About Pamela Doan

After years of gardening in various environments- a house with a yard in Seattle, a rooftop in Brooklyn – I was in for a huge learning curve in 2010 when we moved to 9 acres with a forest on a mountainside in Cold Spring, NY. So many possibilities! So many challenges!

I read books. I took classes. I became a master gardener volunteer and a master forester volunteer, trained by the Cornell Cooperative Extension program, and began helping other gardeners. In 2013, I started writing Roots and Shoots, a gardening column for the Highlands Current newspaper, to share my search for information about ecological gardening and landscaping.

While seeking answers to my own questions, readers came along as I interviewed researchers and professionals. Being a journalist gave me access to researchers, conferences, and classes. This shaped my efforts to tend an organic vegetable and herb garden, grow shitake mushrooms on logs, battle invasive species for space to grow native plants, create habitat for birds, and experiment with hugelkultur. From 2018 to 2020 I worked as a garden coach with the ecological design studio, One Nature.

I’ve studied at the New York Botanical Gardens, the Ecological Landscape Alliance, the UW Botanical Gardens, New Directions for American Landscapes and the Native Plant Center.

I founded Flower Forest Gardens in 2021 to offer gardeners support and counsel from my years of experience and ongoing study.

 My approach

I use techniques that improve soil and environmental health. I work primarily with native plants and trees. I can help you choose the best plants to create projects that are artful, lovely, and have a positive ecological impact while lowering your carbon footprint.