Lacewing is a landscape design company committed to the intrinsic power and beauty of outdoor spaces.
Lacewing is passionate about sharing the regenerative force of ecosystems, one landscape at a time. We do this by creating thoughtful, beneficial, and resilient landscape design/build, organic fine gardening, and seasonally-inspired botanical arrangements.
Steeped in experience with floral design, horticulture, and sustainable community development work, founder Britt Willey is passionate about spreading the infinite joy of gardens and the vitality shared by all creatures that thrive in these beneficial spaces.
What this looks like in practice:
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We’re firm believers in reducing our carbon footprint whenever possible. We prioritize using hand tools to reduce our carbon impact, noise pollution, and protect the health of our team. We avoid the use of gas-powered machines unless a backhoe is needed for major excavation. We otherwise prioritize using electric machines only.
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We prioritize durable, natural materials — stone, steel, wood — that withstand the test of time. The materials that create our landscapes are sustainable, responsibly sourced, and when no longer usable will return to the earth leaving minimal trace.
We’re always looking for creative ways to reuse and repurpose materials in your landscape and avoid the landfill when possible.
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We are committed to preserving and improving your soil ecosystem. Through soil building with compost, organic soil amendments, fallen leaves, sheet-mulch, and digging forks, our techniques aim to preserve soil biology while reducing landscape waste and carbon emissions where possible.
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We seek to create and cultivate peaceful, cozy, and harmonious landscapes guided by the needs of a changing climate and impacted natural resources, especially water.
Our approach is grounded in ecologically-informed design that aims to support our local ecosystems and the local fauna that call your garden home.
We also highly value our relationship with you, the future steward of a fledging ecosystem that will undoubtedly make an impact on local flora and fauna. We very much appreciate the chance to collaborate with you on this gratifying experience.
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We firmly believe in the power of nature’s beauty, in the landscape or in a vase. Our floral design approach seeks to repurpose pruned clippings and foraged backyard blooms to create seasonal, local, and sustainable floral designs.
Our Team
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Britt Willey
Founder. Lead Designer. Certified Professional Horticulturalist. Master Gardener. Wild Floral Designer.
Growing up in the grasslands of the fledging Chicago suburbs, I witnessed development destroy our local prairies and savannas. These sacred places are where my passionate connection with nature would take root. This experience would drive a lifetime of work dedicated to protecting natural and cultivated landscapes.
My educational path led me to obtain a graduate degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan. My field work focused on interdisciplinary coalition building around environmental justice issues in Detroit.
From the streets of the Detroit, to the Miskitu villages of Waspam, Nicaragua, and the urban gardens of Chicago and Seattle, I have dedicated the better part of 20 years to sharing the wealth of positivity that comes from access to gardens.
It is the culmination of these experiences that guide my current path as a landscape designer, horticulturalist and floral designer- an obsession that has driven me to grow, thrive, and create everyday over the last 10 years with Lacewing.
It is an honor to share our philosophy and vision with you and your landscape, an opportunity for which I infinitely grateful everyday.
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Braden Begg
Foreman. Certified Professional Horticulturalist. Trained Permaculturalist and Designer.
As a spirited youth I climbed and swung my way through the vast orchards of Western Massachusetts. It was there that I first learned an intimacy with plants, that is, an understanding of the reciprocity between orchardist, farmer or gardener and the living things over which they steward.
As an undergraduate at the University of Vermont, my education and research focused primarily on neuropharmacology and bioethics. These topics, however, best served to highlight the great importance I saw in our symbiosis with the natural world.
When I could steal away from my studies, I constructed edible urban gardens, self-contained living machines, and low-impact wildland trails. Following my graduation I spent years working for greenhouses and garden centers, interning with holistic farmers, freelancing as a residential gardener and in my spare time, playing guitar in rock bands.
As a part of Lacewing, it is my great pleasure to add my labor and passion to our projects as we strive to bring conscious gardening into bloom in Seattle.
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Ben Schultz
Hardscape Lead. Dry Stack Stone Waller. Carpentry Lead. R&D/Technical Support.
Earth, water, wood, stone, – they’ve all forged tactile memories over the years. Working with Lacewing awakens these memories, and that’s a gift, as is the chance to work with other talented and passionate people. Lacewing is a place where neither plant nor person is taken for granted, a place where great care in used in working with both. It’s odd that this should be a unique vision for work that affects our surroundings, where we spend and share time with those we love. But it is. Lacewing understands this and allows me to embrace this vision fully.
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Chris Miller
Hardscape Crew. Master Stone Arranger. Dry Stack Stone Waller. Natural Firepit Enthusiast. Flatwork Specialist.
Born and raised in Washington I have always admired the outdoors and what the PNW has to offer. I am a creative and artistically oriented person that is passionate about designing outdoor spaces.
Originally having gone to college for Graphic Design, I took on woodworking to try my hand at physically building and creating my visions. From there it bloomed into a love for hands on wood and stone work, as well as learning about plants and how to implement them into such beautiful landscape spaces. Lacewing has given me the wonderful experience of developing my skills and learning new ones to bring our clients’ vision to life. Outside of Lacewing I enjoy board game nights, floating a river, camping and working on art projects.
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Tom Jamieson
Landscape Design Lead. CAD /Graphic Design Specialist.
My appreciation for the landscape is informed by my experiences growing up in the pine forest, wetland, and coastal ecosystems of central Florida. The towering evergreens, rocky slopes, lush meadows, and open woodlands of the Pacific Northwest, where I have lived for the last thirty years, have broadened my interest in the natural world.
As a designer I channel my interests into functional and context-appropriate residential landscape designs. I have an enduring interest in how materials construction and plants can enhance outdoor spaces. I take pride in developing custom solutions that respond to client goals and specific on-the-ground landscape issues.
In the past I have worked as a public high school teacher and public arts’ administrator. After earning a masters’ degree in landscape architecture in 2010, I have been busy creating landscape designs in Seattle’s urban core.
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Hallie Escola
Fine Gardening Manager. Second Chance Plants Coordinator. Medicinal Plantswoman. Farmer.
I have been fascinated by plants, animals, and insects since I was a child. I was born in the midwest and spent most days running around outside picking flowers, studying bugs, and catching snakes. When I was 8, my family moved to southwest Washington and I was amazed by the PNW and all it had to offer.
I graduated from Western Washington University in 2020 with a degree in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Studies. It was at Western that I really fell in love with the interconnectedness of the natural world and how we, as humans, can positively participate in our ecosystems. I focused my studies in sustainable agriculture, local food systems, and building resilient communities. After college, I spent a year in Dartmouth, MA working at Round The Bend Farm. During my time working on the farm, I gained experience in a wide range of skill sets including livestock management, beekeeping, perennial management, herbalism, and vegetable farming.
I am so happy to be back in Washington, continuing to learn and develop skills in horticulture. I feel lucky to spend my days in the soil surrounded by plants, trees, and the incredible Lacewing team.
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Tony Hlavaty
Fine Gardening Technical Lead. Floral Artist. Vehicle Mechanic. Power House. Fern’s Dad.
A master of none from Wetumpka, Alabama. Bikes, flowers, and staying on a first name basis with nature are the primary pastimes. Moving to the Pacific Northwest has been revelatory and working in the region’s gardens has been rewarding beyond measure.
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Audrey Crews
Fine Gardening Crew Member. Holistic Landscape Designer. Trained Permaculturalist. Master Gardener. Master Pruner. Web Designer.
Nature lover and Washington transplant born and raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. As an undergrad at UVA, I studied environmental policy and urban planning. After a few years of teaching and several years at a corporate job, I went back to school for landscape design. At Bastyr University, I became a certified Holistic Landscape Designer and Permaculture Designer and interned with Erin Lau Design.
At home, I tend to an edible garden filled with vegetables, flowers, and medicinal herbs. Outside of gardening, I love outdoor adventures, antiquing, cooking, and reading. I’m thrilled to work alongside the talented team at Lacewing and I’m passionate about designing and building landscapes that steward the land and connect people to the outdoors.
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Fern
Team Mascot. Emotional Support.
With a shiny coat reminiscent of hairy brown fiddleheads, Fern is a beautiful little lady with a lot of love to give. She keeps us smiling on the days we need it most.
Join Our Team
We are always interested in connecting with potential team members who are passionate about horticulture, ecological landscape design, permaculture, natural stone work, and/or garden to vase floral design.