected].

The abundant white blooms of a Callery pear (or “Bradford” pear) hide its bad habits of structural weakness and aggressive spreading. Banned in some Illinois cities, this early-flowering tree spreads easily and hinders growth of understory plants.

Consider alternative flowering ornamentals when planting or replacing trees:
- Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
- American plum (Prunus americana)
- Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

🔗 go.illinois.edu/BradfordPearSV
🔗 go.illinois.edu/CalleryPearCaution

Happy World Soils Day, everyone!! 🪱🌿🦠🍄

Life Underground: What Lives Just Underneath Our Feet How busy is the world below our feet? It easily rivals any habitat you see aboveground. Consider this: More organisms live in the soil than live aboveground.