This farmhouse-style home in Westchester County, NY did not have a landscape to match the stunning architecture. When GJLD first visited the property for a professional consultation, the backyard was a boring expanse of lawn. Jay observed the existing features—mature trees encircling the backyard—and was struck by inspiration to design a native courtyard garden for the backyard. He named the …

Craving a garden tour this summer? We are excited to announce two upcoming garden tours of The Secret Garden of Celestial Happiness, designed by Jay Archer. This property formerly had a rear lawn that was removed and replaced with an ecological landscape featuring a constructed waterfall, stream, a network of stroll paths, and access to the adjacent wetland. Sunday July …

A tangible shift is occurring in the way we view and value our landscapes. While we once revered immaculate, unchanging expanses of lawn and exotic evergreens, the trend in recent years is to use landscape design to effect real ecological restoration. No matter the size of your property, by following the principals of ecological landscape design, we can create habitats …

We are extremely proud to announce a new service offering for 2022, the Sustainable Stewardship Program. The offering is a holistic management program for clients with large properties (five acres or more) across Westchester, Putnam, Fairfield, and Morris counties. Beyond estate-level grounds maintenance, the program seeks to evaluate the unique environments within each property from an ecological perspective, aiming to …

You probably saw the headlines a few weeks ago on the latest UN IPCC Climate Report. It was dire. It stated that we are unequivocally on pace to reach and exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming in the next twenty years. This new reality will affect every single resident of planet Earth as sea levels rise, lands flood and droughts persist.  We …