Community Highlights: Meet Deborah Pella-Smith of Dare to be Desert Garden and Design

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deborah Pella-Smith.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in the north surrounded by lakes and forests. Almost 20 years ago, I suddenly found myself landlocked with desert on all sides. No water. Desert for hundreds of miles. Strange plants. Endless sky. Scorching heat. What had I agreed to?? I learned quickly that to be happy I could not expect the new environment to be like the one I’d left. I began exploring this new world of cactus and other unique plants, mountains and ongoing sky, and of course I fell in love with it all. I was raising my very young family (3 active boys) who I tried to share everything I was learning with. The house we had moved into had lawn in the front and back. This situation did not mesh with the desert outside. I realized that my neighbours’ landscaping was not necessarily appropriate for the desert. The first true act of gardening I did in my yard was to remove the patch of ornamental grass. It wasn’t long after that I ditched the lawn mower, too. And so it began!

Other major changes followed. Of the 6 palm trees the original homeowner planted, only 1 remains. It stands as a reminder that positive change is possible and that it is in my hands. Both front and back outdoor spaces have been transformed, pulling out the “invaders” and replacing them with beautiful desert varieties. I did it all myself with occasional help from my family. My personal motto had become “let the desert be your guide”. The first cactus I remember buying was a small Mammillaria grahamii. It is almost 18 years old!! Our landscape is filled with sun-loving desert trees, hardy blooming cactus, shapely agaves, colourful shrubs and flowering perennials. Native pollinators such as hummingbirds, leaf cutter bees, and butterflies call our yard home. We host lizards, geckos, and the occasional Road Runner, too! Oh, and people enjoy our landscape as well… My neighbours now comment on the cactus when they are blooming!

As our boys grew, I had increasingly more time for myself. My background is in environmental resource management so my growing desert plant interest was a natural fit. I decided to buffer my self-taught knowledge of this hot dry world and attended the desert landscaper school offered by Desert Botanical Garden. I was able to do this while everyone was in school and in the evening when my husband was home from work. It required planning, organization, determination, and many late nights!! I must say my husband was incredibly supportive. I began to believe that I could share my expanding plant and gardening knowledge with other homeowners.

I had become a certified landscape designer. Shortly afterwards, an opportunity arose at DBG and I became a horticulture aide to the manager of the cactaceae collection, a role I still enjoy today. It is amazing what a little certification program can do for a girl!! Along with my love of plants and the natural world, it provided me with the confidence I needed to consider a career in landscape design. I was also working part-time at a cactus nursery. You may wonder how can anyone possibly enjoy spending so much time around spiny sharp plants? Some of our desert natives are definitely sharp and they let you know it if you approach them too quickly! But, I have learned that plants, like people and other living creatures, given the space they deserve are happy to coexist with us.

I acquired knowledge of the industry on my own, in more formal educational settings, through volunteer programs, and through relevant employment opportunities. I was able to do so at my own pace. My yard was like a playground. I could try out different plants in the landscape and see what thrived under drought tolerant conditions. I wasn’t just book-learning. I had my hands in the ground. Another contributor to my decision to become a garden designer was running. I love long-distance running. I run along the canal with views of the mountains ahead of me. The saying, “The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of bodies,” resonates with me. When I’m running, I see coyotes, hawks, road runners, and other native desert dwellers. It wasn’t enough for me to have gained the right credentials to start my business. I needed to know that what I was doing would make a positive difference and help contribute to the conversation about the natural world, living landscapes, and supporting desert life.

Today, I have my own business “Dare to be Desert Garden and Design”. My website daretobedesertgardenanddesign.com has more information about me and my philosophy regarding landscape design, gardening practices, and our place in the desert. We offer consultation, landscape design, lawn replacement, installation, and planters, Good design involves well-organized planning to help make the most of any outdoor space. Together, with appropriate low water use plant choices, we can contribute to the health of the wider environment, too. What we all do in our yards adds up. With billions of people on the planet, one person is not the only person thinking and acting a particular way. Millions are! I also have an ongoing contract with a local botanical garden to plant planters of all sizes to be auctioned at their annual fundraising dinner. I love what I do and I am grateful for the desert path that led me here.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think my biggest challenge was me. I had to stop underestimating myself. When my oldest son got into medical school I finally thought, “you’ll never know if you never try” and “you’ve got nothing to lose”. I knew that I had the knowledge and the skills to be the best kind of landscape designer. My husband suggested I create a business plan. It was an essential step to building my business. The business plan gave me focus and organized everything that I had to do. It was strategic, precise, and orderly. My thoughts were no longer revolving in my head. I followed my plan.

Another challenge is trying to maintain a regular work routine. I have a home office and the nature of what I do can be considered seasonal. In the hottest part of the summer in the Sonoran Desert, no one is thinking about what they are going to plant! Every living thing is in survival mode. I have had to be creative using platforms for advertising that I never used before. I had to leave my comfort zone and post about myself.

I created my own website. That was a new experience. I wanted to design landscapes with beautiful drought tolerant plants. But, before I could, I had to publish a website and do all the technical things that many businesses do in order to get business. I could have hired someone to create the site. But, I wanted it to represent me and my philosophy about nature and desert living. So, I put the time in and gained a new skill set in the process. I learned that I am a very good photographer. I used all of my own photos which were framed well. It was time consuming. And so my business launch was delayed. But, with every new step that had to be completed, I was tested and learned that I had the strength, perseverance, and patience to continue to reach my goal.

I did accept that I needed help with promoting my business online. A friend said he could help with seo (search engine optimization). This was a new language to me. I know plants but not these technical things. So, I trusted him with helping get my webpage more views. Just over a year later, I lost, LITERALLY LOST, the website I had built from scratch. My “friend” had created a bogus email address and a new password for the platform he had moved my website to. When it came up for renewal, the reminder email went to the bogus address where it was seen by no one. I had to start over again. It actually made me physically sick. It gave me a new perspective on creative content and I felt great respect for the many people who have worked diligently to achieve their dreams. In hindsight, it was a valuable lesson about business management. I was very lucky because the situation could have been much worse. I tried to look at it as an opportunity to renew my site with an updated message demonstrating what I had learned from all the clients I had had up to that point.

Another more tangible obstacle was finding the labour to do the landscape installations. This made me research and explore possibilities for hiring skilled gardeners. I learned that trust is the foundation of my relationships. It is extremely important to me that my clients know that what I say I will do is what I will do to the very best of my ability. Finding and hiring workers to carry out that mission has been a challenge. Also, finding the product I represent can be difficult, too. I have developed very good working relationships with several nurseries in the valley. But, I can’t always find the plants I want. This may be an opportunity for growth which brings me back to my business plan. One of the next ideas is for me to build my own nursery and grow the plants that I love to include in my designs.

I do believe that without tests and difficulties one can never know their true worth, Without challenges, one can never explore the depths of what we are truly capable of. These obstacles show us the true meaning of happiness.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My website daretobedesertgardenanddesign.com answers a lot of these questions! Please take a look at it. I am a desert landscape designer. I specialize in transforming, reviving and harmonizing outdoor spaces into beautiful, more sustainable (drought-tolerant) landscapes. The desert where I live is getting hotter just like most places. In the Phoenix area, we are setting and breaking heat records on an almost daily basis. I specialize in heat and drought tolerant plants. Designs incorporate cactus and pollinator-friendly plants to naturally connect (without even having to think about it) private yard spaces with the Sonoran Desert. We encourage low water use plants. The landscape is where most homeowners use most of their water.

I have 15 years of desert garden experience; Desert Landscape School certificate and Horticulture Aide both with the Desert Botanical Garden. My area of specialty is native desert plants and desert adapted plants. I use “power plants” like cactus which proudly represent the desert while combining well with many other diverse plant choices. I am known for challenging prevailing garden practices. For example, I do not use a blower. I believe in brooms and rakes. Gas powered blowers in particular are akin to driving a truck over your landscape. Any blower will obliterate life at the ground level, such as earth dwelling bees, lizards, and their eggs, By removing all of the leaves, the earth never gets a chance to regenerate. In the desert there is relatively little organic matter so every drop counts. Also, selectively prune plants versus shearing. Sheared plants are literally living on the edge; dead in the middle! Dare to be Desert promotes living landscapes that support desert life. This isn’t the 80s so let’s not garden that way!

Our services include: consultation, landscape design, planters, lawn replacement, plant installation, and maintenance support (all detailed on the website).

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
With respect to starting a business, one takes a risk financially and also with their reputation. For example, my friends know that I own a personal business. My colleagues in the nursery and horticulture industry know that I have a personal business. It is only natural to want to succeed especially in the prevailing culture. Nobody wants their contacts to know their attempt at running a business failed. It could be embarrassing. Judgement would surely be cast. However, another way of looking at this level of risk is that on the whole not many people have their own businesses. Perhaps, it is a reflection of the level of support available/ not available for small business owners.

Pricing:

• landscape design minimum $500.00

Contact Info:

• Website: daretobedesertgardenanddesign.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/daretobedesert
• Facebook: facebook.com/dare2bdesert

Image Credits
Dare to be Desert Garden and Design