Southwest Summer Series Garden Tour: Refugia Design (Three Gardens)

At Refugia, we design functional landscapes that are ecologically beneficial, beautiful, and resilient. Sown from our own field experiences and fostered by our commitment to continuing education and best practices that set us apart from conventional landscape management and design.

Sandy & Kevin Baxter

After completing interior renovations on their new home in 2023, the Baxters wanted a colorful, engaging, pollinator-friendly landscape to soften the edges of their property, provide light screening from the adjacent school, manage sump-pump and stormwater, and offer new gathering/hang-out spaces for their young family. We took inspiration from the surrounding New Jersey landscape and were really drawn to their quiet back yard corner, with spongy, moss-covered ground, surrounded by white pines.

Cindy & Greg Simerlink

The transformation of an unused rear lawn into a garden with a feeling of place. All heavily pruned shrubs were removed, and all turf lawn was replaced with a native landscape featuring plants tolerant of the sharp drainage in the area and the varying light conditions. The herbaceous layer was selected to showcase a joyful palette of pink and lavender blooms, and the woody plants were selected to provide forage material for wildlife. The garden is an oasis for birdlife because of the varied materials for nesting, sustenance of berries and insect life promoted by the diverse plant selections, and the water feature which provides a critical water source for birds in season.

Dan & Laura Robinson

For the rear garden, the goal was a playful space for Dan + Laura’s children and family to grow into. Laura grew up with a wooded backdrop, and she wanted to create a similar feeling of place for her children. There was an existing hemlock and dogwood canopy, and we populated the rear fence line with Rhododendron, Redbud, and Serviceberry to build up a dense screening from neighboring properties. An informal exploratory path can take little feet from a family gathering place around the firepit to a playhouse and edible garden space. The herbaceous palette throughout the rear is fun and loose and a bit wilder! The front foundation gardens linked some of the species from the rear to a cleaner planting that could speak to the traditions of the house.