The Firm

Wilder Landscape Architects (Wilder) was founded in 2016 to focus on projects that make a difference to the environment.

The landscapes we design make a positive impact on other species (butterflies, birds, or other wildlife), are attractive to and functional for people, aid in infiltration of stormwater, minimize the need for ongoing maintenance, and are totally at home in the Sonoran Desert. 

We think about how the landscape will interact with the people who experience it and move through it, the adjacent buildings and hardscape, the neighborhood, and the greater community. We design with the larger context in mind and consider off-site influences and connections to and from the site. We start by doing no harm and strive to improve and build the biotic community that our landscape inhabits. 

Every project we design is unique to the setting and use, and every project is clearly Wilder at its core.

Key items that set Wilder apart: 

  • Client focus: We start by understanding the short-term and long-term needs of our Client, the budget, and means / funding of future maintenance. 

  • Applied research and continuing education: We are curious about soils, ground preparation, pervious paving materials, salvage & transplanting, water harvesting, and irrigation alternatives. We monitor our built projects to learn what worked and what did not. 

  • Project longevity: We want a project that looks good at installation. But even more than that, we want a project that looks good and is well-loved in ten or twenty years. We start with a solid vision that the team and client and community embrace. We select materials that the client can maintain. The result is a design that endures and grows long after construction. 

  • Wide range of project experience: We have worked on a variety of project types including parks, healthcare facilities, University projects, commercial sites and buildings, roadways and streetscapes, and residential. We have the experience to anticipate potential issues and address them early in design. 

  • Experience working as part of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams: we are comfortable collaborating with others as part of a larger team, and just as confident leading our own project.  

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”

Aldo Leopold

People

  • Jennifer Patton

    Professional Landscape Architect, AZ #50915
    Project Manager, Designer

    Jennifer brings a diverse background in permaculture, marketing, and creative writing to her landscape architecture practice. She likes to develop and understand the ‘story’ of a project, ensuring all components build on each other. Her technical experience includes preparation of salvage, mitigation, planting and hardscape plans, erosion control plans, water harvesting plans; community engagement; and construction administration. Committed to applied research and continuing education, Jennifer routinely revisits built projects, learning what worked and should be repeated, and what did not work and needs to be done differently.

  • Ben Wilder

    Certified Irrigation Designer Project Manager, Designer

    Ben is Wilder’s technical lead for irrigation and GIS projects (as well as the backbone of our overall business). Ben has guided recent irrigation transformations at Boyce Thompson Arboretum and Tohono Chul Gardens and works on smaller-scale projects with temporary irrigation systems for healthy plant establishment. At Wilder, the focus is on optimizing water delivery and saving resources. Ben brings a wealth of knowledge on plant material, drylands irrigation techniques, and water harvesting that all help to supplement (or in some cases replace) traditional irrigation systems. The Wilder team and our clients appreciate Ben’s ability to listen, problem solve, and provide reliable and constructable solutions.

Core Principles

1

Plant Native

Native plants are at the heart of every project we do. Why? Because when you plant native (defined as plants local or near to the project site) you are making the choice to support the flora as well as the fauna of the region.

Native animal and insect species are highly correlated to native vegetation. You are probably aware of the strong relationship between phainopepla and mistletoe. But did you know that the presence of thorny desert scrub plants such as desert hackberry and catclaw acacia is associated with the presence of ash-throated flycatchers, Gambel’s quail, northern cardinals, verdins, and many other species? Desert scrub plants provide great foraging (they host a variety of insects), protection (due to thorns and density) and nesting sites. Every non-native plant takes the place of a native that could provide food and habitat. Retention of native wildlife and insect species requires retention of native vegetation – it’s that simple.

2

Conserve Water

Water, and the ways we can conserve it, are central to our work. We take water seriously, understanding its erosive potential as well as the dangers of water in the wrong place (next to buildings, for example). By first studying how water flows on and across a site, we can incorporate strategies for both passive harvesting that promote infiltration as well as active harvesting (storage for later use).  

The Wilder approach to conservation goes hand in hand with using native plants. With careful selection and placement of native plants, very little irrigation will be required after establishment. For planting established from seed, there may be no irrigation requirement at all. The simple xeriscape approach of a thick carpet of crushed rock with a few succulents scattered here and there is sterile, uninviting, and has no correspondence with the beautiful, natural desert spaces surrounding us. We encourage you to forget the ‘oasis’ zone and the ‘transition’ zone and embrace the beauty of the ‘desert’ zone in all its varied forms and textures.   

3

Celebrate Soil

Dirt is the basis for all of our landscapes but is often overlooked and almost always covered up. Wilder looks at soil from several standpoints including: erosivity (how we stabilize soils), type (soil type influences plant community, water infiltration, erosivity and more), and habitat potential (many species of lizards, bees, and rodents need access to bare ground).   

4

Stack Functions

Stacking functions is a core principle of permaculture, and one we have adopted at Wilder. The key is that any element serves multiple functions. For instance, a park can offer a place for people to gather and exercise while also serving to infiltrate runoff from the community and provide nesting and foraging opportunities for targeted bird species. A tree can be selected that not only provides shade, but also fixes nitrogen in the soil and produces a pod that is relished by wildlife / humans.   

As our communities grow, open space (whether natural or created) shrinks, making it even more important to get the most that we can out of every area. By incorporating nature and natural functions into our built environments, we can develop a network of patches that helps maintain species diversity.