We were referred to this client by a dear friend who we admire immensely. Chip Bentley is a low key permaculture baddie based in Lake Worth. We were honored to be recommended for a complete backyard transformation. The client is a sweet family with a modest budget and a whole hearted desire to turn their backyard into a dynamic natural space they could enjoy together. Their goals included growing fruits and vegetables, composting, various gathering spaces for outdoor eating, cooking and playing. They wanted a lot of native plants to encourage wildlife and biodiversity, but they also wanted it to be easy to maintain. When we started working on the design they were already a family of 5, but soon became pregnant with their 4th daughter.

This was one of the first projects we worked on with Mariapia Ormachea, a locally based landscape designer whom we've developed a wonderful working relationship with ever since. We put our minds together to convert a plain lawn into a unique garden space that invites exploration, gathering, play and relaxation. We found a balance between edible plants and native plants to create a landscape that provides harvesting opportunities as well as natural displays of flowers and wildlife year round. One of our favorite features is a native ground cover that replaced every square inch of grass. We played with frog fruit in combination with a curving grid of small pavers to establish visually appealing gathering areas. Curved planting areas were used to break up the small rectangular yard into a space that encourages slowing down with a "stop and smell the flowers" vibe. It's a tree heavy design with a focus on fruit producing trees; we included things like mulberries, papayas and bananas which kids love to snack on. The understory is dense with spices, perennial edible greens and native pollinator plants.