Making Your Garden Work…
When we say make your garden work, we’re talking about creating an outdoor space that doesn’t just look good—it performs beautifully in your daily life in the following ways.
Functionality
A working garden begins with smart layout and flow. Pathways, planting beds, and key features should feel intuitive, guiding movement and making the space easy to navigate and enjoy. Your garden design should reflect your use of your outdoor space, whether that be to relax, to enjoy nature, to play sports, or provide your children outdoor space.
Usability
Your garden should support how you actually live outdoors—morning coffee spots, pet areas, play zones, or entertainment spaces—without feeling forced or cluttered. It should serve the purpose you need it to. It should allow for a variety of uses throughout the year.
Durability
Quality construction and resilient plant choices ensure your landscape stands up to Midwest weather and keeps looking great year after year. No one wants a garden that looks great on the day of completion, but becomes a maintenance headache, or is filled with plant selections that do not thrive, are not hardy, or are inappropriate for the space. Or hardscape areas that deteriorate, go out of style quickly or fail to function as they were intended.
Privacy
Strategic plant layers, screens, fencing, or structures help shape views, block unwanted sightlines, and create a sense of comfort and retreat in your own backyard.
Aesthetic Alignment
From modern to naturalistic to timelessly classic or eclectic, your garden should reflect your personal style, should be filled with the things that you love, and blend seamlessly with your home’s architecture.
Ecological Contribution
A truly effective garden supports the environment—using native plants where possible, encouraging pollinators, improving soil health, managing stormwater, and reducing resource use. Thoughtful choices create a landscape that gives back to the local ecosystem rather than taking from it.
To make your garden work is to create an outdoor space that is beautiful, purposeful, durable, and ecologically smart—an extension of your home that truly supports the way you want to live.
