Native Plant Landscape Design for the Capital Region
Replace your lawn with a native plant garden that works with nature, not against it.
Front Stoop Gardens designs ecological landscapes and gardens for Capital Region homeowners who want a lower maintenance yard that supports wildlife and feels alive.
We turn lawns into landscapes with purpose
At Front Stoop Gardens, we design native plant landscapes and gardens that feel good to live in and are good for the environment.
We help homeowners transform their lawn-heavy yards into vibrant gardens that are more alive – with beautiful native flowers that attract bees and butterflies, lush groundcover plants that protect critters that nestle below, and blossoming trees that bear fruit for humans and other wildlife.
We believe beautiful landscapes shouldn’t come at the cost of the natural world around us.
"Responsible Design"
Front Stoop Gardens believes in “compassionate landscapes”: landscapes that invite life in.
We believe that humans have a responsibility to ensure that our gardens and home landscapes are habitat.
To that end, all of our designs are carefully and intentionally created with a commitment to ecology, utilizing native species, and sourcing as locally as possible.
As a company, we believe we have a responsibility to create, encourage, & spread habitat.
“What is the duty of humans?
If gifts and responsibilities are one, then asking “What is our responsibility?” is the same as asking “What is our gift?”
It is said that only humans have the capacity for gratitude. This is among our gifts.”
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Braiding Sweetgrass”
Recent Landscape Projects
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![A garden with green plants including grass and leafy plants, with sunlight casting shadows, behind a house with porch and trees in the background.]()
Rethinking Curb Appeal 2025 Project
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![Backyard with large tree in the center, green grass, small garden beds with plants, a shed in the background, and a white fence enclosing the yard. Sunny day with clear blue sky.]()
Habitat in Suburbia 2024
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![Close-up of purple spherical flowers growing in a garden with a blurred background of trees and grass on a sunny day.]()
Pine Bush Lawn to Garden 2025
Mark your calendar
Our monthly plant sales are a whole vibe. Swing by one of our upcoming events to shop our nursery-grown selection, talk with our team, and get advice on what to plant (and where to put it).
Meet Our Founder
Kate Brittenham
Kate is the principal ecological designer and founder of Front Stoop Gardens. She started Front Stoop Gardens in 2016. She studied Environmental Studies at Skidmore College and holds a Certificate in Landscape Design from the New York Botanical Garden.
Her career in ecological landscape design began with a native plant horticulture internship with the Native Plant Trust (formerly New England Wild Flower Society) and the Horticulturist position at Manitoga, a historic home and garden in Garrison NY. Most recently, she is the co-author with Carolyn Summers of Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East, second edition.
(You can purchase it here.)
While her love of native plants is what brought her to landscape design, it is the plants' relationship with the surrounding wildlife and ecology that truly inspires her work. When she is not designing gardens for others, she is usually working on her own garden.
Make it stand out.
