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PROFILE

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Wild Pistil Design Studio [WPDS] is a boutique garden design firm offering distinctive landscape design solutions and seasonal garden maintenance throughout NYC, the outer boroughs and the lower Hudson Valley. WPDS was founded in 2006 by native Vermonter Cary Baker, a mixed media artist and lifelong gardener who began transforming blighted urban sites into green sanctuaries shortly after moving to Brooklyn in the late-90's. Prior to launching her own practice, Cary received training in horticulture and design from the The Brooklyn Botanic Garden and worked as a lead gardener for established landscape design firms in NYC. Over the years, she has remained actively engaged in opportunities for professional research and discovery and has studied Permaculture design through Cornell University, and ecology-based design through NDAL, with renowned ecologist and innovator Larry Weaner​. Cary is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and  holds a  B. A. from Bard College.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL ISABELL

Today, gardens designed and implemented by Wild Pistil are informed by our continued explorations at the intersection of art and ecology. Our creative team includes knowledgeable gardeners and a network of seasoned green-industry affiliates whose expertise runs the gamut, from horticultural consulting to Permaculture design, custom carpentry and masonry, meadow and woodland restoration and outdoor lighting and irrigation. Our projects range from intimate residential backyards and roof terraces to institutional gardens and expansive private estates. In 2015, Wild Pistil restored the courtyard gardens at the esteemed Apthorp Condominiums on Manhattan's Upper West Side, where they continue to maintain and expand on the plant-scape at this landmark site, which spans a full city block. Wild Pistil has installed gardens for the design group Jonathan Adler and was recently contracted to maintain extensive roof terrace gardens located at the Hudson Yards complex.

 

Though much of the company's work is still rooted in Manhattan and the outer boroughs,  Cary now resides in the lower Hudson Valley with her husband and two young daughters. With this geographic shift, the firm has expanded its scope to include rural and semi-rural projects with a focus on Beacon NY and the neighboring communities of Cold Spring, Garrison and the surrounding counties.  

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