Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristine Parr
Hi Kristine, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My mom is the Angie of Angie’s Garden, so we can start there. She was a doctor, but more relevantly to the story, the most Ms. Frizzle (from the Magic School Bus) person I have ever known. My brother and I remember on her off days in the summer, she would make these little “science camps” for us and our cousins. She would lead us on a walk to the creek, then take us to the library and pick out books about frogs or anything we saw. We were (and still are) a big camping family, so she played a big part in growing my sense of wonder and curiosity about nature.
Right before I went to high school, she became chronically ill and fought for life for over 10 years. Obviously, that had a huge impact on me, leaning into a caregiver type role, and how I viewed the world. Along with very difficult experiences in college, I became more and more interested in ecology and how interacting closely and gently with nature chemically influences emotional health for the better. I ended up in grad school at the University of Oregon studying landscape architecture. Once developed a minor obsession with ideas like permaculture and designing habitat, food systems and ways of living that create resiliency and beauty. Of the idea that a healthy landscape can in turn create healthy human beings, which in turn create healthier communities. In a moment of clarity I pieced together that mom really laid these breadcrumbs out for me. I’m forever grateful that I was able to tell her how all she had done and sacrificed lead me into what feels like a calling. She passed away a few months after that.
We’re a family of do-ers, so visiting home (TX) the summer after she died, my dad wanted to build a pond in the backyard he and ma always talked about (she was a huge Monet waterlily fan). We have a placard by the pond that says, “Angie’s Garden”. With dad the civil engineer and me the plants and designer person, he had joked that we could just do this full time, And, like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to it that stuck with me. Food for thought as I went back to Oregon.
My last year and a half of grad school was online due to COVID, so I ended up moving back to TX and graduating remotely. I just had a deep feeling working in a firm would be a mistake for me. In my own tango with mental illness, I discovered I need the soil in my hands and be among the plants and critters. So, after a ton of praying, considering and fretting, I decided to just freaking go for it, you know? It was slow goings in the beginning, I had thought I wanted the business to be more like a nursery (I had very little confidence in my design skills, even after earning a Masters degree. Go figure). So to help income and get more experience with CenTex native plants, I got a job at Hill Country Water Gardens (nursery) in Cedar Park, and did design work with them for a few years. I am deeply grateful for that experience, getting to learn from highly educated horticulturalists, and having the independence to manage my own projects from consult to install fairly immediately. I was also able to see behind the scenes with the other designer and project managers there how to work with clients and contractors effectively. It was like a business boot camp. All the while I was doing small projects for Angie’s Garden. It helped me hone in on what the business should be: something that uses creativity and imagination to create beautiful habitat and homes.
So I did that for a few years and fended off feelings of restlessness. Until it came to a point where I felt it was time to take the leap and quit HCWG. I was praying for the opportunity to be made for me (lol), then a week later the owner of HCWG called me into his office and told me the department was changing and my position was being dissolved. So that was that! It’s my first year doing Angie’s Garden full time, and I am constantly blown away by the support from friends, family and clients.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Yes and no. Where to start. I guess with the fact that I am very tenderhearted, so everything that follows was amplified. And I do want to mention that I’ve been blessed with an incredible support system, where even if I felt I needed to process something in isolation, there were always friends there when I came out of it. But anyways, I realized just this past year that I had lived most my adult life like a walking open wound. Personally, there traumatic (I always feel a bit uneasy using the term, but I guess that’s case in point) experiences which led me to believe in certain “realities” of the world.
Becoming ma’s de facto part time caregiver as a teen and young adult told me what I wanted didn’t matter and is unimportant compared to helping other people in need. With a healthier mentality that’s not all wrong, but I didn’t know then that I wasn’t in a healthy place even then. The fall of freshman year of college ma had her first of many death scares. Spring the following year I was at the finish line of the Boston Marathon bombing where my best friend at the time was running (he wasn’t near when it happened, but all I could imagine was him getting blown up and spent hours running around downtown Boston in a frenzy). There was the constant anxiety of unexpected danger and deep resounding loss that still can follow me. Especially in the years directly following the marathon, mom was still declining and facing her own battles with me as a support (which I will never regret, it was just a lot to carry) and everything felt so far out of my control, I definitely harbored suicidal ideations, just to end the pain and control something. I made mistakes in her care that ended up hurting her, and that’s a heavy weight to carry.
Watching ma die for so long was excruciating; and 5 years in there were/ are many things that are difficult to live with/ through. About a year after mom died, my closest friends left Oregon and I would move away shortly after. Coupled with a breakup, which feels silly to add, and moving back home where I swore I would never live, there resurfaced the grief of lost potential and dreams. It just seemed like loss upon loss. Angie’s Garden was started kind of right in the middle of all that. Not to be too graphic, but it felt like someone was peeling my skin off.
So recently, the biggest struggle has been convincing myself that the work is meaningful, and making small (often feeling insignificant) beautiful decisions for nature is still making something beautiful. And that these decisions are worth the risk to pursue.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Angie’s Garden is an ecological landscape design-build company. We specialize in designing resilient foodscapes and habitat plantings that fits any design aesthetic. I am very proud of the holistic approach we take in understanding that ecological habitat begins with soil health. We want to build up the beneficial mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria in the soil, which sets off fascinating food web reactions that brings about a flourishing garden and resilient habitat for a diverse cast of pollinators. In every project, we are hoping to educate our clients on why their choices of plants matter, what sort of pollinator communities they are supporting and why it matters to be so mindful of those things. Designing residential landscapes gives us the opportunity to create “stepping stone” habitat corridors that can be an oasis for the pollinator populations we depend on for food. We also pride ourselves in our seasonal approach with the plant palettes, creating “moments” of whimsy, color and texture all year long.
Our goal is to create opportunities for “soft fascination”, where your imagination can wander empathetically through the landscape. This creates curiosity, which leads to opportunities for education and more excitement about planting native (and just enjoying nature!). In the future, we’re hoping to offer educational illustrations and stories to add another level of participation via imagination.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I am a huge fan of “The Enchanted Life” by Sharon Blackie, Walking on Water” by Madeleine l’Engle, “Surprised by Hope” by NT Wright, “Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature” by Young/Haas/McGown, “You Are What You Love” by James Smith, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron.
I’m also a big believer in the power of fictional stories, so Lord of the Rings (books, movies, audiobooks), anything Studio Ghibli, comic books/ graphic novels and other children’s media are usually high priority. To give you a flavor, recently I’ve been switching between Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” graphic novels, Calvin and Hobbes, and Looney Toons comics. I also listen to the BEMA podcast, the Bible Project and quite a few DND podcasts.
I also have gotten in the habit of carrying a small 3″x3″ notebook with me everywhere, so I can practice unplugging and paying attention. And it’s just fun to doodle.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.angiesgardendesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angiesgardendesign/
Image Credits
Matt Parr is credited with the “the tree and me” profile photo
