Caitlin Boyle

Caitlin Francke Boyle is the owner of Dirt Diva Designs, a landscape design firm in Chatham, NJ. Through her high-intensity careers in marketing and journalism, her garden was where she felt joy and calm. She got hooked on gardening while working in Baltimore as an investigative journalist covering the broken court system. Her work garnered her two nominations for Pulitzer prizes but she realized she needed an outlet to recover from some harrowing days.

She believes what you see every day affects how you view the world, which is backed by research. Hospital patients with bedside windows overlooking trees heal faster and require less pain medication. Her mission is to create views—beautiful surroundings that can change your whole day just by looking at them.

She trained at the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture and started her company. She is a writer and her piece about breaking up with a plant was featured in The New York Times “Tiny Love” column. Her blog, The Dirt, has humorous takes on gardening as well as tips. She also does talks to groups on garden and design-related topics.

Website: dirt-divadesigns.com