This blog is a collaboration between Shawn Michael and Laurin Lindsey. We are married and own a boutique design install landscaping company in a historic neighborhood called the Heights. The Heights is a neighborhood 3 miles from downtown Houston. It is 23 feet higher than downtown and the highest place in Houston thus called the Heights.  We live right in the middle of the Heights in a 1905 Victorian home we are slowly renovating. We run our business out of the back, as we have a working alley. There is a holding area for plants, parking for our trailer and storing hardscape materials and our garden is a test garden with an ever shrinking lawn. We started our business in 2009 and as of 2014 have two crews and that is how we would like to keep it. I call it boutique because we do everything in-house and our work is original and hand crafted.

Laurin is the primary writer and is a  Landscape Designer, expert researcher, avid gardener and member of the APLD. My background is in art and design. I have been a gardener all my life. I remember being 8 years old and growing sunflowers and tomatoes from seeds. Sadly the little boy down the street picked all the tomatoes off the vine before they were ripe and beheaded the sunflower; and yes there were tears. That is the life of a gardener: celebration, awe, reverence and letting go.

“The garden is a microcosm of life. It has so much to teach us when we take the time to listen to its lessons. Learning to garden is the process of learning from Nature while also discovering your own.”

Shawn Michael runs the install side of our business. He has a degree in History and Philosophy and worked as a site supervisor in construction before we started our own company. He was trained as a master gardener and is a certified landscape professional by the TNLA (Texas Nursery and Landscape Association). He is also a licensed Irrigation specialist and drain layer.

We both feel part of our mission in life is to be stewards of the earth. Our company is all organic and we strive to have an organic solution for every aspect of gardening. We like to help educate our customers and are always available via phone or email to answer their gardening questions. This blog came out of all the research we did for them. We realized there was a need for more gardening information here in Houston. And while our blog is Houston-centric much of the information can be useful elsewhere.

Monday blogs are about an install we have done. Focusing on before, during and after and information that would be useful to a DIYer or someone new to the landscaping business. We often show pictures of the design and talk about materials.

Wednesday blogs are about plants we like and feel are underutilized, our garden here at Ravenscourt, or garden tours we have been on. We are both active members of the Heights Garden Club. Laurin is on the steering committee and Shawn helps with functions and heavy lifting.

Friday’s blog is an inspirational quote about gardening or a book review and anything else that we think will be interesting to fellow gardeners and garden designers.

Feel free to ask us questions and we will get back to you as soon as we can!