Grow more, mow less.
Backyard Abundance works closely with clients to transform conventional lawns into ideal outdoor spaces that take less and give more
✔ Residential & commercial landscape design ✔ Strategic land planning ✔ Edible & medicinal gardens ✔ Native perennial plantings ✔ Rain garden/stormwater management
Landscaping can be:
Beautiful
Low maintenance
Economical
While also:
Growing fresh food
Providing pollinator habitats
Conserving water
Strengthening native ecosystems
“Plant with intention once, enjoy beauty and abundance for years”
Services
Function first. Design forward —>
We discuss your goals, timeline, site, budget range, and whether Backyard Abundance is the right fit for your project.
Site assessment & drainage mapping – Evaluate how water moves across roofs, hardscape, and soil to identify flooding, erosion, and infiltration opportunities, turning problem areas into functional water-harvesting features (barrel, pond, garden, etc).
Rain garden / basin layout – The use of shallow planted basins, swales, and berms to slow, spread, and sink stormwater away from structures, reducing runoff, protecting foundations, and easing pressure on storm drains.
Roof runoff & catchment integration – Connects downspouts, rain chains, and/or rain barrels to rain gardens or infiltration areas to make better use of free rainwater and reduce dependence on municipal water.
Soil and overflow planning – Designs for soil type, infiltration rate, and safe overflow paths so water drains within 24–48 hours, preventing standing water, property damage, and mosquito issues.
Install-ready concept plan – Provides a clear, scaled concept drawing and maintenance guidance for installation or contractor bidding.
Includes:
Sourcing of plants specified in your design from trusted local nurseries and growers.
Confirmation of quantities, sizes, availability, and pricing for all selected plants.
Proposal of appropriate substitutions when specific varieties are unavailable.
Coordination of delivery or pickup timing so plants arrive on site when needed.
Communication with your chosen installer to align on timing and logistics.
Includes analysis of site’s climate, topography, sun exposure, soil type and more
Each design will consider the client’s preference for aesthetics, access, food production, pollinator habitat, and upkeep
Hand sketched, painted, and digital designs available
Plant selections and sourcing, as well as landscaper coordination for install
Ongoing support & troubleshooting as needed
Includes:
Custom planting plan with species selection & placement focused on color, texture, and function to create a cohesive palette
This service refines and enhances your existing landscape through thoughtful plant choices and layout only; it does not include grading, hardscape changes, or major reconfiguration of existing beds.
For land & lawns that have been polluted, require fertilizer, or can’t sustain plant life (other than “weeds”)
Soil assessment & history review – Evaluates soil texture, structure, organic matter, and visible symptoms, along with site use history, to understand why the ground feels infertile, compacted, or “dead.”
Diagnostic soil testing – Uses targeted soil tests (pH, nutrients, salts, contaminants where relevant) to pinpoint imbalances and stressors that are limiting plant growth and microbial life.
Soil recovery strategy – Outlines practical steps such as aeration, organic amendments, mulching, and cover cropping to rebuild soil structure, increase organic matter, and invite beneficial microbes back in.
Water & compaction management – Addresses drainage, irrigation, and traffic patterns to reduce compaction and water stress so soil organisms can thrive and hold more moisture naturally.
Synthetic fertilizer phase-out plan – Provides a transition plan from chemical dependence to biologically active, self-feeding soil, helping gardens become more resilient, productive, and less prone to failure over time.
Site walk & pattern assessment – Reviews where and how weeds and pests are showing up, along with watering, mowing, soil, and plant health patterns to identify the root causes instead of just the symptoms for long-lasting solutions.
Weed & pest ID – Identifies key weed and pest species present and groups them by type (annual, perennial, insect, disease, etc.) to clarify which strategies will actually work long term.
Soil and plant health support – Connects weed and pest issues to underlying soil and plant stress, then recommends practices that strengthen desired plants so they outcompete weeds and are less vulnerable to damage.
Ecological management plan – Outlines non-toxic, ecosystem-based approaches such as mulching, improving habitat of pest predators, beneficial insects, plant-derived non-toxic insecticides, and more to improve conditions.
Targeted, minimal-intervention tools – Recommends the least-disruptive control methods first, with clear guidance on when and how to use them, helping reduce reliance on broad-spectrum chemicals and repeated emergency treatments.
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a landscape designed through permaculture principles to function like an ecosystem: harmonious, regenerative, low-waste, and supportive of both people and the natural world.
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lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring (plants that do not require seeds to be sown to sprout).
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relating to something growing or being grown again: the improvement of a place or system due to thoughtful management over time
Where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution.
Let’s create something meaningful together.
Ready for your backyard abundance?
Fill out the intake form →
Dream big & watch your land come to life ⁂
About Your Designer
Meet Nikki. She loves being in nature, respects that we are nature, and believes humans have everything to learn from nature.
She grew up in suburbia, where neighbors would report you for letting dandelions grow in your yard and “good landscaping” meant a flat lawn and sharp edges. Later, she went to college in a concrete jungle, where parks were manicured water‑hungry spaces that didn’t feed people, pollinators, or soil. During those five years, she wrote endlessly about “sustainability” in essays but rarely saw it in practice.
Eventually, that disconnect became too loud to ignore. Nikki left academia and her conventional civil engineering job and sought out regenerative farms to live, work, and learn on. On those farms, sustainability wasn’t a buzzword; it was how people kept the land healthy enough to survive. Composting, cover cropping, succession planting, and water‑harvesting weren’t trends—they were everyday tools copied from nature that made the farms function at their best.
Nikki’s landscape design style grows directly out of these experiences and the principle of mimicking nature. Those years taught her that:
Earth can produce food so abundantly that no one should go hungry.
Pesticides and synthetic fertilizers act like addictive band‑aids, covering symptoms instead of healing soil.
Regular contact with living landscapes changes people—how they feel, what they notice, and how much they care about the world around them.
Not everyone can live on a farm, but many people do have yards, porches, parkways, or even small sidewalk strips. That’s why Nikki pivoted from commercial engineering into landscape design: small‑scale sustainability can create massive change quickly. A single yard can catch and clean stormwater, feed pollinators, grow herbs and fruit, cool a street, and give people a daily relationship with nature.
Nikki believes our outdoor spaces should work harder for us and for the places we live. They influence how much we care about the earth, how our neighborhoods feel, and how local wildlife survives in a changing climate. In an age of mega‑developments and billion‑dollar land grabs, every square foot that regular people steward—no matter how small—holds real power. Her work is about helping you use that power well: turning the space you already have into a resilient, life‑supporting landscape that encourages interaction year after year.