Climate Resilient Landscape

A woman leaning on a window shelf, smiling, inside a wooden structure with pictures and shelves visible in the background.

my roots

I grew up in Ohio, where the soil was rich, and water was plentiful. As a kid, my backyard was a place of wonder. My Dad offered me space in our giant vegetable plot to start my very first garden. Although I helped him tend the veggies he was growing, I took ownership of my first little garden of cosmos, zinnias, and marigolds when I was 6. I have been growing a garden, joking that I am a tomato rancher, and exploring the natural world ever since. 

I spent a lot of time standing on a chair next to my Mom, helping can tomatoes and apple sauce, assembling pies, and watching how-to make recipes. I remember reading a label on a jar of tomato sauce, wondering if I could make it from scratch. I am now the keeper of the family traditions, and I will always cherish making these recipes with her.

My early work in landscaping gave me an appreciation for hands-on, physical labor and the pride that comes with stewarding natural spaces. I moved to the arid Western Slope of Colorado almost 20 years ago, eyes wide open to the completely different ecosystem that seems to thrive with little water. I was on the hook, and still am, to learn everything about the flora and fauna and their resilience. I have included learning about native plants, their medicine, and foraging to my growing list of hobbies; it’s all become my lifestyle. Much of gardening and landscape restoration is trial and error, and a completely valuable experience to learn from. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge with you!

Leslie has a BA from Bowling Green State University in Geography, also studying Geology and Environmental Studies, and an MS from Mississippi State University in Environmental Geoscience. She has also completed numerous courses through Colorado State University Extension. She started building her landscaping and restoration resume back in 1995; it’s as old as dirt…get it.

A woman and a young boy outdoors in a garden, both wearing straw hats. The woman is holding a cucumber, and the boy is holding two cucumbers. There is a fence in the background and the ground is covered with what appears to be grass or crops.
A young girl with red hair and a white shirt that says 'Cascadia School' is pouring chocolate syrup onto a piece of dough or bread on a tray, with a box of baking ingredients nearby, at a kitchen table.
Logo with the words "forage & fetch" in red font.

ethos

Colorful marigold flowers in a garden bed with mulch and concrete blocks, surrounded by green foliage.

Choose intentional, adapted waterwise plants

Close-up of a pink flower with a bee collecting nectar, surrounded by green foliage and other purple and yellow flowers.

Build biodiverse landscapes that support pollinators

Person holding a handful of small, ripe cherry tomatoes in a garden with green plants and yellow flowers.

Promote climate-resilient stewardship

A woman watering a garden in a backyard with a hose during late afternoon or early evening.

In Colorado, where our water supply depends on snowpack, it’s at the forefront of every landscape design decision. I’ve come to respect natural resources in Western Colorado as precious and identify that they are not a guarantee. Intentionally creating a beneficial landscape for my clients adds value to your property and to our ecosystem.

Forage & Fetch curates the beauty found on our public lands and thoughtfully places it seamlessly at your front door.

“Native restorative landscaping might be the marathon of gardening; it’s personal, thoughtful, and an act of stewardship.”
— Leslie
  • A backyard vegetable garden with tall corn plants and shorter bean plants underneath, bordered by red bricks and enclosed by a wooden fence, with a house on the left and a cloudy sunset sky in the background.

  • Green plant with frilly leaves amidst orange marigold flowers.

  • A garden with yellow, orange, and red marigold flowers, green leafy plants, and tomato plants growing along a wooden fence.

  • Colorful ears of Indian corn with multicolored kernels and dried husks.

  • A garden filled with purple flowers under a bright blue sky with some clouds and a wooden fence in the background.

  • Person gardening, wearing jeans and flip-flops, using a small gardening fork in soil, surrounded by green plants.