Each garden is uniquely designed and crafted with the client's individual preferences and needs in mind. No synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used; only natural products and soil amendments will be in your garden.
We utilize a wide variety of unique heirloom and native plants to ensure there is color and activity in your garden all season long. From spring bulbs to endless flowers on long summer days to the last, late fall asters, your garden will be beautiful and bountiful.
From years of experience, we choose plants that will provide ample food and nectar for local bee populations, migrating butterflies, and the occasional hummingbird! These creatures, as well as countless others, will thrive during the season both above and below the soil.
Jonathan Kraus grew up in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, wandering the rolling gardens his mother meticulously built and still maintains. A passion for plants was instilled at a young age, and further distilled during his apprenticeship at an organic vegetable farm.
Now, with over a decade of gardening experience, Jonathan has a well established philosophy and aesthetic that he applies to his work. His appreciation for natural beauty, along with the physicality of the work, makes gardening a rewarding endeavor.
Outside of the garden, Jonathan enjoys hiking local trails, cooking, and spending time with his family, friends, and cats.
Before gardening full-time, Jonathan apprenticed at Kimberton CSA, an organic, biodynamic vegetable farm. There he experienced the rhythm of the growing season firsthand, and he fortified his skill set through all aspects of growing plants organically, from greenhouse propagation to enriching the soil, to many long harvest days. Taking these principles into his own gardening work, Jonathan prioritizes soil nutrition and biodiversity above all else.
Soil nutrition is important for our farms, our gardens, and our earth. The vast majority of both landscape and agricultural operations utilize large amounts of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which are detrimental to overall soil health and can run off into our waterways, further disrupting our local and global ecosystems. Gardens Underground counters this approach with a holistic philosophy that acknowledges and minimizes the overall potential negative impacts involved in all of our practices.
This comprehensive philosophy is intended to protect and amplify the spaces not only for people, but also the plants and pollinators that inhabit them. In our ecosystem, every creature, no matter how tiny, is important to the whole. Creating an organic garden is a small but powerful way of protecting our biodiversity in your own backyard.
Soil nutrition is the most vital aspect of a healthy, vibrant garden. Instead of the more typical hardwood mulch, our gardens are built up with leaf mulch. It has the benefits of holding moisture (less watering!) and breaking down into rich top soil over the course of the year, retaining a nice dark color to make the gardens stand out while nourishing the root systems. Select, nutrient-rich organic fertilizers, mineral enrichments, and soil amendments can also be applied throughout the season to maximize bloom, growth and overall health.
Plants used in our garden designs come from years of experience, pouring through countless gardening books and seed catalogs to find plants that are distinctive, hardy, and thrive in our locale. Because of this, we have unique palates of flowers, colors, and textures that will enhance your home and benefit local ecology. Many flowers are those not readily found at nurseries and are started by seed, from specialty growers, or a single piece of root from our incubator garden. Customizing a garden to a client’s particular preferences is what keeps this work fresh and exciting, and we can't wait to hear from you!
Organic gardens for Eastern Pennsylvania's people, plants, and pollinators.
