Bonni Engelhardt

Bonni Engelhardt attributes her love of plants and wild spaces to growing up in her mother’s flower-filled hillside garden and the surrounding chaparral mountains of Topanga Canyon, California. An affinity for the arts led her to a BA in studio art, but when a burgeoning obsession with plants took hold, she quickly pivoted toward garden design. After providing design and consultation services for over a dozen years, she still squeals with delight at new plants and relishes the challenge of creating beautiful, beneficial gardens despite soil, climate, and critter problems. She feels it is crucial to restore wildlife habitat and live harmoniously with the parade of pollinators and other creatures that share our backyard ecosystems, a perspective she shares through classes and community talks on a wide range of subjects, including sustainable design and gardening with native plants.