Focal Point: Inside Out Landscape Design

Inside Out Landscape Design: Promoting eco-landscaping since 2007

Ecological landscaping is increasingly popular as climate change, pollinator decline, and water scarcity dominate headlines. Yet Andrea and Michael Mueller had the vision to practice sustainability long before such principles enjoyed the current client demand. They launched Kentucky-based Inside Out Landscape Design, LLC back in 2007, working from a makeshift office in their home, with the idea that they could set a higher standard in landscaping by designing and installing personalized landscapes using ecologically responsible practices.

“Was starting off with an eco-focus in 2007 difficult? Yes, especially because of the recession of 2008—but we made it and did well despite that,” comments Andrea. “I think it still has its challenges today in helping people understand and value the importance of design and sustainability. The right clients find us though, and we’re able to educate on the value of ecologically friendly landscapes, and we are grateful for that.”

Walking the Walk

Today Inside Out is the only certified professional landscape designer in Kentucky. Andrea became certified through the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) in 2015 and was recently awarded Fellow Status through APLD. The firm offers landscape design, installation, maintenance, pool design/installation, and prairie creation.

“We’ve always been design-build-maintain and do not mow,” explains Andrea. The mix of clients is about 60-70% residential and 30-40% commercial—but all are focused on green landscape practices. “We’ve made sustainability an integral part of our business practice by including the use of native and resilient plants, practical hardscapes, and drainage solutions so our client’s yards or businesses can thrive with minimal intervention,” says Andrea.

Perhaps it’s no surprise then that Inside Out recently earned the Environmentally SYNKD award at SYNKD Live this past January. A key element of their award was the design of their own offices, where sustainability isn’t just drafted into plans for clients, it’s lived-in every day.

Some of the sustainable interior features of the office include: geothermal heating, cooling, and domestic hot water; open cell spray foam installation; and reclaimed elements such as barn lumber, shelves, kitchen cabinets, chalkboards, and even corkboards. On the exterior are 76 solar panels, which provide 100 percent of the office’s shop and car energy usage, a Gavalume metal roof, which reflects heat; and Hardie® panel siding.The company even owns two electric vehicles that are charged off the solar panels.

Landscape features include a partial earth berm office building, an earth berm greenhouse, a vegetative living roof, and permeable pavers for parking and the driveway center strip. Additionally, approximately four acres of no-mow native prairie, reforested areas, a Certified Monarch Waystation, and a rain garden are planted with drought tolerant, pollinator-friendly, and native plant selections. It’s clearly a far cry from the once makeshift home office.

“Starting in our home was definitely a growing pain … we quickly outgrew having meetings and four people in a tiny room for an office!” recalls Andrea. “We started with five people, one crew, and today have grown to a full office staff including an office manager, an accountant, two designers, one operations manager, two project managers, and three crews—one for hardscape, one for landscape, and one for maintenance.” She continues, “We built our new office in 2011. Now, having the office, greenhouse, dedicated plant lot, hardscape storage and bins, mulch bins, and shops is a game changer!”

Growing Pains

When asked what other growing pains the company has experienced, Andrea laughs. “So many growing pains ... where do I begin?” Here are her top three:

Systems. “Mostly systems [was a challenge], which we’ve developed and honed in over the years. I feel really great about our systems now,” comments Andrea. “Every year we do a deep dive into how to improve all aspects of business with the entire team, which is extremely important. We believe in continual and ongoing improvement.”

Employees. “Finding the right employees/ team members to fill positions that fit with our company values and labor in general has been difficult. That’s why we stay small but mighty! Most of our employees have been with us for years, we retain top talent in our industry. Most recently, we used the H-2B program to assist with labor positions which we are unable to fill with workers from the United States. It has had a few snafus, but overall is great.”

Projects. “Finding the right size and type of project. We specialize and are passionate about eco-friendly landscaping, and it’s definitely a niche here in Kentucky. But I would also add an element of growth was learning to say ‘no’ to clients and projects that were a bad fit—as well as truly understanding our values to determine the ‘good fit’ clients. It took many years to learn this.”

Family Roots

So how does one develop a passion for eco-landscaping? For Andrea, it’s a story of family. “I was raised in the horticulture industry by my dad, Charlie Wilson, who started Wilson Nurseries in 1979. And both of my grandmothers were avid gardeners— one is 92 and still piddles in her garden,” says Andrea. “My dad started in retail and installation and the business grew to encompass a 500-acre wholesale nursery/tree farm, design-build services, and a huge retail as well as wholesale center.”

She continues, “When I was a teenager I thought I didn’t want anything to do with the business. I got my bachelor’s in Interior Design and quickly learned I needed to be outside. Soon after, I started working for my dad, and when he tragically died in a car accident six months after my college graduation, the family business was taken over by his wife. Much of my training at his garden center was in very traditional landscaping with invasive species—as was typical for the time. But I self-educated, as well as attended hundreds of classes, on sustainable landscape practices and native plants because that is where my heart is.”

Community Contributions

But Inside out Landscape Design doesn’t just carry a passion for ecology in its heart, it funds it through its wallet. The company has used most of its profits for conservation of land, continual invasive species removal, native plantings, and community projects. “YES! This is what it’s all about,” exclaims Andrea. “We recently purchased 22 more acres to piece my grandparent’s farm back together and have worked for over 15 years to remove the huge amount of invasive species— primarily bush and vine honeysuckle, garlic mustard, wintercreeper, multiflora rose, pear trees and more!

“Our land is situated on the Elkhorn Creek. It’s a special place full of great spring ephemerals, native trees, and we have even been blessed with an eagle’s nest that has produced eight eaglets since 2020!” Andrea continues, “Working the land is so rewarding, especially if I’ve sat in the office all day. In spring, we do the bulk of the cleanups. We also have another property where we do a lot of invasive removal and reforestation. In addition to removal, we are currently planting a five-acre prairie at the office to increase habitat as well as expanding our office edible garden.”

But the landscape restoration work isn’t just at family- or company-owned properties. “In total, we have restored hundreds of acres of land total through invasive removal, prairie restoration, and reforestation. As part of this, we create dead hedges for nesting insects and mammals,” says Andrea.

A good example of a new “living” take on a dead hedge is a 2020 community project Inside Out created at Josephine Sculpture Park (JSP). Completed in 2022, Inside Out designed a living sculpture, the MetamorphoNest, that includes 17 types of trees and shrubs were selected for their pollinator host potential. Grasses, sedges, and 16 different perennials were also incorporated into a seed mix that is growing along with the trees and shrubs. Not only has the Nest evolved in size and shape over time, but blooms and leaf changes occur throughout each season. Interactive and beneficial to both wildlife and humans, the sculpture is the first of its kind for JSP and it is the largest community donation to date by Inside Out.

In addition to the Metamorpho-Nest, Inside Out has contributed several outdoor classrooms to regional schools, such as Franklin County. And while these endeavors expose the public to new forms of eco-friendly landscaping, the firm can also feel satisfaction, knowing its client-based projects are also contributing to better functioning ecosystems.

In a commercial project for WesBanco (pictured p. 44), weathered steel, used to frame raised plant beds, is a nod to the history of the bank’s original location in Wheeling, known for steel. The manmade materials of pavers, concrete, and steel are softened with plants that are not only native, pollinator-friendly, hardy, and drought tolerant plants, but provide year-round visual interest. Sea oats elegantly sway in the breeze, while wild chives provide subtle pops of color interspersed with feathery native grasses. Along the building’s exterior, tall arborvitae provide height, while electric green hakone grass spills over the edge of the raised bed. Andrea calls it a “challenging but exciting project!”

At Beaver Creek commercial site, land with poor, compacted industrial soil and an invasive-cluttered woodland, was transformed into an outdoor oasis of 100% native plants and 175 trees. With water as a focal point for this hydrology company, it was showcased in a permeable dry creek bed, custom corten beams that double as gutters and mimic logs in a stream, and visually appealing rain chains. The site will serve as a sort of classroom where people can learn about native plantings used for stream restoration, and how water can be a creative element of design.

Andrea sums up the goal of Inside Out with this: “We believe landscaping is about so much more than plants. It’s about improving the lives of their clients with livable outdoor spaces that encourage togetherness and an appreciation of nature.”

For More Info

Andrea Mueller

Owner of Inside Out Landscape Design www.kentuckylandscapedesign.com