Borrowing from principles of permaculture, biodynamics, and regenerative agriculture, this half-acre Denver residence reimagines a conventional lawn as a resilient meadow-orchard. The design improves soil health, restores ecological habitat, and creates a balanced, self-sustaining ecosystem.

Our incredible client — inspired by documentaries like Kiss the Ground and The Biggest Little Farm — wanted a landscape that could feed both people and pollinators. We began with hands-on soil testing and analysis, building organic matter and microbial life from the ground up. Five distinct zones evolved from the site’s microclimates: Orchard Meadow, Savannah Oak, Rain Garden, Fruiting Shrubs, and Perennial Entry Way.

The orchard includes peaches, cherries, plums, apples, and pears, alongside raspberry, currant, blackberry, and buffaloberry, each selected by our friend and orchardist John Isaac Gutierrez at Buenas Huertas  for resilience, drought tolerance, and productivity. Superbloom supported implementation and phasing with compost-tea applications, organic pest management, and soil-building strategies that set the garden on a regenerative path.

To guide long-term stewardship, we created a detailed “Field Notes” book — an evolving record of seasonal changes, harvests, and care notes developed with horticulturists, orchardists, and seed specialists. The result is a landscape that’s as experimental as it is abundant: part story, part science, and completely alive.

• Location (City, State): Denver, CO 

• Year: 2022

• Services provided: Landscape Architecture

• Client: Residential 

• Collaborators: John Gutierrez – Orchardist, Western Native Seed – Seed specialist, Larry Vickernamn – Director of Chatfield Farms, Denver Botanic Garden, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Amy Scanes-Wolf and Mikl Brawer – Harlequin’s Gardens, Emily Drury – MacDowelle Colony, Midwest Labs – Soil Testing