ECO-YARDS - NATURAL LANDSCAPE DESIGN, INSTALLATION, & HEALTH

Easy-maintenance

Eco-friendly

Ever beautiful

 

Read about Laureen Rama's new book: Eco-yards: Simple steps to earth-friendly landscapes.

Specializing in low-maintenance, low water use landscapes that can be maintained organically. I love designing and installing beautifully flowered environments for year-round colour. Native plants are incorporated to support local pollinators and the natural ecosystem.

My team creates sanctuaries for you to view and enjoy.

You may just want a beautiful flower border or perennial bed. You may want your whole yard re-done. If you want really low maintenance, my team can do beds of trees, shrubs, perennials, and mulches of wood chips. We can also do native prairie plantings.

We work with wonderful sub-contractors who build fences, decks, or paved areas if this is part of the plan. I love working with sustainable materials such as log slices or natural local stone in pathways, walls, and rock gardens.

Elements of feng shui are brought into designing the landscape.

I will work with the energies of the site and plants to design and install the most harmonious and beautiful mix of features and plants to suit your desires.

I work in the Calgary, Alberta area, particularly the NW and West edge of the City.

Sustainable practices that have the least impact on the environment and actually restore the environment are used. We are continually learning and improving this area of our work.

I also have Eco-yards (TM) Spray programs to restore and enhance the organic life on your yard. Click here for details.

Call me (Laureen Rama) at (403) 969-1176 in Calgary to start your Eco-Yards(TM) project today!

ADVANTAGES OF HAVING LESS LAWN

Easier to maintain (5-15 minutes a week of watering and weeding during the summer).

Can be cheaper (less water, less maintenance cost).

In future, water use and chemical use will likely be curtailed and lawn will be difficult to maintain.

Better for the environment and your health to use less water, less chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

You can have the beauty, colour variety, and wonderful energy of flowering plants around you.

AND if you really want lawn, I can replace your lawn with grasses that are very hardy, stay green with little or no watering and grow slowly, so they need less mowing. A hardy lawn also prevents weeds.

Click here for more on overseeding and here for more on hardy, low maintenance grasses.

Click here for more on the history of lawns and why less lawn or low-maintenance lawn is the way to go!

THE PROCESS

I ask you what you are interested in, your desires and any parameters. Together we go through your yard and look at the views from within your home.

I present you a sketch design and we work out the final design plan together.

You can install it with support and training from me.

Or I can install it and train you (if this is needed) on how to maintain your beautiful landscape using organic methods.

INVESTMENT

Initial site visit and consultation: $75 + GST.

The design would be done for a flat rate determined once I see your site and learn the scope of what you desire (initial consultation).

The installation work would be done one of two ways:

- at an hourly rate of $65/hour for me and $55/hour/person for any other workers and then cost plus a percentage for materials and any heavy equipment rental. I hire people to help me with the heavy labour.

- on the basis of an estimate

Any support work or training for you to install and maintain the design yourself would be charged according to the scope of that work.

The general cost for overseeding a lawn with hardy grass seed (including spreading compost and natural fertilizer) is usually about $400 for up to 250 square metres (or 2690 square feet) depending on the layout of your yard. Extra lawn can be overseeded for 85 cents/square metre.

TESTIMONIALS

Donna and Glenn

Donna: I love the flower gardens Laureen did for me. I spoke with Laureen, giving her an idea of what I wanted and she implemented exactly what I had envisioned. Within 72 hours it was done!

Our next - door neighbours weren’t too sure about a flower bed dividing our lots. Two months later as it grew so beautifully they were as thrilled as we were.

Glenn: I love the variety of plants and the layout. We have colour all growing season long and the differing heights of the plants works well, especially on our hill.

Donna: The layout, the timing of flowering, and the colour scheme are perfect. Now when I sit in my dining room looking at my beautitful garden it completes the view. It is much more enjoyable to sit on our front porch too. Before it was just grass and now we have this beautiful yard! Thank you so much Laureen.

MY PASSION FOR LANDSCAPING

Designing and installing natural flower gardens has been my my hobby and passion for 15 years and my main spiritual focus for the last few years. I’ve taken courses, read lots of books and magazines, visited and spoken to gardeners whenever and wherever I can, and experimented with what works and what doesn’t in many different kinds of yards. I feel a deep sense of connection with all of life when I'm gardening. I love focusing my creativity in this way. Making some 200 flower essences from Alberta native plants has really deepened my knowledge and connection to these prairie and mountain plants.

I also strongly believe that we should leave the land we steward in better shape. Life on earth depends on the vitality of the topsoil and the plants that grow in it. Food for all life and fresh air depends on these. We can enrich the soil and enliven the energy of the places we steward by using organic methods. In this way we can contribute to creating a healthier, more beautiful, and fruitful world.

I'm offering my services to create landscape sanctuaries of inspiring beauty. Call me today at (403) 969-1176 to start your Eco-Yards project!