We offer the highest quality in garden design, installation, and maintenance services in New York City, Long Island, and beyond.  My name is Amber Freda, also known as The Gotham Gardener, which is the name of my gardening newsletter and blog.

In addition to traditional garden design and installation, my firm's recent projects also include roof gardens, green roofs, estate gardens, suburban gardens, living walls, terraces, courtyards, townhouse gardens, co-op gardens, indoor gardens, containers, flowerbeds, and urban gardens. We were recently voted "Best in New York" by Shecky's Guides to New York. 

We have done work for many notables, including Robert De Niro, Ann Richards, Anna Quindlen, Janet Maslin Cheever, Matthias Hermes, and New York University.  We have received a good deal of media attention lately, including articles featuring our work in the New York Post, Associated Press, Daily Candy, the CBS News morning show, and Gardening How-To magazine. 

BENEFITS OF GARDENS

Why create a garden? The benefits of gardens are numerous and include adding livable square footage to your property and increasing its value, having a positive effect on the environment by reducing pollution and energy usage, and creating a place for relaxation, beauty, and enjoyment.

All plant life helps people by buffering noise, trapping dust, recycling carbon dioxide, and absorbing and breaking down many pollutants.  Plants on roof gardens also absorb heat and rainfall and can help reduce energy costs by insulating buildings against temperature extremes.

GARDEN DESIGN ELEMENTS

The Four Season garden is of particular interest to me because I believe the garden should be a place for beauty and enjoyment in every season.  I design all of my gardens with this principle in mind, so that there are interesting things to look at the entire year round.

We take a very hands-on, all-inclusive approach to the landscapes we design and install.  We can design everything you might want to make the space complete, including furniture, decking, shade structures, plants, planters, storage areas, play areas for children, areas for lounging, dining, or entertaining, and irrigation and lighting systems.  Automated drip irrigation systems are especially recommmended for roof gardens and terraces, where plants dry out quickly from exposure to wind and sun.

A landscape design plan will help to bring clarity and focus to your project and is highly recommended.  The first step will be to schedule a consultation for us to discuss your goals for transforming the space.  We will provide tips and recommendations based on our years of experience in working with gardens.

GARDEN DESIGN

A garden can never truly be separate from its surroundings.  Everything that exists in the garden lives in relationship to a house, building, natural terrain, beach, waterscape, or urban environment in some way, and a well-designed landscape is ever-conscious of this emerging dynamic.

Trees and other large plants can often be strategically placed to complement the best views and create a sense of being in the garden and being in the larger environment outside of the garden simultaneously.  Evergreens can also be arranged in such a way as to create a greater sense of privacy and enclosure within the garden year-round. 

The tall, columnar shapes of evergreens and the rigid, geometric shapes of planters often resemble skyscrapers and other city structures, and their staggered heights can be arranged to create a "living skyline" in the foreground that mimics and plays upon the skyline of the city in the background.

ROOF GARDENS

Nestled between clouds and skyscrapers, a roof garden is like a living jewel, a tiny emerald surely coveted even by the birds that fly above it and must look down startled and amazed to see this jungle sprouting from concrete and steel.  To many people living in a city like New York, creating a garden on a roof or terrace is their primary means for creating a sanctuary for relaxation and enjoyment each day. 

Roof gardens offer a specific set of challenges unlike those encountered in other gardens.  Plantings for a roof garden must be able to survive in an environment similar to conditions on top of a mountain in that plants must be able to tolerate extreme temperatures, strong winds, and limited soil depths.  This is why it is important to hire a landscape design firm that is experienced in roof garden design and installation to make sure that your garden is beautiful AND built to last.

ORGANIC GARDEN MAINTENANCE

In addition to designing and installing your landscape, we also offer maintenance services that emphasize organic gardening without the use of harmful chemical pesticides or fertilizers.  We will take care of all aspects of plant maintenance for you, including pruning, staking, fertilizing, irrigation and lighting system maintenance, removal of pests, hedging, weeding, and leaf clean-up. 

Please use our contact form for more information or call 646-546-1592.