We can help make your landscape more beautiful and resilient using practices that help heal the earth. Our specialties are rain garden installation and native plantings. We incorporate hardscapes such as stepping stones, patios and walls in our work. We communicate and collaborate with the client at every step. We are detail-oriented, our pricing is competitive, and we leave the job site cleaner than when we arrived.
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Our design and install work with you starts with an onsite consultation.
Scheduling Update: We are scheduling consultations through late fall, but our installation schedule is full for the 2024 season. If you are planning to follow up your consultation with our design and install services, we’ll be doing design work over the fall and winter, with installation availability starting in spring 2025. Learn more on our Consultations page.
Have a look at some examples of our install work.
Sunny Yard, Minneapolis
A failing lawn dominated this sloped front yard. The owner wanted to feature more native plants. We created a design with a rock wall for the slope, and incorporated native and non-native plants that bloom throughout the growing season. The landscape on this corner lot is constantly changing depending on the time of year!
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Nature Play Area, Brook Gardens Apartments, Brooklyn Park
We partnered with residents to design an interactive outdoor play area for the many children who live in this multi-family housing community. Nature play elements are surrounded by rain gardens that capture roof runoff. The landscape features pollinator-friendly native plants. Designed by Metro Blooms D+B; constructed by Blue Thumb partner JL Theis; and planted with residents.
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Shady Backyard, Minneapolis
This design was a retrofit of an existing backyard that had become increasingly shady over time. The resident wanted to reduce turf lawn area and create a shady garden that would be the focal point from the back patio. The yard includes a small rain garden that soaks in runoff from the driveway, and we added rocks next to it to help direct the flow of water. We also repurposed bricks from existing edging to create the stepping stones in the horseshoe-shaped path. The plant palette includes native woodland species with other ornamentals for a variety of texture and color.
Owner feedback: “The team worked diligently removing plants, amending the soil, installing the new rain garden, creating a beautiful walking path using our bricks, replanting our plants and adding additional shade-loving plants that would enhance the look of the shade garden. We could not be happier with the end result.”
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Talmage Traffic Diverter, Southeast Como, Minneapolis
We helped residents from the neighborhood association convert this traffic diverter into a large rain garden that diverts stormwater runoff from the adjacent streets. Stormwater from this area flows into the Mississippi River. The water in the rain garden becomes cleaner as it soaks deep into the earth, helping to prevent pollution in the river.
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Residential Yard, New Hope
We blended native and ornamental plants in a gravel bed garden in a sunny corner of the front yard. Stepping stones through the garden allow people to walk through and enjoy it more fully. In front of the house we replaced turf lawn with a garden featuring dwarf honeysuckle and fox sedge.
We also replaced turf grass with stepping stones along one side of the house. We interspersed fox sedge and native perennials along the meandering path in this heavily shaded area, creating a whimsical aesthetic.
This project received a 2023 award from the City of New Hope for Environmentally Sensitive Design!
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Raingardens, Riverside Plaza, Cedar Riverside, Minneapolis
This community-focused project brings more nature into the city! We collaborated with resident elders to redesign the outdoor spaces at this large affordable housing community. These raingardens, infiltrating runoff from the surrounding parking lot area, are part of the project. The raingardens were designed by Metro Blooms D+B and installed by Blue Thumb partner JL Theis. Other project and funding partners include Sherman Associates, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, and Riverside Plaza Tenants’ Association. Learn more about this project and how it speaks to the healing power of nature on our Healing Roots page and on the Riverside Plaza project page.