Specializing in colorful, water-conserving gardens
Principal Designer Joan S. Bolton confesses to a life-long love affair with plants.

A native of southern California, Joan grew up tending her own vegetable garden and house plants. She moved to Goleta nearly 40 years ago and has gardened like a fiend ever since. At last count, she and her husband Tom had planted several thousand shrubs, perennials, ground covers, succulents, and trees on their four-acre property, west of Goleta. They also maintain some 50 avocado, citrus, and fruit trees, and grow vegetables and herbs organically year-round.

Joan has been designing gardens in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Hope Ranch, and Montecito for 30 years. She approaches each new landscape with an eye toward capturing color, light, texture, and movement to create a captivating environment. On a more practical level, her designs conserve water and provide welcoming habitat for beneficial insects, bees, birds, and butterflies.

Equally important, Joan encourages collaboration. By really listening, she provides custom landscapes that fulfill her client’s special wishes and needs.

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Joan also spreads her love of plants through freelance writing.

Joan received her masters degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and has written freelance articles about gardening for 35 years. She often provides photographs as well.

Her credits include Edible Garden columns for Edible Santa Barbara and Central Coast Farm and Ranch, In the Garden features on her blog, and articles in Fine Gardening and Montecito Magazine. She has been a regular contributor to Woman’s Day’s gardening publications, and has written for Horticulture, Flower and Garden, Landscape Architecture, House Beautiful, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, and Santa Barbara Magazine. She formerly wrote gardening articles for the Santa Maria Times, South Coast Beacon, and Santa Barbara News-Press. She has also contributed content to websites for the National Education Association and All-America Rose Selections, and provided photos for “Reimagining the California Lawn,” published by Cachuma Press, and “The Less is More Garden,” published by Timber Press.

Professional Affiliations and Activities

Joan is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), the national association that establishes and encourages standards of excellence in landscape design, and currently serves as Treasurer for the Greater Los Angeles District. She is also a G3 Certified Watershed Wise Landscape Professional, a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Landscaping Professional, and an EPA Certified Irrigation System Auditor and WaterSense Partner.

Joan has been a member of Garden Writers Association (now known as Garden Comm) for three decades. She is active in the Santa Barbara County Horticultural Society, and has served on the board and as editor of the society’s newsletter.

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Santa Barbara Garden Design’s Joan S. Bolton has never met a plant she didn’t like – or at least appreciate in some capacity. Whether designing gardens or writing about them, she has always marveled at the way single plants might not be impressive on their own. Yet they become magical when viewed in combination with others.