Nature By Design, LLC

Short Pump Elementary School is in the process of redesigning our garden, which is 20+ years old and showing the signs of aging. Also situated in a difficult-to-reach location, we sought designs from landscape architects who could reimagine the space into a true outdoor classroom setting for multiple classes, while providing a beautiful setting that can be explored by students and tended to easily. Karen hit a complete home run with her design. Not only did she come up with something we ourselves never could have imagined, but she hit every expectation we had laid out. One of those expectations was that the plantings needed to be native to Virginia. Karen went above and beyond to not only design a completely native garden/space, but helped to educate us even further to the benefits of native planting in a way that we could use it to explain to the school and PTA what our vision is, but also providing a way for all students to learn as well. When we needed to scale back a little, and change some things around, Karen was quick and incredibly efficient in getting us the updated design. We are so impressed, and excited to have her design take root at SPES!

Karen is incredible! We had a consultation where she went over the yard and listened to what type of plants I like. From there she designed a beautiful low maintenance set of beds that have interest throughout the 4 seasons. The plants are native to Virginia so I won't have to change the soil and they are good for pollinators too. All in all, I loved working with Karen and can't wait to see the finished result when the plants have a chance to mature.

Working with Karen has been amazing! She is incredibly responsive, organized and dedicated to her work, not to mention, incredibly talented with her designs. It would have taken us well over a year to orchestrate what Karen was able to pull together in a couple of months. Nature By Design far surpassed any expectation we had prior to the start of the project, and thanks to Karen's hard work and vision, we now have a beautiful and functional yard. We HIGHLY recommend this business. The best of the best!

Karen was wonderful through the whole process. We love the design that she came up with and really worked with us along the way. She had to do multiple redrawings to appease our HOA, but always was happy to do so and quick with the updates. She was also willing to work with us as much as we wanted in finding people to perform the work. In the end we ended up doing most of the work ourselves, but it was nice to have the option of getting help if needed. We would highly recommend Nature By Design to anyone looking to revamp their outdoor living space!

I wanted a landscape design that would unify our house and garage with its woodland setting. I contacted Karen because of her knowledge of native plantings and I wanted to incorporate as many natives as possible with the existing landscape. Karen drew up the designs, chose the plantings and worked closely with the landscapers. The results are spectacular! Karen is amazing and I highly recommend her.

Karen is wonderful to work with, especially if you're not a green thumb! We moved to a home with a very large yard, and needed help planning the landscaping. Karen was extremely thorough with measurements and questions about our goals and ideas. I had lots of wishes for color, privacy, and a specific aesthetic, and she provided a detailed landscape plan drawing with photos of the flora corresponding to each area of the yard. She also gave us a list with specific varietals/species and quantities to purchase on our own or via her/installer if we chose. We have begun doing the landscaping in phases and are so pleased with Karen's services. I would highly recommend her to anyone.

Excellent work by Karen. She took the time to understand our aesthetic and the amount of time we wanted to spend on the landscaping. She is very knowledgeable about plants and has a wonderful artistic eye when designing the landscaping. Karen takes a long term view of your landscape and creates designs that will look good when planted and great when fully mature. She takes the time to explain her thought process and is ready with alternative options when needed. She works with the local nurseries and is familiar with what is available in the area. We are delighted with her design and have enjoyed working with her.

Karen helped us to design and pick plants for a large area behind our house . She is very creative and plants with size of final scrubs and trees in mind which is huge ! I find most people in this field over plant and the plants don't have the proper space and don't have room to mature . Also Karen is very good on follow up after the project is done helping with questions and problems . She can change your yard in a good way !

This company provided us with a landscape design that was extremely comprehensive with plant details, pictures and drawings. They were great to work with, very knowledgeable and we would not hesitate to recommend them to others!

Karen Welch, landscape designer and owner of Nature by Design, provided us with design services and installation oversight for our recent backyard renovation. Every stage of the project was professionally handled and without stress. Karen listens to the client's needs and then designs accordingly. She has great contacts with hardscape and landscape companies, which makes the installation process go smoothly. I needed to scale back some of my original ideas, and she was most cooperative in working with me on this. I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience with Nature by Design.

Karen designed an expansion of our deck to double its size, relocate an existing in-ground herb garden to a planter garden on the deck and incorporate the new deck into the existing patio and two levels of our house. The project also included re-landscaping around the new deck. It required a building contractor, irrigation, electrical and lighting specialists, landscape redesign and stone and masonry work. Karen did an outstanding job of assembling the required professionals and coordinating their work- all aspects of creation, supervision and delivery. I would highly recommend her for her creativity and conscientious management of this and the many other projects she has delivered for us.

We are thrilled with the backyard design that Karen (Nature by Design) did for us. She spent a lot of time with me, learning about what I wanted and how much i wanted to participate in the upkeep. She then walked around the property assessing exactly that would grow best, and look the best. In no time at all she provided us a beautiful design for the backyard. She also connected us with a great irrigation specialist and with a wonderful company that would purchase and plant the materials. It's been almost 6 months since we planted, and we are so happy with Karen's design. She's a pleasure to work with, and I know we'll thoroughly enjoy our backyard for years to come! (The project cost below is for Nature by Design and does not include the irrigation, or materials and planting. However, I would like to note that Karen was here everyday making sure that everything was done to her specifications!)