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Beautiful, vibrant gardens that are earth-friendly might sound like a tall order! But that’s exactly Unlimited Earth Care’s forte, so founder Frederico Azevedo fills us in on the latest green intel Out East.
What’s new?
I’m having a great summer so far; it’s one of my busiest seasons, but it’s honestly a pleasure to get to spend my summers in the Hamptons while my clients are all here enjoying their gardens. My life just sort of shifts outdoors in the warm weather: I cook, exercise, and entertain in my garden. That’s the kind of experience I aim to design for my clients. Unlimited Earth Care is also having a good summer; we just held our annual summer event, in collaboration with BEA Interiors Design this year—our Garden Market carries a curated selection of pieces from BEA’s new Bubble Collection of beautiful outdoor furniture handcrafted from natural materials in limited quantities. It was a wonderful time. New clients, longtime clients, friends, and garden lovers mingled and drank cocktails amongst the flowers.
Why is sustainable gardening important to you?
Sustainability was actually a founding focus of my work. When I started Unlimited Earth Care in the ’90s, my children were young and I’d just found a great piece of property to grow our lives. There were farm fields all around, so I knew the soil was fertile, and the Hamptons was, and still is, teeming with natural life. I was sure this was the right place to go all in on sustainable gardening. I think I was right. My clients are now more interested than ever in lowmaintenance flowering meadows, low irrigation or pollinator gardens, and vegetable and herb gardens.
What’s especially suited to the Hamptons terroir?
It depends on the property because the Hamptons has such a diversity of environments that there’s no one answer! Different plants can thrive in one part of Sag Harbor, perhaps in sandier soil by the bay, and not do as well in another more wooded part of Sag Harbor. But native and well-adapted plants are always the best options, like echinacea, rudbeckia, and asters, which I consistently use in my work.
Any sustainable gardening tips?
I encourage people to find ways to incorporate sustainable practices into what they’re already doing; with gardening and landscape care, it’s relatively simple. Seek out plants and flowers that attract pollinators, like bees, butterflies, and birds, and support local pollinator populations. My guests always joke that I have a contract with the butterflies to show up when I entertain. In a way, I do! I agree to plant their favorite flowers, and they never fail to visit.
Has earth-friendly landscaping become more top of mind for clients over the years?
Absolutely, sustainability has become more of an interest and a priority. I think my clients were interested in Unlimited Earth Care because they sought sustainable garden and landscape design, but now, my clients are also knowledgeable and excited to talk about the specifics of materials and methods. I’m so pleasantly surprised to see how much people know about local bees and different types of plants and flowers! People want gardens they can interact with and feel connected to.
What garden accessories are you loving lately?
I believe our outdoor spaces, like inside our homes, should reflect the tempos and periods of our lives. The art, objects, and accessories in a garden don’t have to look overly manicured or all match one another. The planters, furniture, and sculptures people choose can all reflect different aspects of their style and remind them of different moments in their life. I’m always changing what I carry at the Garden Market because as a designer, my own interests and tastes expand and respond to new materials, technologies, and other designers, but I still want to be around pieces of the past. There’s a beauty in the way that a garden can reflect that. I love when people find a planter they like at the Garden Market and put it alongside a collection of other planters at home—some modern, some traditional, some new, some old, all housing colorful plants and flowers.
Let’s talk color. What shades currently inspire you?
I love to design specific color palettes for each project, and usually go through phases with specific colors within specific projects. But I love alliums for their vibrant purple hues and graphic spherical forms; Shasta daisies for their bright whites, which are great for drawing the eye to specific areas or softening a bright flower bed; and red astilbe for their striking opaque red and feathered blooms.
What’s the rest of your summer looking like?
I spent the first half of summer preparing for our big party, which marked 20 years of our Southampton headquarters! For the rest of the summer I look forward to continuing to design, monitor the maintenance of clients’ gardens and oversee installation in new designs, and spend time cooking by the pool and the flowers at home with friends, evenings at Sunset Beach, and shopping in Sag Harbor.
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