About Devlin

I have always loved plants and animals ever since I was a child, and continue to be mesmerized by the beauty and wonder they still bring into our lives on a daily basis. I garden intuitively with what I know could potentially work in a particular location once I know the lighting, soil, and moisture levels around your property. Gardening can bring out many levels of joy and satisfaction, so I work with clients and focus on finding out what colors, smells, textures appeal to them (or not!) especially folks who want to work in their own gardens and get their hands dirty on occasion.

There are many different facets of what I would call “diamond in the rough” gardening techniques to make your spot a little gem that appeals to both you and different wildlife. Some gardens start with an area of land that has been neglected, forgotten about, overgrown with invasives, or planted with plants that no longer serve purpose for nature or the home-owner’s interests and these areas can be transformed into beautiful oases. I like to focus on building up soil health with local premium compost, and only use organic methods when it comes to gardening. This most likely means we plant more native plants to entice beneficial insects in if there is a pest problem, instead of using chemicals or sprays, and stick to plants that will naturally thrive with whatever your site conditions are like. I used to invest in buying the beneficial insects themselves to treat a pest problem, but have found that they should naturally be around and if we can entice them in, they will help solve the problem naturally. Unfortunately, if a neighbor is bombarding the environment with chemicals to control problems as a solution or preventative means, the beneficial insect numbers may be in decline and that is why there is a problem to begin with because the balance has been disturbed.

Evaluating what may or may not work well together can bring clarity when designing a garden once we get a sense of what plants, pollinators, or wildlife you are drawn to. Plants can sometimes “have a mind of their own” and that is why I love them so much! If they are truly happy they may grow well beyond the size that a tag or common knowledge says. I once met a man in Cabot, Vermont who had many different perennials three times the size of what they would be anywhere else because his soil was so fertile! I have also experienced the reality of micro-climates at someone’s property. Some plants that are literally planted 12 feet apart from one another in a backyard with almost identical conditions and one starts to perish while the other one thrives for no rhyme or reason. The only thing that can be considered with plants thriving or dying is the slight difference in a micro-climate where the plant was planted when all other possibilities are ruled out such as pests, diseases, as well as age.

I love seeing an area transform over the years into a gorgeous space for nature to thrive! Seeding, reseeding, dividing plants that have filled in and moving things around to make room for other new plants is what I am dedicated to doing, for gardening is a live art installation that is constantly changing and can be a benefit to our minds and support the wildlife who depend on those gardens. My goal is to help educate you about what can work in your own garden space, to invite creatures that you may or may know about, and realize the potential for how healing nature can be to our souls. I look forward to maybe meeting you, and learning together what we can do to transform your space and make it thrive with life, big and small.

A little history about me:

I was surrounded by gardeners (and gardens) growing up. My dad’s mom was an avid gardener as well as my own mom. When I would visit my grandmother Sue down south in Alabama when I was a young girl, Sue’s vegetable and flower gardens had a big impact on me that would imprint a love of gardens for the rest of my life. The pole beans seemed to reach to the sky like I was living the real-life Jack and the Beanstalk story. The tomatoes also seemed to climb into the clouds and I always cherished going out in the garden to harvest the vegetables. We would eat fresh tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches and have steamed green beans with butter, salt, and pepper. Those are still some of my favorite comfort foods to this day! My grandmother’s cut flower garden was simple with roses that were the most fragrant varieties and colors of sunsets and pale pink ribbons. Her zinnias always spoke to me, too, and she would make dramatic floral arrangements for her home and her community, up until she died when she was 99 years old. My grandparents had a blueberry patch that was netted and I’ll never forget helping free a little bird that had been caught up in it, trying to eat the berries.

I moved around quite a bit when I was a kid. When we lived in Tennessee my mom helped manage a large garden center. I would go there after school and be in another magical world of tropical plants in the greenhouse and everything related to gardening that thrived in the warmer climates down south. In high school living back up in Massachusetts, I helped my mom in her landscaping business, starting at age 15 to work in her own client’s gardens and never really felt like any other job gave me as much satisfaction! After graduating high school at 17 years old, I went to Green Mountain College in Vermont, and took art classes and a farming course.

Being so young, I decided I needed time to really explore and make sure I got the education I needed when I was ready for it, because I truly wasn’t sure if I wanted to be an artist, or a gardener/farmer. After taking more art courses at MA college of Art in Boston (I took black and white photography and metalsmithing) while making glass beads at home with my own glass equipment I decided I needed to explore the country while I could and brought my glass bead making equipment with me. My two best friends and I took a road trip out west to Portland, OR where I lived with my brother for a few weeks, and then “settled” in Olympia, WA for a fast 8 months before I decided it was time to go back to school and landscape on the side for income over the summer. I went to school at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture and received my Associate’s Degree in General Horticulture. I also received my bachelor’s degree in community food systems because I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to eat local, fresh, food and learn about it as much as possible- or also have the option to grow it in their own backyards!

In 2010 I interned at Red Fire Farm and then became the bedding plant manager after only one season with my knowledge of growing flowers! I added a ton of new flower varieties to their offering (too many, actually!) and you can see a photo of me back in 2011 when I was managing the giant greenhouse with all of the plants for growing in the farm fields and to sell to customers.

Other things that I am passionate about, aside from gardening and farming, are animals and nature. I simply adore all wildlife and critters, and ofcourse our beloved pets who we share our home with which currently are two cats; Lily & Socks, and a dog named Iris. I love raising chickens and have had ducks as well and look forward to getting them again in the future. I had many animals growing up- cats, dogs, hamsters, hermit crabs, fish, frogs, and even a worm snake I caught when we were living in Tennessee and had it living in a kiddie pool for one day I named George, and then released because I knew it wasn’t kind to keep wild animals as pets (one day wouldn’t hurt little George I figured..) I would always be outside in the woods looking for frogs, snakes, lizards- down south there were blue-tailed skinks! My parents even helped me rescue and release a young squirrel who had fallen out of a tree into a stream that was in our backyard when I was in 5th grade living in Rockford, Tennessee.  I have always been fascinated by insects, birds, and other animals that are right outside our back doors that many people take for granted. I have always been an environmentalist, ever since I was a little girl and wanted to do something to help the planet. I am passionate about saving habitats critical for wildlife, and when I can help create a new habitat for animals, you can bet I’ll be doing as much as I can whether it be for birds, butterflies, frogs, toads, owls or even bats.

Many people don’t want “pests” in their gardens. But what is a pest? A caterpillar, beetle, wasp, fly, or ant? Do you know what kind of caterpillar it is that may be eating your dill, or wasp or fly that is flying around your garden? It could be a type of swallowtail butterfly caterpillar that will help pollinate your flowers and bring beauty to your world when you are sitting outside and enjoying the fresh air, or a parasitic wasp, a tachinid fly or a syrphid fly that will naturally help reduce pest numbers in your gardens while also pollinating flowers! Many wasps don’t actually sting and it is usually only the female wasps that sting. There are also many “gross” or weird looking insects that are actually in a process called metamorphosis that will transform into something unrecognizable from what they are when you first see them.  Let’s give nature a break from bombarding things we are unsure about with pesticides, because killing a little critter may not be the best idea. Many beetles eat aphids and other pests, as well as lacewings. If we can learn to expand our knowledge by identifying creatures in our gardens, we can live in balance without poisoning the planet around us because of an unknown fear.

 ~Devlin