When Tara Gayle – founder and owner of the Island-based landscape design firm Gayle Gardens – heard longtime West Tisbury nursery Heather Gardens was up for sale last year, she recognized a golden opportunity to grow deeper roots on the Vineyard, both for her business and for herself.

Gayle Gardens is located at 377 State Road in West Tisbury (in the former Heather Gardens location). — Jeanna Shepard

“I dreamed about ways to acquire this property for over a year, to expand my business into a self-sufficient resource for my own landscape and design company as well as for other landscape companies across the Island,” Tara said. “I also saw it as a rare opportunity to solve my own personal housing crisis journey by offering a way to root in, work harder and quell the lack of home.” The property sale included an existing home on it.

Tara undertook the long and arduous process of buying the property, which involved submitting a detailed business plan and a Small Business Association (SBA) loan application. “It was worth it as a means to an end to expand the business and buy a home,” she said.

Salvia is a favorite of Tara's - and of hummingbirds'. — Jeanna Shepard

In addition to being excited about being a first-time homeowner, Tara was thrilled about the chance to grow her business and solve some of the sourcing issues she was experiencing for the native plants that she prefers using in her design work. Tara, who describes herself as a landscaper with an emphasis on resilient design and healthful practices, pointed out that she is continuing to offer many of the same plants as the nursery’s previous owner, but that she is also working to bring more native plants in. She has also discontinued sales of chemical pesticides and insecticides.

“We have transitioned to natural fertilizers and our plants are doing really well,” she said. “Customers say the plants are thriving once they take them home.”

Tara has built her small business from scratch. She has never had investors, and her equipment is modest. Aside from a seasonal crew and her four-year-old English Bulldog named Lunchbox (who likes to hang out in the nursery during the off-season), Tara is a one-woman show. Rather than trying to meet every need herself, she partners with local architects and landscapers to provide services that don’t make sense to offer on her own.

Customers shop for perennials and annuals to plant this fall. — Jeanna Shepard

“I eat and sleep the business,” she said. “I’m probably working with an unhealthy balance, but I can honestly say I’ve loved it. There’s so much more to learn and that’s what keeps me engaged.”

Originally from the New York area, Tara first trained at the New York Botanical Garden and then pursued permaculture certificates in both Holland and Italy. After Holland, she began coursework with Dr. Elaine Ingham, of Soil Food Web School, to learn how to go from soil health to finished design.

Tara began her career on the Island 15 years ago working for a landscaper in West Tisbury before breaking out on her own. Her business has evolved from a leased truck and a few tools into full-service landscape design, and now the nursery.

Flowering kale, asters, and mums invite fall landscaping. — Jeanna Shepard

“My vision for the Island is to have most, if not all, residents moving toward a more balanced approach and ecologically sound practices as they apply to landscape and design,” Tara said. “There is a lot you can do instead of a lawn.”

The good news for most home owners is that an enormous property is not required to pursue Tara’s version of eco-friendly design. “I love when people take a postage-stamp-sized lawn and apply a regenerative design element to what they’ve got,” she said. “We’re slowly getting away from people thinking that you always need to have green grass.”

While Tara said that many gardeners on the Island understand the importance of soil health and native plants, it is still a reality that many new construction projects on Martha’s Vineyard begin with bulldozing a property and culminate with the laying down of fresh sod. Rather than using grass, Tara recommends a landscape plan that incorporates elements of the Island’s own natural environment as a more visually interesting and healthy option for the land.

In creating her pollinator gardens, Tara picks low-maintenance species and plants that tend to take care of themselves, nourishing the soil and helping it to regenerate over time. Her gardens are densely planted and usually look robust within a year, she said. Some of her favorite native varieties include Lobelia, Baptisia (wild indigo), Athyrium (ferns), Carex (grasses), Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit) and Prunus maritima (beach plum).

Tara will have a new (future) garden helper, come November. — Jeanna Shepard

Looking forward, the latest addition to her personal life will be the baby she is expecting in November. Tara plans to continue her learning process and her expansion of the nursery side of the business in the months and years ahead, even as she expands her family.

“I have deep respect for the Island and the privilege of living here,” she said. “I want to be giving back something that I don’t otherwise see here.”

 

Sara Mason Alder is a freelance writer based in Hingham, Mass.

 

Gayle Gardens is located at 377 State Road, West Tisbury.