01
The designer hands off and disappears.
A beautiful rendering becomes a value-engineered version of itself once the build sub gets the file. By month three, no one can answer why the slope changed.
Landscape that ages well.
A Burlington landscape design-build firm where the registered architect who draws the plan walks the site the morning we lay the first course of stone. One firm. One vision. One crew.
Registered Landscape Architect
VT licensed & insured
Featured · Garden Conservancy 2024
— What goes wrong
You’ve hired before. You know the pattern.
The reason most premium landscape projects disappoint isn’t the budget. It’s the gap between the firm that drew the plan and the crew that built it.
02
The plants die in year two.
Wrong cultivar for zone 4b. Wrong soil amendment. Planted in mulch instead of native loam. Spring two arrives and a third of the bed is replaced under warranty.
03
The wall tips in three winters.
Footings poured above frost line. Drainage afterthought. Mortar where dry stone should sit. Vermont winter takes care of the rest, frost-heave by frost-heave.
04
The number on the contract isn’t the number on the invoice.
“While we were in there, we found…” lands every two weeks. Change orders verbal, then signed retroactively. The original quote feels like a memory by July.
We do it differently. Here’s how →
— By the numbers
1
firm · 1 vision · 1 crew. From plan to last course of stone.
60mi
material sourcing radius. Every stone quarried in Vermont.
48″
frost-line footings, standard. Zone 4b construction methods.
2024
Garden Conservancy Open Days featured project (Shelburne).
— The thesis
We don’t build “low-maintenance landscapes.” We design intentional ones — native, regenerative, materially honest. A garden worth tending. A wall worth leaning against in October.
— Three pillars
How we work, every project, no exceptions.
01 — Method
Designed once. Built right.
One firm. One vision. One crew. The architect who draws the plan walks the site the day we lay the first course of stone — no telephone game between designer and builder. The plan you approve is the plan we build.
02 — Material
Native. Regenerative. Durable.
Plants chosen for zone 4b, our soil, our pollinators. Stone quarried within 60 miles. Naturally rot-resistant cedar. Frost-line footings at 48″. Construction methods that survive Vermont winters — because we live through them too.
03 — Contract
Quote it. Then build to it.
Fixed scope. Fixed price. Change orders signed before a single shovel moves. No “while we’re here we found…” upcharges. The number on the contract is the number on the invoice.
— What we make
Four disciplines. One shop.
From master plans to dry-stone walls to cedar pavilions, every discipline lives under one roof. Most projects combine all four.
Landscape Design
Master site plans, planting plans, hardscape design, stamped construction drawings, 3D site studies. Designed by a registered landscape architect.
Explore designHardscape
Dry-laid & mortared stone walls, bluestone & granite patios, walkways, steps, retaining walls, drainage. Local stone. Frost-line footings.
Explore hardscapeCedar Structures
Pergolas, garden pavilions, custom fencing, gates, arbors, trellises, raised beds. Naturally rot-resistant cedar — built with mortise-and-tenon joinery, not deck screws.
Explore cedarPool & Water Features
Pool surrounds in bluestone or natural stone, naturalistic ponds, streams, fountains, plunge pools. Water that fits the site — not the other way around.
Explore water— Selected work
A lakefront garden in Shelburne
A 2½-acre lakefront site, designed and built over fourteen months. The brief: a garden the family could be inside, not just look at. Three terraced rooms step down toward Lake Champlain, framed by a 240-foot dry-laid stone wall and a cedar pavilion sized for ten at a long table.
Every plant chosen for zone 4b and the lake-effect microclimate. Every stone quarried in Panton, thirty-two miles south. The pavilion frames sunset over the Adirondacks from the seventh week of October.
Year
2024
Location
Shelburne, VT
Stone
Panton schist
Timber
Eastern white cedar
Duration
14 months
A hilltop garden with seven terraces.
Re-grading a steep north-facing slope into seven dry-stone-walled terraces of perennials, fruit trees, and a 60-foot meditation walk.
Read project →
A courtyard for a contemporary house.
A 1,400-square-foot enclosed courtyard with bluestone paving, cedar slat screening, a small reflecting pool, and three Japanese maples for autumn color.
Read project →— The Cairn & Cedar Method
Four steps. Six to eighteen months. No surprises.
Most clients start the conversation a season before they want work in the ground. The Method is how every project moves from first phone call to the day we hand you the keys to your own garden.
1
Site visit
Two-hour walk of the property with the architect. We listen, you talk. We measure light, slope, drainage, and existing material. No PowerPoint.
2
Design
Hand-drawn schematic on tracing paper, then full construction drawings — planting plan, hardscape, grading, lighting. Two reviews built in.
3
Quote
Fixed-price proposal, line-itemed by trade. Stone, timber, plants, labor, equipment, drainage. You see the math. Change orders signed before any change happens.
4
Build
Our in-house crew, on site every working day. Weekly progress photos. The architect walks the site at every major milestone. We don’t leave until the punch list is empty.
“They quoted us in March, broke ground in May, and finished the week they said they would. The wall has been through two winters now. Not a single stone has moved.” — K. M. · Charlotte, VT · 2024 build