Cultivating Collaboration
Finding industry longevity through creative partnerships, construction know-how, and ongoing care
by Brian Libby
“I think our niche starts with project management and our dedication to project outcomes. Dan and I both have extensive backgrounds in landscape construction. Clients know we will give their project our full attention and see that it gets built.”
–Mark Spencer, Co-Owner, Native Landscapes
In central Idaho, with natural wonders from the skiers’ paradise at Sun Valley Resort to the majestic Sawtooth National Forest, you’ll also find a landscape company with diverse services and skillsets: Ketchum, Idaho’s Native Landscapes.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, the company’s success is built on collaboration, experience, and expertise. Co-owners Mark Spencer and Dan Hoffman take pride in working with landscape architects, architecture firms, and general contractors to bring clients’ dreams to fruition, creating landscapes woven seamlessly into their surroundings.
“I think our niche starts with project management and our dedication to project outcomes,” Spencer says. “Dan and I both have extensive backgrounds in landscape construction. Clients know we will give their project our full attention and see that it gets built.” Indeed, between them, Spencer and Hoffman offer a combined 54 years of experience in the industry.
Knowledge & Culture
Founded in 1985, Native Landscapes’ staff draw from deep knowledge of plant material and local ecology. “We’ve developed our own plant sources, our own growers,” Spencer says, “and we really work very hard to bring that part of the project in as a success.” At the same time, Native Landscapes approaches each project holistically, combining their (pardon the pun) deep-rooted passion for horticulture with a love of building, able to create hardscapes and rocky forms to complement the flowers, shrubs, and trees.
Native Landscapes also provides full-service maintenance services, a hallmark of the firm’s commitment to long-term relationships. “It’s common for us to establish a landscape and then just continue taking care of it,” Spencer explains. “When someone brings us a project, we look at that as a years-long process of accomplishing the vision for the design.”
Native Landscape’s longevity in central Idaho also draws from its thriving company culture and low turnover. There’s Freddy Paucar, with the company for the past 15 years, whom Spencer calls “just a master hardscape installer—a legend here in the valley.” There’s Fidel Camargo, who has over 25 years of experience. Then there’s Jose Fernando Orozco and Daniel Paz, each with over two decades’ in the business, who in 2017 came with co-owner Dan Hoffman from his previous job to join the Native Landscapes family. “They’re just incredible craftsmen,” Hoffman says. In a business climate where other companies try to lure experienced employees, Spencer and Hoffman work hard to assure their staff are happy where they are.
“Our depth of construction knowledge really helps us understand the context: what hardscape materials or natural stone will work in a certain situation, or what perennials will survive in different microclimates within our valley.”
–Mark Spencer, Co-Owner, Native Landscapes
“It can take two years to get these properties established successfully. That’s where the handoff between our installation crews and our maintenance crews is so important to overall success.”
–Dan Hoffman, Co-Owner, Native Landscapes
Longevity Through Collaboration
Native Landscapes often acts as a guardian of design intent. Its portfolio includes collaborations with noted local landscape architects including BYLA, Landwork Studio, Eggers Associates, and Gardenspace Design, as well as architecture firms like Seattle’s Olson Kundig and Ketchum’s Scape Design Studio. Often there is an inherent conflict between a landscape designer and installer. Because this company bridges design and construction, Native Landscapes can help implement what a landscape architect creates or, if a plant material or hardscape-material design choice becomes problematic, find an appropriate solution.
“Our depth of construction knowledge really helps us understand the context: what hardscape materials or natural stone will work in a certain situation, or what perennials will survive in different microclimates within our valley,” Spencer says.
Resilience has become a critical factor in landscape design. Today, insurance policies increasingly require a number of measures to mitigate wildfire and protect from drought. In this region, water has also become more costly, with homeowners required to follow strict guidelines. Hoffman and Spencer say drought-tolerant plants and drip irrigation have become regular elements of what Native Landscapes offers.
In Progress
Two residential landscape commissions currently underway demonstrate the firm’s capability and partnerships.
The Old Dollar Road project, a collaboration with Ketchum-based landscape architecture firm BYLA and general contractor Dennis Kavanaugh Construction, both frequent partners, is a custom craftsman-style home with views of Bald Mountain and Sun Valley Lake. “It’s really a remarkable project, with so many great details,” Hoffman says. “The landscape has boulder walls, stone steps and fire pit, a hot tub, and a water feature—it sits right there on the pond. The challenge here is to make the landscape feel part of the riparian zone between their property and the Sun Valley pond.”
Nearby, the East Lake project by architect Gretchen Wagner occupies a contemporary suburban setting, enlivened with fountains at the entrance and back patio. A collaboration with landscape architect BYLA and general contractor Conrad Brothers, it speaks to the breadth of Native Landscapes’ capability: a firm comfortable working up in the mountains amidst more secluded natural settings, or adding ambiance and flexibility to more centrally located residential locales. “We try not to pigeonhole ourselves,” Hoffman says. “It all depends on the client’s taste and the site. In a lot of cases, this may be the biggest building project of their lives, and it’s a privilege to help make their house a true home.”
On the Boards
Two upcoming Native Landscapes projects emphasize native restoration. Lane Ranch North, a partnership with landscape architect BYLA and contractor Lee Gilman Builders, occupies a mountainous site with views of the Wood River Valley and Bald Mountain. “It’s two acres of landscaping—some large boulder retaining walls, a water feature—just a really impressive project,” Hoffman says.
White Clouds, a collaboration with landscape architect Eggers Associates and contractor Hall Brown, is built into a mountainside. “It has sand-set natural stone patios, and boulder retention, with challenging access issues around the site and limited equipment access, but it speaks to the technicalities of these projects that we’re working on: a challenge we embrace,” Hoffman says. “Thankfully we’ve developed a strong relationship with these firms, doing a number of their projects in the last two or three years.”
For both projects, Native Landscapes will be there not just through the project’s completion, but also for ongoing maintenance. “If the best practices are not followed through and the maintenance efforts aren’t made to establish that landscape, it can definitely flop,” Hoffman adds. “It can take two years to get these properties established successfully. That’s where the handoff between our installation crews and our maintenance crews is so important to overall success.”
