Gardens By Design is dedicated to helping clients achieve their goals in creating inviting, beautiful, outdoor spaces that are designed to minimize maintenance wherever possible. Each project is customized to reflect our client’s view of what makes an attractive garden while applying our horticultural knowledge and good design techniques. We work with residential, commercial and government clients throughout southcentral Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula.

The owner and principal designer for Gardens By Design is Brenda Adams. She has enjoyed gardens and “digging in the dirt” since she learned to walk. She has designed exquisite gardens for homes in California, Arizona and along the Eastern Seaboard. However, she found her true gardening passion in Alaska.

Brenda’s Alaska design work has been recognized with three International Landscape Design Awards by the Perennial Plant Association (PPA). The PPA organizes an intense competition among professional garden designers and landscapers across the United States as well as Europe and the rest of the world. In 2012 Brenda won the highest award granted in this competition, the Honor Award, for her design and creation of the Serenity Garden at the new entrance of South Peninsula Hospital. Additionally, she won the prestigious Merit Award in 2007 for a local residential garden and again in 2009 for a commercial project in Homer. She is the only Alaskan designer to have won either award. 

Working closely with her customers in order to clearly understand their wishes, and utilizing her skill and knowledge of horticulture and the Alaskan environment, Brenda develops a unique plan to suit each client’s goals and the conditions of the site. She encourages those clients who enjoy gardening to participate in any or all phases of the project. Brenda is also happy to take complete responsibility for the project, since she believes each garden is for her clients’ enjoyment and should reflect their desires.

Brenda is the author of There’s a Moose in My Garden: Designing Gardens in Alaska and the Far North (University of Alaska Press, 2013) and Cool Plants for Cold Climates: A Garden Designer’s Perspective (University of Alaska Press, 2017). In the first book, Brenda shares her insights as she guides you through the entire process of designing and creating an Alaska garden - from the moment you decide you want a garden until you can enjoy its beauty. Her latest book, Cool Plants for Cold Climates, is a treasure trove of extraordinary plants for cold climate gardeners. In it she highlights solidly hardy selections that offer overall beauty and are especially easy to care for, all vividly illustrated with more than three hundred photographs. 

Mrs. Adams teaches Northern Garden Design at the Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College, University of Alaska, Anchorage. She is a Master Gardener and was President of the 150 member strong Homer Garden Club for six years and continues to serve on its board. Brenda is also a sought-after speaker. (Read More) 

Gardens By Design and Brenda Adams have been featured in articles in the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Home Magazine, the Homer Tribune and the Homer News. One of the Homer News articles entitled, “The Art of Gardening”, captures the essence of her work as three-dimensional, ever-evolving art. The article also highlights Ms. Adams’ view that “a garden should be a place of joy.”