I am a landscape designer and ISA Certified Arborist based on Washington's Kitsap Peninsula, working with residential clients throughout Kitsap County and Bainbridge Island. My practice spans site-sensitive garden design, ecological planting, arborist consulting, and tree risk assessment: two disciplines that inform each other, and that I bring to each project as the work requires.
Before founding my practice, I spent years working in historic and private gardens, including a season living and working at Planting Fields Arboretum on Long Island's North Shore, learning directly from their gardeners. That time, alongside training at the New York Botanical Garden and work with sought-after New York City landscape design firms, shaped how I read a site and how I think about plants as part of living systems.
My background in fine arts and couture millinery, and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, runs alongside all of it. It continues to inform how I approach form, material, and the craft of making something that holds up over time.
I am a Shore Friendly recognized professional and work independently of construction and maintenance crews, remaining closely involved through design and implementation to support thoughtful execution.
My work is grounded in the belief that gardens should breathe, shift, and belong: shaped by time, place, and care.
— Ashley Lloyd
To learn more about my Philosophy and Values please continue down the page.
NY - 6898A
Philosophy & Values
A Boutique, Hands-On Approach
As a woman-owned boutique studio, I bring something larger firms can't: genuine investment in each client and site.
I think carefully about how people actually live alongside their landscapes, what draws them outside, what makes a garden feel like theirs. That attentiveness shapes every decision, from the first site visit through years of ongoing care.
An Integrative, Ecological Perspective
My expertise spans landscape design, horticulture, arboriculture, and lighting, allowing me to shape spaces that are both functional and beautiful. Every element is carefully considered:
How plantings evolve over time, contributing to the long-term rhythm and character of the site
How soil, water, and microclimates influence plant health and resilience
How plant communities function within broader ecological systems, supporting wildlife, habitat, and the living relationships that make a landscape feel whole over time
While I prioritize native species where appropriate, I take a right plant, right place approach, ensuring choices suit the site while creating a thriving, layered composition.
Editing Rather than Erasing
I approach design as an act of editing, repair, and thoughtful reuse, working with what already exists whenever possible. I'm not interested in erasing landscapes to start over, nor in imposing rigid formality.
My work favors naturalistic, site-responsive gardens: places that feel alive and evolving, grounded in their ecology. I think equally about habitat and about the people who live alongside it. Where to sit, how to move through a space, what draws you outside in the first place. A well-designed garden supports wildlife and invites daily human life at the same time. Those goals aren't in conflict.
Continuous Learning & Thoughtful Adaptation
I'm always observing: photographing plant communities in the field, noting where things want to grow, reading site conditions as they shift across seasons. That habit of attention informs how I design and how I think about what a site is actually telling you, as opposed to what you might impose on it.
Maintaining ISA certification requires ongoing continuing education, but that's never been the reason I pursue it. I've always sought out workshops, books, and new thinking in horticulture, arboriculture, and ecological design because the work demands it and because I'm genuinely curious about it.
Trust & Craft
Good work requires trust. I bring rigorous attention to every project, to vision, execution, and the details in between, and I work best with clients who trust the process and leave room for it to unfold. That kind of working relationship is where the best work happens.
A Foundation in Art & Design
Before founding my practice, I spent years working in others' gardens, including a season living and working at Planting Fields Arboretum, learning directly from their gardeners. That time shaped how I observe plants, how I read a site, and how I think about a garden as a living system rather than a fixed composition.
My background in fine arts, couture millinery, and a BFA from MICA runs alongside that. It continues to shape how I design: with attention to form, texture, and the sculptural potential of space — and to the feeling a place creates. The moments of stillness, wonder, and quiet surprise that make a garden worth returning to.
Designing for Connection & Longevity
Whatever the project, my aim is the same: to create landscapes that feel genuinely at home in their place, and that reward the people who live alongside them over years, not just at installation. Gardens that invite daily use, shift beautifully with the seasons, and deepen over time.
If that's what you're looking for, I'd love to hear about your site.
