Type of Story: Profile Q&A

PDF: Recipe for Success

Parts of the Story I Worked On: Writing, Story Concept, Photography Direction, Editing, Planning Design & Layout

Summary: Sometimes a story just falls into your lap when you’re out visiting gardens. I was touring gardens in Napa and Sonoma and visited Yountville, CA, along the way. I was meeting a photographer for lunch at Bouchon Bistro (a more casual version restaurant owned and operated by the same folks that run The French Laundry).

After lunch she introduced me to the people at The French Laundry who grow much of the produce that’s used in the famous restaurant. The garden is right across the street and composed of over thirty garden beds that are planted with everything from tomatoes to strawberries to peppers and micro-greens.

After the tour I interviewed the head gardener about what it takes to grow produce for a Michelin 3-star restaurant and how everyday gardeners can learn something from their approach.

Type of Story: Feature

PDF: Healing the Shoreline

Parts of the Story I Worked On: Writing, Story Concept, Photography Direction, Editing, Planning Design & Layout

Summary: This is a story that fit into a themed issue we did about ecologically sensitive gardens. The garden started out as a grassy slope that had a large concrete barrier between the garden and the lake that the home sat on. This turned into a story about the transformation from the lifeless backyard into a shoreline that became a habitat for local wildlife.

Type of Story: Multi-Part Feature

PDF: Going Wild Intro Essay, Profile Sample, Wild by Design Garden Stories

Parts of the Story I Worked On: Writing, Story Concept, Photography Direction, Editing, Planning Design & Layout

Summary: On this story I wrote the opening introduction to the three-part feature. This was an essay about the importance of ecological gardens and the people around the country who are most influential in helping more people turn their homes and garden into wildlife-friendly sanctuaries.

Type of Story: Profile

PDF: Led by the Land

Parts of the Story I Worked On: Writing, Story Concept, Photography Direction, Editing, Planning Design & Layout

Summary: Bernard Trainor is a leading landscape designer and world renowned for his gardens. This feature has an introduction that gives background on how his career evolved and the design lessons he learned along the way. I also wrote short stories about four of his projects with design lessons homeowners could learn from each garden.

Type of Story: Design Lessons

PDF: Dining Out

Parts of the Story I Worked On: Writing, Story Concept, Photography Direction

Summary: This was a shorter story for the front of the magazine in a section called “Fresh” that included news stories, short design lessons, events going on in the gardening world, garden tours, and new public gardens or exhibits.

This story on dining outdoors provided lessons from an expert landscape designer on how to create the perfect entertaining space in the backyard.

Type of Story: Profile

PDF: The Mindful Master

Parts of the Story I Worked On: Writing, Story Concept, Planning Design & Layout

Summary: This story was a profile of an artist who made beautiful outdoor containers. This included a background on how he got into art and sculpting and his transition to becoming one of the most well-respected garden artisans in the country.

Type of Story: Cover

PDF: Cover 1, Cover 2, Cover 3, Cover 4

Parts of the Story I Worked On: Copywriting, Selection of Final Cover Words and Pictures

Summary: The cover is what sells the magazine. Even if someone is already a subscriber the cover is what entices someone to pick up the issue and engage with a specific story. For this reason the cover text and images are extremely important. I worked on 18 covers over 5 years and was responsible for the success of the sell-through on newsstands in Whole Foods as well as Barnes & Noble stores.