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Landscaping: An Inspirational Force for Good

Picture of Aaron Michael Aaron Michael : Apr 8, 2024 7:00:00 AM

South West

Guest Column Aaron Michael_SYNKD South and SYNKD West Spring 2024 Issues

Aaron Michael On How To Cultivate Connections Between People & Nature

I see being in the landscape industry as being a facilitator for connecting people with nature and, thus, our true nature. I founded my garden design and creation company Earth Love Gardens in 2018 with a mission of connecting people with the Earth, genuinely within themselves and each other in a community.

BPL Volunteers with Aaron

SAVA Garden by Earth Love Gardens As a species handling not only a changing climate but seemingly ever-increasing divisions within our society, it is imperative to reconnect with nature. We all are a part of nature at our core. Proximity to nature allows us to reconnect with our truest selves, living from our hearts. This is how indigenous peoples and our ancestors lived, and science demonstrates that healthy time spent outdoors and in nature is essential for our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.

Following a passion and calling I have listened to within this industry of countless niche opportunities, Earth Love Gardens specializes in pollinator and bird-friendly native plant landscape designs and edible landscape designs, installing raised vegetable garden beds, and more. Our gardens allow families and community organizations to have a place to touch the soil, grow food, appreciate the healing sounds of bird calls, and experience the wonders of pollinators and plant life.

Boulder Library Garden by Earth Love Gardens Boulder Library Garden

The mission of Earth Love Gardens is realized through the great projects we have the opportunity to be a part of and the great partnerships we have made along the way. As partners with the Audubon Rockies, we have designed and created the Boulder Public Library’s Native Plant Demonstration Garden, the Sexual Assault Victims Advocate (SAVA) Center Healing Garden, and much more. We recently designed and built a custom-raised garden bed for children in wheelchairs at the Anchor Center for Blind Children to wheel under and work with the soil and plants.

At the Anchor Center For Blind Children
©Lashley Rhodes

To experience people of all ages and wildlife interacting with, enjoying, and healing through the gardens and habitats we create is a priceless, heart-warming feeling like no other. My ethos is to live a life that leads by example and inspires. Through Earth Love Gardens, this is not an ideal but a reality we live that benefits the world—both the people and the ecosystem. As landscape professionals, we are on the front lines, embodying the force for good our planet needs.