Ballard Landscape Design & Consulting

A meticulously designed edible garden integrated into a suburban NC Piedmont backyard, shown in photographic realism. Rectangular cedar raised beds overflow with leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs, arranged in a clean, geometric pattern beside a small brick patio. Native perennials and flowering shrubs border the garden, creating a transition to a gentle hillside beyond. Warm, slightly angled afternoon sunlight illuminates the foliage, casting crisp yet soft-edged shadows across a crushed-stone path. Shot from an eye-level perspective with a slight diagonal composition that leads the eye through the beds toward the background trees. The atmosphere is organized and abundant, highlighting how edible gardens can be both beautiful and highly functional.

Featured Gardens

Explore custom landscapes that blend native plants, artful structure, and everyday livability across the Triangle.

A close-up, photographic view of a lush native pollinator habitat bed in an NC Piedmont residential garden. Clumps of coneflower, black-eyed Susan, and native grasses sway on a gentle hill, interplanted with milkweed and groundcovers. Bees and butterflies are suggested by soft motion blur or small, out-of-focus shapes, without becoming the main subject. The background reveals a hint of a tidy, modern home and a permeable gravel path, softly blurred with shallow depth of field. Soft morning light filters across the blooms, creating a serene, dewy atmosphere with delicate highlights on petals and seed heads. The mood is vibrant yet peaceful, emphasizing ecological function and refined, boutique design sensibility.
A detailed backyard outdoor living space in the NC Piedmont, showcasing a custom stone patio with a low seating wall, integrated planting pockets, and a small native pollinator garden bordering the edges. Raised beds bursting with herbs and vegetables line one side, while a simple gravel path curves toward a distant, tree-lined fence. Golden hour light washes across the patio, emphasizing the warm tones of the stone and the vibrant greens of the edible garden. Photographic realism, slightly elevated angle to capture the full layout, with crisp focus and a calm, inviting atmosphere. Subtle hills in the background root the scene in a gently rolling landscape, expressing thoughtful, sustainable design.
A professionally designed residential front yard in the NC Piedmont, featuring a graceful curving stone walkway leading to a modern craftsman-style home. The landscape is composed of layered native plant beds with flowering perennials, ornamental grasses, and small understory trees, arranged on a gentle hill. Mulched beds contrast with a lush, drought-tolerant lawn panel. Soft late-afternoon sunlight creates warm highlights on the stone and foliage, with long, gentle shadows adding depth. Photographic realism, eye-level composition using the rule of thirds, with sharp focus throughout to showcase textures of bark, leaves, and stone. The mood is polished yet welcoming, conveying a boutique, high-end landscape design studio’s finished project.

Community

Community & Garden Work

Beyond private residential design, I’m actively involved in community green spaces, educational gardens, and collaborative planting projects throughout the Hillsborough area. This is where I document that ongoing work.

These projects often bring together neighbors, schools, and local organizations to restore habitat, grow food, and create welcoming outdoor rooms that feel rooted in our Piedmont ecology.

Recent & Ongoing Initiatives

  • Neighborhood pocket pollinator beds, co-designed and planted with volunteers.
  • Edible and sensory garden beds for schools and learning gardens.
  • Community workdays focused on invasive removal and native understory planting.
  • Collaborative planting plans for shared courtyards and small common greens.

If you have a community space that could benefit from thoughtful, ecological design, I welcome inquiries about future collaborations.

About

Design With Purpose And Place

Each project begins with your goals and our understanding of this Piedmont ecology, weaving soil, water, light, and native plant communities into resilient spaces that reduce inputs, support pollinators, and feel welcoming in every season.

Schedule Consultation
A sustainable, modern front-yard replacement for a traditional lawn in the NC Piedmont, captured in photographic realism. A broad, gently sloping yard is filled with mixed native meadow-style plantings, bioswales edged with river rock, and a discrete rain garden collecting runoff from the driveway. A narrow, permeable paver walkway winds to the front door of a contemporary home. Late-afternoon, slightly overcast light yields soft, even illumination, revealing subtle color variations in grasses, flowers, and stone. Shot from a slightly elevated street-side angle, with balanced composition emphasizing the layered planting structure and stormwater features. The mood is quietly confident and forward-thinking, showcasing sustainable design solutions that still feel polished and intentional.

Testimonials

A side-by-side photographic composition showing a before-and-after NC Piedmont backyard transformation. On the left, a neglected, patchy lawn on a mild slope with minimal plantings and an aging concrete pad. On the right, the same space redesigned with a terraced hillside using natural stone, native shrubs, and flowering perennials, plus a compact gravel seating area. Overcast, diffused light ensures even exposure across both halves, emphasizing the contrast in structure, plant diversity, and usability. Shot from the same slightly elevated angle in both views, with sharp focus and balanced framing. The mood is aspirational and solution-focused, highlighting the impact of professional landscape design and sustainable grading solutions.

Hope D.

Ballard transformed our bare yard into a native oasis that feels artful, low-maintenance, and alive with birds and butterflies.

A meticulously designed edible garden integrated into a suburban NC Piedmont backyard, shown in photographic realism. Rectangular cedar raised beds overflow with leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs, arranged in a clean, geometric pattern beside a small brick patio. Native perennials and flowering shrubs border the garden, creating a transition to a gentle hillside beyond. Warm, slightly angled afternoon sunlight illuminates the foliage, casting crisp yet soft-edged shadows across a crushed-stone path. Shot from an eye-level perspective with a slight diagonal composition that leads the eye through the beds toward the background trees. The atmosphere is organized and abundant, highlighting how edible gardens can be both beautiful and highly functional.

Hope D.

The team listened carefully, designed an edible garden we can actually maintain, and improved stormwater issues along our sloped Durham lot.

A close-up, photographic view of a lush native pollinator habitat bed in an NC Piedmont residential garden. Clumps of coneflower, black-eyed Susan, and native grasses sway on a gentle hill, interplanted with milkweed and groundcovers. Bees and butterflies are suggested by soft motion blur or small, out-of-focus shapes, without becoming the main subject. The background reveals a hint of a tidy, modern home and a permeable gravel path, softly blurred with shallow depth of field. Soft morning light filters across the blooms, creating a serene, dewy atmosphere with delicate highlights on petals and seed heads. The mood is vibrant yet peaceful, emphasizing ecological function and refined, boutique design sensibility.

Hope D.

Their planting plan balanced seasonal color with pollinator habitat, and the installation crew treated our Chapel Hill property with real care.

A detailed backyard outdoor living space in the NC Piedmont, showcasing a custom stone patio with a low seating wall, integrated planting pockets, and a small native pollinator garden bordering the edges. Raised beds bursting with herbs and vegetables line one side, while a simple gravel path curves toward a distant, tree-lined fence. Golden hour light washes across the patio, emphasizing the warm tones of the stone and the vibrant greens of the edible garden. Photographic realism, slightly elevated angle to capture the full layout, with crisp focus and a calm, inviting atmosphere. Subtle hills in the background root the scene in a gently rolling landscape, expressing thoughtful, sustainable design.

Hope D.

We wanted a modern, peaceful entryway; they delivered subtle lighting, native structure, and a design that finally fits our mid-century home.