Home
 

Simple Beauty for your home and garden 

 

For the Garden

Specializing in consultations for the home gardener.

Friendly advice on what will grow where and how to put it

all together, including:

  • Flowers, shrubs & trees
  • Vegetables, fruit & herbs
  • Organic soil improvement                
  • Site planning
  • Small water gardens
  • Garden sanctuaries
  • Expert houseplant advice
  • Integrating your house and garden

  • Garden rooms & pathways

  • Cooperating with Nature Spirits on your land

 

A satisfied client says:

"Dear Caitlin,

This was my experience with the garden consultation.  I had been mulling over the idea of such a consultation with you ever since we met, three years ago.  I was reluctant for two reasons:  I either wouldn't know enough to even know what to ask in order take advantage of such a consultation, or my needs would be too great and the hopelessness of my situation would be revealed.  In the days preceding the consultation I was anxious about it for the reasons above.  In the actual event of the consultation, I found that you seemed to intuitively know exactly what I needed.  It was extraordinary.   You answered the questions that needed to be answered without my having to ask them!   With minimal input from me you seemed to know the level I was starting at and the information I needed to make it happen..  I feel inspired and for the first time really confident to make it all happen.  Plus, I feel the benefit of your knowledge in terms of tremendous savings in both time and money as I am set in the right direction and anticpate far fewer costly mistakes!"

                                         - Megan Hawthorne

                                                                                                                                     

 

Solar Greenhouses and Solariums

I also give on-site consultations for Solar Greenhouses and Solariums.

I built a solar greenhouse in 1978 and used it successfully until I moved in 1987. In the early '80s I taught an 8-weekclass at UVM Extension about designing and using your solar greenhouse.

Sanctuary has a lovely solarium, a year-round paradise. A consultation with me will help you avoid costly mistakes than can RUIN your greenhouse and make it virtually unuseable.

 

 

Three views of our garden in Brattleboro: "Elliot Paradise" c. 2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sanctuary Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the Home

Would you enjoy :

  • A simplified living space?
  • Clearer energy in your home?
  • A sense of beauty that suits you?
  • Gentle, friendly help with large and small decisions?

Sometimes all it takes is a fresh eye to see the simple changes that would make your home feel happier, healthier and more peaceful.

I would love to work together with you to:

  • Create cozy sitting, eating & sleeping areas
  • Choose paint and fabric colors to enliven your space
  • Organize your stuff
  • Improve traffic flow
  • Advise about adding windows, skylights and suntubes to get more light into your home
  • Advise or help with faux painting

As much help as you need, from a one-time consultation to reorganization of the whole house.

This can be fun!

 

 

Forest Pathways, Sacred Earthwalking

        I have lived in the New England deciduous forest for twenty-three years out of the last 35.  I am very knowledgeable of our local trees, shrubs and wildflowers, where they grow, when they bloom and how they are used, including a pretty good knowledge of wild medicinal plants. 

        My early experience creating trails and developing sacred places on the land comes from living in a cottage called "Dreams By The Stream" in Williamsburg, Massachusetts in the late 1980s. Dreams By The Stream is a tinyl cottage next to a singing stream.  We could cross over the stream on stepping stones and be in the magical forest. Living at 'Dreams By The Stream' impacted me greatly, mostly because of the way we interacted with the forest and nature spirits there.

     It was at Dreams By The Stream that I sensed for the first time a strong sense of cooperation from the land itself. The land was participating with us, helping us to explore and go deeper, always with great respect for the nature around us and within us. Peter and I treasure the cooperation of the Nature Spirits that inhabit the land surrounding Sanctuary.

 

 Other Experience with Sacred Sites

   In 1988 I co-led a group journey to Sacred Sites in the British Isles, where I lived in 1986-87. The focus of this group was Sacred Circle Dance and attunement with sacred sites such as stone circles, earthworks, springs, etc.

     I have helped create trails, maintain a sacred spring, build a large Chartres-style labyrinth, and participate in sacred earth rituals at Manitou in Williamsville, Vermont.  

     At my current residence in Westminster West, VT, my husband Peter and I have created Sanctuary, our home and gardens. 

  I am excited at the prospect of helping landowners create woodland trails that enhance the beauty and spirit of our native forests.