Garden Design for a Resilient Future.
I create beautiful, productive landscapes that thrive in our changing climate.
Sustainable Designs for a Resilient Future
Climate Resilience + Restoration
I use plants that restore soil health and biodiversity, which create a healthier, aesthetically pleasing, and more personal garden. Ask about water catchment, pollinator support, and self-sustaining systems!
Edible + Medicinal Integration
Residential gardens can support the environment as well as produce fruit, vegetables, medicinal and culinary herbs, cutting flowers, and textile plants. Designed gardens are truly a place of abundance.
Hand-Drafted Designs
The designs are easy to follow and use standard scales and architectural symbols. You can either use the plan as a guide to install them yourself or hand them off to a landscape contractor.
Services Offered
On-Site Consultation
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Site Analysis + Assessment
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Soil Testing + Interpretation
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Hand-drafted, blank base map
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High-Level design proposal
*Consultation does not include detailed planting plans or specific plant recommendations
Landscape Design
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Hand-drafted planting plan map + supporting documents
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Plant descriptions + care
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Maintenance timeline
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Hardscape recommendations
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Implementation plan
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One revision included
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Further revisions billed at an hourly rate
Plant Delivery + Design Layout
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Plants delivered to your doorstep
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Access to commercial and specialty nurseries at affordable prices
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Potted plants and plugs laid out according to the design all ready to plant!
Garden Coaching
Learn how to take care of your garden:
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Specialty pruning
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Disease identification
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Plant nutrition
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Soil-building strategies
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Plant identification
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Garden planning
*On-site coaching only; no virtual
About
Kristin McConnell is the owner and designer of Vital Terrain Landscape Design. She earned her Certificate of Holistic Landscape Design and Permaculture Design Certificate from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. While a student, she worked in the medicinal herb gardens and greenhouse that supplied the university's dispensary as well as interned at an edible landscaping company.
After graduation, she worked for the largest native plants wholesaler in the state and volunteered for the WSU Extension's Diagnostic Plant Clinic and Demonstration Gardens. She also completed the Master Pruner program through Plant Amnesty.
She discovered her love of horticulture while living in Ecuador and visiting the incredible Río Muchacho farm. There, the farm balanced rainforest restoration while providing food for the local families in abundance. After that, she took a detour through France after finishing a contract in Seoul to work on an off-grid organic farm and bakery. Upon returning home to Seattle, she worked with a landscape designer to create her family's home garden. It turned into a legacy project; the next owners used it to host their wedding. This inspired her to train as a landscape designer herself.
She currently works in Bellingham with residential homeowners as a landscape designer and garden coach to create ecologically conscious gardens that are as productive and resilient as they are beautiful. Her favorite gardens have espaliered fruit, herbs, water filtration, and are self-sustaining.
Let’s start growing your sanctuary.
Talk to me about your soil, your sun, and your vision. I will help you cultivate an approachable, climate-resilient garden that balances abundance with aesthetic beauty.