Lois Simonds - Profile
I have been landscaping professionally for over 20 years.
I have my landscaping contractor’s license and certification in permaculture. I am an electrician, have photovoltaics (solar) certification through NAPCEP, and have taught solar design and installation through Grid Alternatives and the Solar Living Institute.
“Lois is a magician with people. When she built the first fence she befriended the neighbor children. She showed them some carpentry so that they felt some ownership of it as well (She even bought them a soccer ball for their help). With the second fence she skillfully helped negotiate the tricky business of splitting the cost with our neighbors.”
After college I worked in construction as a bricklayer, a mason and a carpenter. Under the business name Sleight of Hand, I built hammered dulcimers and Aeolian harps. I completed an apprenticeship in the electrician’s union and worked as a journeywoman.
I have been gardening organically since the age of 16, when I took out the lawn and put in a vegetable garden. I went to a Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) high school where the philosophy emphasized the interrelationship of all living things and a reverence for life. Rudolf Steiner founded bio-dynamic gardening.
“I truly enjoyed and valued the time I spent working with Lois. I also learned a great many skills, several of which transferred over to other areas of my life.”
For many years I enjoyed belonging to a community garden where I showed others how to compost and prune fruit trees. I helped develop & maintain the landscape for a historical landmark where I lived for 20 years. We restored the creek bed and surrounded it with native plants. While the general landscape had native plants, the area in front of the townhouses had an edible garden, herbs and ornamentals like roses.
The design is crucial in determining how you enter, use and enjoy your home outdoors. I work with clients to create a landscape that is aesthetically appealing and meets their needs - whether it’s creating depth and dimension to a small enclosed space; entering the house visually through the garden; creating a meditative space – even with vivid colors!; making the edible garden accessible; or connecting with the land around you.
“Lois Simonds is an amazingly gifted landscape designer. She turned our small flat front yard from a boring lawn into a beautiful and 3-dimensional rock garden and xeriscape. She engaged us throughout the design process and communicated her vision with clarity and enthusiasm. She made the complex project go through on-time, and clearly indicated cost increases where our desires for “more” would entail a higher cost. We are ecstatic with the results.”