I live in Iowa, where we are cooped up half the year. While the weather is pleasant, we want to be outside as much as possible. I get a lot of questions about outdoor kitchen design - what's needed? How do you plan? To help you get started, I want to teach about the four outdoor kitchen zones.

Mostly likely cornfields and livestock are what come to mind when you hear somebody talk about Iowa. It’s certainly what I thought of first when I got to know my farmboy husband! Twelve years later, I find myself living on an acreage about 20 minutes outside of Des Moines, Iowa, surrounded by chickens, sheep, and tractors ... but just down the road from a great city and some amazing gardens.

One of the most exciting times in a landscape installation is the moment the plants start to go in. At this point, the final grade and topography have been set and hard edges begin to soften with lush plants filling in a space. The last thing you want to look at is mud or weeds, so the next step would be to place some type of cover over all of the exposed soil around your new plants.

People love story- we remember and understand best when we’re presented with a narrative. And since our clients aren’t experts in landscape design, they trust us to guide them through the process. Therefore, the most important things to keep in mind as we present our work are to tell a story, and tell it with confidence.