Anyone who knows me knows that I ask a lot of questions.

And one of the biggest questions came in 2003 when I asked myself why I was sitting in an office in corporate America… instead of living my dream. That question started my journey. It was a big leap for me to leave the safety of a job to start my own landscaping business and I’ve never looked back. One of my favorite things about Garden of Ease is that I get to see the results of my hard work and one of the biggest thrills is when a client tells me how much they love their garden. I hope you pay attention to your own questions, they can change your life for the better!

In some parts of the world grass is a symbol of good fortune. When we first started working on this garden we weren’t quite sure where the project would lead us…and were we surprised! I love working with different grasses and when the client expressed an interest in using different and interesting grasses–we were excited. Grasses can be low maintenance (which is a plus), but their ability to bring movement to the garden design is amazing. And the idea that grass is a symbol of good fortune…well our good fortune was the wonderful friendships that were created along the way with this garden.

I know it’s an old joke to ‘talk about the weather,’ but when you’re in the landscape and garden design business, the weather really is something you want to know about! And the first real storms of the season arrived in a big way. I find these storms to be a good reminder to slow down the pace of life a bit and reflect. This is a great time for me to take care of those things that are difficult to get to when we are crazy busy with our garden installations. My ‘to do list’ has been whittled way down—thanks to Mother Nature!