A graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture, I’ve spent the last 45 years designing and tending gardens. Although most of my experience has been in the northeast, I also gardened for a time in Central Texas (USDA Zone 8), where I was an active member of the Texas Old Rose Rustlers. I’ve also spent a good deal of time touring and studying gardens in other regions of the country and abroad.

My special interest has always been in the ways that gardening brings the practitioner into contact with natural systems, and the way that working with nature can make gardening not only easier and more rewarding but also an asset to the environment. In this era of environmental challenges, I think all gardeners need to consider this aspect of their craft.

A reflection of this interest has been my research into more sustainable lawns. For almost a decade I have been designing and planting fine fescue lawns that flourish with only a couple of mowings a year and limited fertilization, as well as lawns that are designed to be dog-proof (or at least dog-friendly).

I do most of my own gardening with my wife Suzanne in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. My enthusiasms include heirloom chickens (although I am currently between flocks) and pressing and fermenting traditional New England hard cider.

Lawns occupy 128,000 square kilometers of the American landscape, an area roughly as big as the states of Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island combined. Over the past decade, I have become very interested in returning this area, the American lawn, to a more environmentally healthy, biologically diverse condition.

On this page you see examples of lawns I have designed and installed. My emphasis has been on reducing the amount of mowing — most of the lawns pictured here thrive with just a couple of mowings each summer — and on reducing the need for fertilizers and other chemical inputs. 

The lawn pictured here with the German Shepherd was planted with a special mix of grasses and clover to accommodate the owner’s two dogs while still remaining green and lush; it’s still looking good in its 7th year.