About Jennifer

My name is Jennifer and I’m a Licensed Landscape Architect in North Carolina, South Carolina & Colorado. I'm also a Master Gardener, Master Composter, and a Permaculture Design Certificate Holder. I teach classes at the North Carolina Arboretum and have taught at conferences across the country.

My Education & Life

Ever since I can remember I have passionately been involved in landscaping and environmental work. I chose to go to the University of Massachusetts to study Landscape Architecture, and to finish my degree at California Polytechnic State University. I decided to travel around South America with a friend after college, and while there, had the opportunity to work on an organic farm north of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I was excited to learn about different permaculture techniques and the ways people built their life around self-grown organic produce.

I returned back to Connecticut and worked at a landscape architecture firm where I continued to learn about design, space and the way we fit into our environment.  However, I still was not satisfied and needed to explore the ways of the world more.  I planned a solo trip around the world and found myself planting banana trees in the hills of Thailand and eventually in Tanzania where I helped plant over 1,000 native African trees.

When I returned back to the States, I moved to Washington, D.C. for yet another landscape architecture position. Several months into it I concluded it was not for me and went to work in the Dominican Republic for 6 months.  While I was there I had the opportunity to work with impoverished Haitian migrant communities and build community gardens to combat one of their largest problems- hunger.  A few months after we planted the gardens, a friend of mine from the community came to me excited and told me about the bounty of vegetables he and his family had to eat.  It was at that point when I realized the importance of gardens in people’s lives.

I then moved to Denver and to help people re-connect with their food source, through effective design, created UpBeet Landscapes. My mission became clear that I need to bridge the gap between ornamental and sustainable landscape design.  At that time, I also partnered up with 4 other landscape designers and landscape architects and we created Cooperative Design Resource- a design resource for landscape contractors. After creating and growing with CDR & UpBeet for 6 years, I decided to move my family to Asheville, NC for a more permanent residency.

Currently in Asheville, I work with homeowners and contractors to build aesthetically pleasing landscapes and intentional spaces. Through the use of creative design solutions every planned landscape serves a purpose and that is my purpose.