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Photography by Susan Jackson
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Considering all of the minute idiosyncrasies of plants and landscaping, it’s a wonder any lay gardener comes out with a thriving garden. Hostas only grow in shade, roses only in sunlight; dogwoods can be moved from sun to shade, but not from shade to sun; trees and shrubs should be watered just outside the drip line (the outer edge of the plant); vegetables, bedding plants and perennials must be watered often (due to their shallow roots)—the list goes on and on.
Gardening gurus and first-timers alike have undoubtedly risen to the challenge, but regardless of their level of experience, there’s little doubt they could have benefited from the convenience and perfection offered by landscape architects and designers. These experts can check off all the to-dos on your landscape list: planning, designing, plant choice, installation, contracting and maintenance.
AT HOME has rounded up eight of St. Louis’ top landscape architects and designers. Their impeccable reputations and wide-ranging design personalities and styles might inspire you to pick up the phone and schedule a consultation or at least start evaluating your circostanza al fresco.
Linda Wiggen Kraft
landscape designer; Creveling Gardens, 314-863-1136, gardensforthesoul.com
With a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, an M.B.A., and experience in meditation and horticultural teaching, Linda Wiggen Kraft prefers an all-encompassing approach to gardening. “I’m really after how a client wants to feel in the garden,” she says. “Then I can create the space with all the hard- and softscape that can achieve it.”
As an artist, she concentrates on designing gardens that stimulate the senses. She uses plants that attract birds and butterflies for sight and sound (blue salvias, for instance, bloom all summer and attract hummingbirds; echinacea or cone flowers entice goldfinches). She might also throw in some bamboo, which gently clicks in the wind.
Soil preparation, design sketches and knowledge of plants that can endure hot Missouri summers are a product of Ms. Kraft’s left-brain inclinations. Jobs can take anywhere from a few months to several years, and she stays closely involved in each project, from the first consultation and beginning sketches through installation, which she completes with a contracted staff.
Ms. Kraft pours on the leaf mulch to cut back on weeds and is careful to plant in the correct places. Native or prairie plants will do best, and they tend to be the lowest maintenance—a very popular trait.
Rates: Initial consultation is $250; design work is charged at $125 per hour; installation fees are based on the cost of labor (the number of workers) and plants selected.
Tom Dunn
landscape designer; Dunn Lawn and Land, 314-968-5300, dunnlawnandland.com
Tom Dunn loves to see the before-and-after of a completed project. It’s a passion that’s led him from the landscape maintenance company he started in college to the comprehensive design-build business he owns today.
Though not a certified landscape architect, Mr. Dunn hired one in 2000 to attend to the larger, all-encompassing projects that were quickly becoming a major portion of his business.
Dunn Lawn and Land offers design work, budgeting, installation and long-term maintenance. Such comprehensive services are necessary, Mr. Dunn believes, to achieve the complex outdoor living spaces many St. Louis homeowners want.
“Whether it’s a well-kept garden, a built-in kitchen or a therapeutic spa, people want a nice outdoor environment that’s practical,” he says.
It’s a delicate balance, and one that’s different for every project. From the four-color architectural plans drafted with CAD software to the first stages of installation and yearly maintenance visits, Mr. Dunn sticks to one basic principle: Good landscape blends a variety of elements.
He won’t admit to a signature touch, but if there’s one thing that might apply, it’s his desire to plan and build a landscape that will maintain interest throughout all seasons. Mr. Dunn might plant boxwood or holly for winter interest, azaleas for spring, hydrangea for summer and a burning bush for fall.
Rates: Initial consultation is completed at no charge, after which clients are required to put down a design deposit (a percentage calculated by scope of project). Labor is $48 per hour, plus the cost of materials.
Gay Goessling
landscape architect; L. Gay Goessling, 314-773-2900
In her 17 years of business, Gay Goessling has designed it all: healing, meditation, memorial and secret gardens as well as the typical English cottage or herb garden.
The reason for her varied experience is, in two words, conceptual requests. People want their gardens to make them feel a certain way more often than they want specific plants, Ms. Goessling explains. Bringing elements of earth, air, fire and water is one way she achieves the harmony felt in her gardens. Earth can be represented by stones or statues, air by wind chimes, fire by red-blooming plants or fire pits, and water by ponds and waterfalls. Ms. Goessling favors native plants—dogwoods are a favorite—and hardy plants that give a full range of color, like hydrangeas.
But what matters most are her clients’ wants and achieving them in a way that’s organized, peaceful and functional. That’s where Ms. Goessling—with a master’s degree from Harvard in landscape architecture and undergraduate degrees in botany and art history—comes in. “It’s a matter of knowing where to place different plant types,” she says. “I work with the space and the plants to create enjoyable outdoor environments.”
Rates: Charges are communicated upfront, in one lump sum, based on Ms. Goessling’s experience and the predicted amount of time and materials to be used.
Kim Kelce & Nancy Pedley
landscape designers; Kelce & Pedley Designs, 314-961-7453, yourlandscapedesigners.com
Past landscaping projects have put Kim Kelce and Nancy Pedley in gardens as close as Karen Foss’ back yard and as far away as England. When a client offered to fly them to the U.K. to see a specific formal garden he wanted, the duo hopped the next available flight. “We’ve had a lot of fun over the years,” says Ms. Pedley. “It’s so great doing this as partners, to have someone you can inspire and be inspired by.”
The two joined forces nearly 16 years ago with a unique design approach that’s informal and flexible enough to recognize the individual needs of every client.
“We’ll hunt down whatever the client wants,” Ms. Kelce says.
Ms. Kelce and Ms. Pedley make sure to check out a client’s interior spaces, knowing that what’s inside often will say a lot about what a client wants for the outside of an abode. If a home is neat and organized, the client will likely want the garden that way, Ms. Pedley explains. A motto they always follow: Never try anything in a client’s landscape that you haven’t tried on your own. They also keep three things in mind—purpose, maintenance and budget—whether they are designing a landscape from scratch (coordinating lighting, grating, irrigation, soil preparation, planting, retaining walls, etc.) or dropping by for maintenance on a long-time client’s property.
Asian themes and exotic tropical plants are big right now, they say. However, their personal favorites include boxwood, holly, magnolias and the new, low-maintenance endless-bloomer “Knock Out” rose.
Rates: Their rates run $65 per hour and the cost of materials, plus labor (50 percent of the total materials cost).
Rand Rosenthal
landscape designer and contractor; Rosenthal Landscaping and Design, Inc., 314-961-8894
You could say Rand Rosenthal unofficially got into the business when he was in the first grade. While other kids were playing in the park, Mr. Rosenthal was planting sweet potatoes.Much of his work is based on intuition and observation. Mr. Rosenthal tries to spend as much time as possible at a potential property to learn how sun and shade spots move throughout the day and uncover any drainage issues and soil conditions. Mr. Rosenthal flags areas on the site where he recommends planting and suggests which plants would be most suitable. He’ll often take pictures of the site as reference during the planning stages before moving to a more detailed plan for installation.
He also prides himself on his ability to adopt any style, be it vintage garden, cottage setting or mass planting. He loves using vintage containers and often adds pathways and benches to appropriate areas. His own garden in Glendale features an eclectic mix of tropical plants, azaleas, Japanese maples, evergreens and lots of groundcover. A stream leads to a pond and waterfall; a greenhouse is ornamented with sycamore branches and tiny white lights.
Rates: Installation ranges from $1,500 to $400,000. Maintenance is $55 per hour.
Michele Jianakoplos
landscape designer; Design by Michele, 314-610-2529, mjclay.com
As an artist and designer, Michele Jianakoplos sees every landscape as “a 3-D painting” on which she’s ready to leave her mark.
Ms. Jianakoplos studied three-dimensional visual art at the Tainan National College of the Arts in Taiwan before returning to St. Louis and launching Design by Michele, a unique blend of 3-D art (she sells custom tiles, sculptures and planters) and landscape design. Her talents have taken her beyond the garden walls.
“People have us choose paint colors in the winter and install tile inside and out,” she says. “Then I’ll do their [outdoor] designing and installation for the spring and summer.”
Ms. Jianakoplos balances the types and colors of the plants she chooses with a Feng Shui approach. She’s recently seen a big trend in pencil holly and highly recommends the blue atlas cedar, planting fruit trees and adding a touch of fragrance with lilac or witch hazel.
A firm believer in the motto “form follows function,” Ms. Jianakoplos adds a combination of leaf mold, sand and humus if a particular soil has a lot of clay (which most Missouri sites do). She also offers a tailored design plan—from full-scale 3-D drawings to simple sketches on graph paper, depending on a client’s specific wants and needs.
Like most landscape designers, she’s no stranger to the term “low maintenance.” She offers a couple of tips to getting there: Install an irrigation system, hire monthly maintenance and plant with native species.
Rates: Design and labor work is $50 per hour plus $35 per hour if an assistant is required.
Austin Tao
landscape architect; Austin Tao & Associates, Inc., 314-436-3999, austintao.com
Austin Tao strives to make every residential landscape “an extension of the home inside.” In order to help residents realize the full potential of their outdoor living spaces, he employs an in-depth planning and design process that spares no detail. “I go inside and look at the views,” he says. “Maybe they want to block certain things out of their view or provide themselves more privacy.”
After the initial meeting, Mr. Tao often creates three conceptual designs. With client feedback, he then develops a preliminary design, specifying materials, colors, cost, and so forth. Once the design is approved, Mr. Tao moves to a master plan, complete with construction drawings and timetables for contractors.
“My job is to combine the client’s needs with the architecture of the house and the nature of the site to give each property a distinctive style all its own,” Mr. Tao says. With a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon, Mr. Tao works with nine other landscape architects who have a knowledge that runs from temperature toleration and the ornamental value of plants to soils and civil engineering. The most common mistake he sees is the “overdesign” effect—too much going on without near enough planning.
Rates: $125 per hour plus 10–15 percent of construction cost.
