Refugia

Native Plant Landscape Design/Build. Ecologically Beneficial, Beautiful & Resilient Habitat.

Refugia is an ecological landscape design/build and stewardship firm, with our design office and greenhouse facility located in Bala Cynwyd, PA. Since 2015, Refugia has been offering distinctive native landscape design for both residential and commercial green spaces throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area and Jersey Shore. Annual major exhibitor and award-winners at the Pennsylvania Horticultura

l Society’s Philadelphia Flower Show, Refugia is known for an immersive, naturalistic design aesthetic and meadow expertise at projects ranging in size from city yards to suburban estates. Refugia's ground-breaking ecological initiatives include mapping the impact of 200+ suburban native habitats via our Ecological Greenway Network to promote connectivity for wildlife and restore ecosystem function to neighborhoods. Accolades include four 2022 APLD International Landscape Design Awards, Perennial Plant Association Residential & Show Garden Awards, PA-DE ASLA Residential Award, Go for the Green Award for Green Design & Development: Meadow Conversion 2021 & Commercial Site Greening 2017 as recognized by Lower Merion Township Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). Also, the Governor's Trophy for most innovative, visually stimulating, unique design (PHS Flower Show 2022), American Horticultural Society Environmental Award, PHS Educational Award & PHS Gardening for the Greater Good Award, Special Achievement Award of the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania. DESIGN
We design with the seasons in mind so that your landscape remains a refuge before, during and after flowering - offering depth, reward and solace whatever the time of year. The sensory details of color, texture and scale are designed with kinship for context; making our designs magical, reverent and functional. From the lush naturalism of a summer meadow to a winter garden alive with subtle textures, a Refugia habitat is always inspiring. RESTORE
At Refugia, we work with clients to reclaim ground for both the self and the environment. We are united by the desire to co-exist, rather than compete, with nature. That's why we landscape with indigenous plants that promote sustainability, cultivate biodiversity, and nurture havens for wildlife. INHABIT
We consider the design as the beginning, not the end, of our relationship with clients. We work to get to know you so that we may deliver an emotionally resonant design that is as layered with interest as you are. And we offer expert maintenance to ensure the longevity and evolution of your garden to its fullest expression.

05/31/2026

How necessary it is to have opinions! I think the spotted trout lilies are satisfied, standing a few inches above the earth. I think serenity is not something you just find in the world, like a plum tree, holding up its white petals.

The violets, along the river, are opening their blue faces, like small dark lanterns.

The green mosses, being so many, are as good as brawny.

How important it is to walk along, not in haste but slowly, looking at everything and calling out

Yes! No! The

swan, for all his pomp, his robes of grass and petals, wants only to be allowed to live on the nameless pond. The catbrier is without fault. The water thrushes, down among the sloppy rocks, are going crazy with happiness. Imagination is better than a sharp instrument. To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.

Yes! No! by the priestess of paying attention, Mary Oliver (1935-2019).

Strolling the neighborhood this morning, taking her many signs as a reminder.

Slow. Down.

This street facing habitat replaced fortress like arborvitae with immersive ever changing colors, structure and textural interest. Just now, the fine fescue offers its seasonal show, seedheads aglow and standing tall, before cascading in the coming weeks.

Stand. Still.

What song is the bee humming as it busies itself in the Baptisia? Imagination IS better than a sharp instrument.

Let’s get outside, friend.

05/29/2026

This gorgeous circa 1850 colonial is located at the bottom of a slope and had ongoing issues with runoff from the neighbor’s driveway and yard. Our solution was to collaborate with the water on the property and design with it.

During spring’s heavy rainfall, you can try this at home by walking the property on a rainy day to observe where water wants to gather or move. You might notice where runoff is carving a channel in the existing turf or beds, you might also notice where water is pooling. Our goal is to create opportunities to work with water on site so that it slows, sinks and spreads.
Here, we excavated a swale that followed the movement of runoff once it crossed the property line to the right of the house. We then added to the pre-existing river rock to capture and slow the water down, and direct it into vegetated areas beneath the established pin oak. We also replaced the pre-existing turf grass with a low mow fine fescue. Less mowing, less compaction and erosion equals less wasteful runoff.

Two years on, the property is looking pretty as a picture. Except, this landscape is now doing its job (recharging groundwater, reducing flooding, increasing biodiversity). There were so many pollinators enjoying the Penstemon Party this week that the camera could not keep track!

Happy Friday, friend.

05/21/2026

With this week’s extreme heat, on came the sprinklers in many suburban lawn dominated landscapes. And if you’ve seen footage of flash floodwater pouring into the Jenkintown SEPTA station last night, you might be asking ‘what to do?’

In developed regions, habitat fragmentation and insufficient stormwater management place significant burdens on surrounding ecosystems. Designed spaces can help fix this broken system and, in the case of stormwater, sweet-talk runoff to encourage it to linger.

When we design and work with water on site, we are more likely to break the drought fire flood cycle in neighborhoods. The trend for larger homes and impervious development means that water violently crashes through and leaves to create localized flooding. When we put plants to work via a variety of root depths to slow, sink and spread stormwater, we maximize water’s magical power at restoring ecosystems by allowing it to linger.

Seen here is a street-facing landscape with a steep slope previously dominated by lawn. Collaborating with water means that while we direct it away from the house, we maximize its ability to interact with soils, plants and ecosystems. The resulting landscape reduces erosion, replenishes groundwater and increases resilience in extreme weather events while creating biodiverse habitat that sings all year long! Scroll back through the seasons beginning in 2022 of a landscape that, like us, continues to climate adapt.

05/07/2026

We are super excited to announce our Ecological Literacy Ambassador call for entry - a project co-sponsored by Refugia to be planted this Fall.

What is an Ecological Literacy Ambassador? It’s a public project that is focused on building connectivity, understanding and climate resiliency within neighborhoods.

Why does it matter? We are facing two enormous environmental crises - climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Our response is a call-to-action for landscapes that fulfill key ecological responsibilities; support food webs, sequester carbon, clean & manage water and support pollinators.

What is Ecological Literacy? Ecological Literacy Ambassadors are public spaces that foster an understanding of nature’s systems and inspire communities to act responsibly and live sustainably together. Why leave leaves? Where do bees go in winter? What does milkw**d look like and why does it matter? Cultivating an awareness of the symbiotic relationships between the landscape and its pollinators, or the jobs a landscape can do, is proven to model behaviors of curiosity and caring & is invaluable for building future stewards of the natural world.

How does Refugia provide support? Refugia supports Ecological Literacy Ambassadors through the donation of materials, labor and project management to support matching funds. We also provide ongoing outreach and learning via interpretative signage, on-site stewardship training and seasonal consults for the long-term success of all projects.

We are looking for 2026 Ambassadors! This project will be awarded and planted fall 2026. Are you a community partner looking to rejuvenate public space in your neighborhood? Let’s work together!

Want to co-sponsor a project? We’d love to hear from you! Refugia partners with 501(c)(3), for-profit-businesses, local government, foundations, public gardens and philanthropists whose values align with our mission. Link in bio.

Photos are of the award-winning : an interactive immersive rain garden made possible via a township grant and Refugia’s donation of labor and materials.

04/28/2026

We’ve been moved reading the many tributes to the esteemed .dunnett this week. Such awfully sad news and our sincere condolences to his family and colleagues.

We were so inspired by Nigel’s methodology and practice that our design team enrolled in his virtual classes as a way of inspiring our own work. And while we did not have the pleasure of meeting Nigel IRL, we have sought out his projects where we can. The Tower of London Superbloom installation was one such audacious project that dazzled us; a vast vibrant wildflower meadow to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

Throughout history, the moat has had many uses including gardening allotments to grow food during the Second World War. For Superbloom, over 20 million seeds were sown to create an ever changing, pollinator-friendly habitat that has now evolved into a permanent landscape. In recent years, there’s been evidence of more seating and exploratory pathways, water reuse infrastructure and biodiversity studies that track plant and insect species. We kept going back because it was so unlike anything else you tend to see on the highly managed royal grounds. We got a kick out of it.

We can’t claim to know how Nigel felt about its evolution but it’s clear that, like himself and his work, Superbloom was a catalyst for permanent transformation; we raise a glass to Nigel’s legacy and the many whose work pay homage to his bright hopeful brilliance.

Photos scroll back from 2025-3.

04/16/2026

Our is really bringing its bluebell and blueberry game this year. And with it comes early season pollinators. An ecologically welcoming habitat is one that is quiet save for the buzzy activity of the tiny things that run the world.

And yet, if you live in a neighborhood like ours in Greater Philadelphia, most landscapes are anything but quiet. The gas powered blowers and mowers have noisily descended amid the scent of ‘fresh mulch’ that, if you are followers on here, you know is just a money racket alongside ‘fall clean-ups… Why? Because nature knows best. If you left leaf litter in your planting beds, you created both nesting habitat and forage and very soon, the perfect moist setting for fast diminishing firefly larvae for example.

What else enjoys these moist settings? Mosquitoes! So how do you embrace one desirable while seeking to get rid of the undesirable? Again (for those in the back) nature’s processes have it sorted. Firefly larvae (while in their ‘glow worm’ stage) can consume mosquito larvae (as well as snails and slugs) and are an integral part of a healthy ecosystem.

By combining simple actions with nature’s smarts, Spring is the perfect time to get ahead of mosquitoes in your yard:

- Eliminate breeding habitat by tipping and tossing standing water. This is the best first step of mosquito control!
- Set up non-toxic mosquito dunks in spring to kill larvae but not other wildlife.
- Attract natural predators! Plant natives like Rudbeckia hirta, Joe Pye w**d, Echinacea and Asclepias incarnata to draw dragonflies and damselflies to your garden.
- Welcome toads to your garden via moist dark hiding places under rocks and logs

Whether natural or synthetic, most residential mosquito control uses broad-spectrum insecticides that are highly toxic to a wide variety of insects, not just mosquitoes.

Is your neighbor’s lawn service offering a ‘mosquito shield’ service that will drift into your carefully considered habitat garden? Talk to them, gift some dunks (perhaps make a sign like we did..) and protect the beneficial insects in your habitat this season.

04/13/2026

We are already 1 month into our field team rejoining us after winter break - can you believe it? After a ‘cold snap’ that was never-ending, here we are, facing down an 80 degree week in April and full steam ahead..!

It feels good to take a momentary pause and give thanks to our amazing design-build & stewardship team as we buckle up for our 12th season as a small business.

Cheers to our design team who kept pushing through winter; meeting with clients, dreaming big and igniting plans that we’ll see come to life this season.
Cheers to our build team who kept busy with beautiful work; creating the functional framework and design cohesion for immersive planting design.
Cheers to our field team who are ALWAYS thinking and striving to do better, day in day out.

Scroll through for a mini-highlight reel of the 2026 season thus far..
1-4 Design-build WIP from Pipersville, PA incorporating bluestone patio, screening and pool storage (shout-out to and for the hardscaping & carpentry plus-up).
5 Car port winter build magic by John & Bill at one of our fave neighborhood carriage houses.
6-8 Educational small engine repair workshop with the very excellent SG Groat Tractors.
9 Monthly Third Thursday kicked off by awesome speaker Zoe Warner of the Grassland Birds Collaboration. We love talking about birds!
10-11 City gardens waking up!
12 Today’s site visit to explore our Art on the Parkway exhibit submission for

04/12/2026

More than the fuchsia funnels breaking out
of the crabapple tree, more than the neighbor’s almost obscene display of cherry limbs shoving their cotton candy-colored blossoms to the slate sky of Spring rains, it’s the greening of the trees that really gets to me. When all the shock of white and taffy, the world’s baubles and trinkets, leave the pavement strewn with the confetti of aftermath, the leaves come. Patient, plodding, a green skin growing over whatever winter did to us, a return to the strange idea of continuous living despite the mess of us, the hurt, the empty. Fine then, I’ll take it, the tree seems to say, a new slick leaf unfurling like a fist to an open palm, I’ll take it all.

Instructions on Not Giving Up by the incredible Ada Limón.

The Virginia bluebells, sitting pretty in early morning, with their delicate pinks and lilacs. How is it possible after so many weeks of snow and ice that this much beauty can return to reassure us?

If we had our way, we’d litter the neighborhood with the softly blushing foliage of these Vaccinium corymbosum standing tall.

It’s a perfect day to go drink in the season, friend.

02/27/2026

As the we creep towards 50 degrees here in Philadelphia tomorrow, we are feeling ready for spring..!

In an attempt to summon the change in season, we’ve added Nancy’s garden to the Featured Projects page on our website (link in bio). Why? Because it epitomizes the utter joy to be found in a residential landscape that celebrates color and exuberance so beloved by this homeowner; all while managing stormwater in a housing development that, like so many, are clear-cut, compacted and replaced with lawn.

Seen here in its third summer season, the garden’s diverse array of deeply rooted flowering perennials and grasses transform a previously uninspired stormwater swale to enhance its effectiveness by increasing infiltration, filtering pollutants and greatly reducing erosion. The swale’s differing site conditions (part shade vs full sun) make for a lovely planting progression that ebbs and flows into the property’s woodland edge that we continue to restore in the background.

We high five a homeowner who gets the HOA onboard. But then homeowner Nancy is hard to resist and can be found at all hours in her garden when the weather permits.

We bet Nancy is watching the forecast like us. She may even treat herself to visiting the Philadelphia Flower Show over the next week for a little horticultural shot in the arm. Kudos and congrats to inspiring peers & who have been sharing their hard work (amid another snow storm…) all week on here. Wishing everyone a fantastic event!

02/26/2026

Winter is a season too.

Like you, we are eyeing the forecast for signs of warmer temperatures but that doesn’t mean that we don’t consider the landscape’s character in winter. Whether or not you are interested in preserving nesting habitat or providing forage for overwintering birds, us humans need sustenance too! A landscape that is stripped bare in fall is a sad and depressing sight come February.

Embracing cool season structures, textures and patina in our design and stewardship practices mean that there is no gap in interest, just a series of contrasts. Perennial grasses are especially robust at withstanding even the most prolific winters like the one we’ve had this year. We love winter’s silhouettes and the fade to gold and all spectrums of russet and brown as much as we do the giddy exuberance of summer. It’s the stories to be found in the winter landscape that provide us with the resilience to keep going on a grey day like today - they remind us of what’s to come.

We are gearing up for spring planting as the weather changes in the coming weeks! Our build and field team can’t wait to get back outside and their hands dirty. As we plan for another busy season, we’d love to chat with you if you are reimagining your outdoor living space. Interested in getting on our schedule before the spring rush? Link in bio.

Address

Narberth, PA

Website

http://www.refugiadesign.com/

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