John Coghlan is an award-winning Landscape Designer and Gardener based out of Vashon Island.

 

He focuses on gardens that deepen our connection with nature and draws from his many sources of inspiration- native creeks, meadows, and forests, edible plants,  as well as English, Spanish, and Japanese garden traditions.

His 2023 garden for the NW Flower & Garden Show was awarded a gold medal and recreated his family's home garden on Vashon Island- a space they share with their dog and chickens. They grow hundreds of edibles plants, berries, and flowers that bloom throughout the year. They also maintain a greenhouse full of hardy orchids and tropical fruits that doubles as their outdoor living rooom.

His business, HomeGrown Organics, offers garden design and consulting anywhere and everywhere.  On Vashon, he offers fine garden maintenance for clients and also manages installations of new garden spaces.

 

Things we focus on in our work:

 

Food Forests

Native Plantings

Rainwater Harvesting

Ponds & Water Features

Recycled Materials

Animal Systems

Artful Fences & Gates

Infrastructure

Outdoor Spaces

What We Do

 
 

Consultation & Coaching

Design

Installation

 
 
Some things seem around the garden on this crisp, sunny November morning. Viburnum trilobum (American Highbush Cranberry) has edible berries and is a beautiful, undemanding shrub. Blueberries offer great Fall foliage. Pineapple Guava (Feijoa) l
A very exciting project on Vashon Island. I’ll post the final pictures soon with more info! Stay tuned!
Hardy banana with Winter Hazel bush. The background hedge is Plum Yew with Forsythia. Lots of Choisya as well. This is our Entry Garden and was designed to evoke Guatemala City, where my lovely wife grew up.
Pruning a mature Osmanthus shrub. Left for years, this wonderful evergreen ends up looking like a dense blob. That’s nice if it’s a hedge plant at the back of a garden, but as a specimen in a more ornamental garden it is wonderful to open
Acer palmatum, Oemleria cerasiformis, Cornus sericea.
Good memories of this past year’s Flower & Garden Show! Really looking forward to creating a new garden display for the show in February 2025…. Hope to see you there! Last year’s display recreated our family’s home garde
“My rain garden is amazing! It is so lush and full, and it is bringing an already very close community of neighbors/friends even closer! We will be co-farming/using our herbs and fruits together, and are excited to see how we’ll be using them!”
— Cathy E.
 

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