Imagine having yard-to-table fresh food, forever.
Look outside at low-maintenance, beautiful, natural habitat.
What could a home ecosystem do for you?
Enter your address below to see if we work in your area yet, or keep reading to find out more.
Did you know 13 times the energy you get from grocery store food is wasted in the industrial process to get it to you?
This can't last.
Thrive Lot uses the forgotten art of companion planting native, edible plants that produce the maximum food with minimum effort, whether you eat it or not.
Think nothing grows in your yard?
Or it costs $100 to get a few ugly tomatoes from gardening.
You don't know dirt. Literally.
Our local Eco Pros™ can set up an edible ecosystem just for you, even if you only have a small space.
Bet you didn't know–a single mulberry tree produces 600lb of beyond organic berries every year (a $12,000 value!) with no maintenance required.
We're talking about getting thousands of pounds of the freshest, beyond organic food on earth, every year.
And you don't need to know how to grow or care for it.
We do ALL the work for you.
What We Do
Did you know there are evergreen plants that never need mowing that can replace your lawn?
We'll create a park-like setting for your home that makes your yard a lush oasis, rarely or never needs mowing, and keeps that backyard green space for the pups or kids–or adults–to run and play in the sun.
Bonus: this will surround you with blooms, butterflies, and beautiful birds, so you feel good about it too!
Mowing is a waste.
But "green carpet" areas outside are nice.
Our local Eco Pros™ can set up a low-maintenance ecosystem just for you, even if you only have a small space.
Bet you didn't know that lush, mature, diverse landscape plantings increase property value up to 20%! Not to mention the $$$ you'll save on mowing...
Isn't it time you remodel your old lawn to something smarter?
We do ALL the work for you.
What We Do
What about pests, deer, HOAs, bad soil, tiny spaces and totalitarian governments?
Isn't this impossible for me on my lot?
Nope. We've seen it all.
Our local Eco Pros™ work with nature, using ecological design to make these problems (and many more) a walk in the ecological park.
Bring it on!
We do ALL the work for you.
What We Do
Thrive Lot is an edible, ecological landscaping company.
We have a national network of local plant and soil nerds we call Eco Pros™
Specific to each site, we install and maintain these features:
This is the ultimate beneficial ecosystem. We densely layer canopy trees, sub-canopy smaller trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, ground covers, vines, and rooting plants to maximize productivity and beauty while minimizing maintenance and effort. This is maximum biodiversity, and maximum food and/or habitat depending on your goals.
Get a Forest Garden Now
Just like forest gardens but designed for smaller spaces, urban forest gardens typically top out with small trees like apple trees or serviceberry and often we'll train those with espalier or coppacing techniques to make them more like a shrub. Dense biodiversity, habitat, and food with minimal maintenance and maximum lushness.
Biodiverse lower height, native plantings including shrubs, herbaceous plants, and ground covers. These can replace a yard with abundant food and/or habitat for bees and birds, depending on your goals. In dry or wet climates these can be used to store rainwater or prevent flooding and improve property values with lush beauty.
Get a Native Meadow Now
This is a low-cost option with soil building and sparse plantings of native plants that will fill in over time and return a yard to it's natural, ecologically beneficial state. This includes both plugs and seed plantings of native and beneficial plants.
We build beautiful raised bed gardens for easy, convenient growing and harvesting. These make for a stunning addition to any property and can be designed in a variety of materials with options for height and materials used in paths between. These can be irrigated, caged for wildlife protection, and we can maintain and replant them year-round.
Get Custom Raised Beds Now
A low cost way to get massive annual food production of your favorite veggies. Don't worry if your soil is no good, climate too harsh, or sunlight too blocked. We can fix almost all of that almost all the time. The process prefers no-till methods of radical soil building and planting directly into the new, lush soil. We can help with crop rotation and seasonal replanting.
Get an In-ground Garden Now
Fully integrated homesteads for tiny urban lots to large rural farms. We'll master plan water capture, food production, chickens, bees, compost, biogas, and storage. Even tiny lots can find a measure of self-sufficiency that will surprise most people!
Start Your Homestead Now
We can create a permanent and beautiful water source on your property. Not some showy plastic koi pond, but a real ecosystem with critical native plants that protect frogs and other important ecological species, as well as adding a water source for all living things on and around your property.
Get a Pond Now
Upgrade your native ecosystem with a water feature, nesting sites for birds, bees, frogs, bats, and rabbits, and focused food areas just for wildlife. We'll make the application with the NWF and proudly display your sign supporting wildlife!
Bird-focused plantings and a bird bath and bird houses for both songbirds and ecologically critical predatory birds. Besides being a good thing to do, studies have shown that seeing a diversity of birds increases happiness as much as a 10% pay raise!
Besides just focusing areas of planting on pollinators, we'll establish and maintain nesting sites for native North American solitary bees that are the best pollinators and the only bees native to North America. We can even bring in bee pupae to jumpstart the local population and help save the bees! Of course, butterfly focused plants like Milkweed are a must.
Add Pollinator Habitat
We'll build a multi-tier compost station to take on all your food scraps and landscape cuttings and break those down into food for your plants, closing the loop on a virtuous cycle that continually deepens soil for healthier plants, heartier yields, better flavor in fruits and veggies, and a healthier you. This also keeps damaging methane emissions out of landfills!
Add a Compost Station
We can install and maintain a home biogas system to take your sustainability and resilience to the next level. Biogas systems can digest food scraps and animal (and even human) waste that cannot be composted and turn it into free cooking fuel (2-burner cookstove included) and liquid fertilizer to keep building your soil.
Our EcoSets™ all include natural rainwater slowing and storing by deep mulching and moving earth to slow runoff as needed, but adding rain barrels or cisterns can dramatically increase your sustainability and provide the best source of chlorine-free water for your garden irrigation. Chlorine from tapwater kills beneficial soil microbes and burns plant roots, so this is a must for serious gardens.
Add Rainwater Harvesting
Beyond simply coops, we can set you up for poultry success with mobile or fixed coops, chicken runs, watering systems, and even black soldier fly larvae production for producing high-quality chicken feed right on your property and saving money to get the freshest eggs possible.
Add Chickens
Want the most local honey? It comes from your backyard! We can install and maintain 3 or more hives on your property entirely for you, or set you up for success and train you on the maintenance over time. Long-term, the investment pays off with improved health and resilience.
Add Bees
From kits of various materials to complete custom builds, we can build your greenhouse and set it up for year round food production regardless of climate. Fresh, home-grown tomatoes in January in Maine are now possible for you.
Add a Greenhouse
Patios, paths, and driveways are all included in this one-stop shop. Whether it's concrete or flagstone, we'll bring you the skilled team to create the outdoor oasis of your dreams along with all the fixin's.
Add Hardscapes
We install custom and kit pergolas to provide shade and a growing trellis outdoors. The best eco-pergola is when we grow vining fruits over the pergola, so you have grapes, muscadines and kiwis hanging on your shaded patio in summer, but open sky and warm sun shining through the vines in winter.
Add a Pergola%20Ladies%20working%201%20(photo%20by%20Sheck.jpeg)
No one expects you to know how to use all this. Everyone respects that your may want to learn. Our Eco Pros™ can create a custom coaching and consulting program for you to help you make the most of your property all on your own, if that's what you're looking for.
You want:
...with no effort or knowledge required, using a trustworthy, local business.
Schedule a free estimate call below with your local Eco Pro.
Act NOW
Availability is Extremely Limited
Click below to get started.
Check Availability for Free EstimateThe lawn care industry has become a malignant blight on our natural inheritance, poisoning our air, water and soil, and replacing native, beneficial plants with invasive turf grasses.
of lawn pesticides linked to cancer
gal. of fuel spilled annually from lawn equipment
species dominate "traditional" landscaping
US acres are mowed lawns
We're a few passionate entrepreneurs supporting an ever growing network of local ecological designers, installers and stewards with the skills to make your Lot Thrive.
Our mission is to change human land use to work with nature, for our benefit and the benefit of all living things.
We want y'all surrounded by trees, bees, blooms and clean air.
And we want that for our kids.
We're a Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to this goal, and we donate 10% of all our profit to nonprofit projects establishing forest gardens for the benefit of all.
Our values are everything to us. We are a passionate group working toward a future we want to live in. These pillars are our North Star guiding us there.
Connect people with the natural ecosystems that support life.
Cultivate beautiful, biodiverse habitats and landscapes that provide a resilient environment.
Eliminate poisonous chemicals from the air, water, soil, and habitat.
Provide flexible, living wage jobs with purpose.
Our values are everything to us. We are a passionate group working toward a future we want to live in. These pillars are our North Star guiding us there.
Local to you
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Ecological expertise
Full service:
install, design, maintain
Cheap & low quality
Sustainable systems: compost, water harvesting, chickens, etc.
Dedicated customer service
Transparent pricing
Chemical free, beyond organic
Edible garden expertise
Biodiverse & native plants
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We want every dollar to have it's maximum impact–meaning more biodiverse plants, healthy soil, and clean food for all living things.
That's our mission, after all.
Because of that, we've engineered our process to give you the best bang for your buck, no matter what.
Our marketing, sales, technology and customer support teams serve a national group of local small businesses.
Instead of a small business needing to pay $40k+ for any one of these roles, they get that support for free from us, passing on the savings to you.
Because we provide all these business support services to our Eco Pros™, they can focus on what they do best, building healthy soil, sourcing incredible plants, and putting the right plant in the right place for Thriving ecosystems.
No one tree or plant can do it all, no local business should have to!
Most people have horrible experiences with most contractors because of the "feast or famine" problem. If a contractor is working, they're not picking up the phone for new business. Once work is done, they're scrambling and desperate, underquoting and setting projects up for failure.
We've fixed it for our providers.
Most contractors have to overload themselves to achieve sustainable income, because of the feast or famine problem. That means that although they're telling you they'll be there on Monday, they're also telling 4 other people the same thing. Chances are you won't be happy.
We coordinate our providers' schedules to solve this.
This is not including the RETURN ON INVESTMENT for your ecosystem.
Increased property value.
Decreased maintenance compared to mowing, blowing, and trimming.
Long-term, valuable organic produce.
Increased life expectancy and health because of all the above.
Win-Win-Win.
Ensuring our customers' vision for their property comes to life is our #1 priority. That, and making a healthier planet. They're the same, really...
Sam was delighted at how she was able to transform her small backyard patio into a thriving garden in a limited amount of space. Her tiny space now contains many plants that produce food, including herbs, fruit trees, vegetables, and mushrooms.
"My boring little back patio is now an enchanting and abundant garden complete with herbs, fruit, veggies and even mushrooms! All in about 400sf of space. Thank you Thrive Lot and Doug!”
Anastassia came to Thrive Lot with a big vision for creating a beautiful, diverse, and productive foodscape. We replaced her lawn with native plants and installed a fruit forest featuring mature Pineapple Guavas and Cherry Trees. Anastassia now shares her food abundance with neighbors while feeding bees and butterflies with healthy, pesticide-free plants.
“My backyard now has not only the beautiful aesthetic look I wanted, but also herbs, veggies, bees, birds and butterflies! Finding Thrive Lot and Mike was perfect, because they care about the planet and living things just like I do and are careful to always support wildlife and nature with no chemicals.”
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Doug bought a 2-acre property in rural Ohio and wanted to create a habitat that would attract a variety of wildlife, feed birds and butterflies, and produce an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Throughout the design process he made it clear that a pond, forest garden, pollinator habitat, and fire pit were top priorities. As you can see from the photos, he got exactly what he wanted.
“The guys that Thrive Lot contracted with in Ohio are AMAZING! They're polite, knowledgeable and incredibly hard working! Everything is coming together nicely.... and when they're done they'll be taking a drone photograph and walk me through the long-term care and maintenance of my amazing food-producing back yard!”
Kristi had tried gardening in her bare, open backyard without success. As a working professional with a love of fresh veggies, she was thrilled when Thrive Lot redesigned her space with a bountiful raised bed layout, outdoor couch and table, potting work bench, blackberry run, and espaliered fruit trees all surrounded by a native pollinator garden protected by a tasteful fence.
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Paula's DIY orchard was dying, and she had a vision for so much more. Over the course of 3 years and with ongoing maintenance and development, Thrive Lot has established a thriving garden park, enormous orchard, deer fencing, rainwater harvesting and irrigation over 2 acres of her 10-acre mini farm, setting her up for an abundance of food production and wildlife viewing without fear of damage to crops.
"We’ll have more fruit, nuts and berries in the next few years than the local grocery might! I’m looking forward to continuing to grow my food production on this beautiful land!”
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Alizeh was tired of her steep back yard and had tried gardening there without success. Thrive Lot built a tiered garden bed system, revitalized the back patio, and added a jasmine trellis to remind Alizeh of her loving grandmother.
Ellen loves birds, bees and butterflies and was tired of living on a patch of non-native grass that needs mowing and doesn't feed anything. So, Thrive Lot installed an abundant native garden that immediately attracted local pollinators and wildlife. An intolerant neighbor sued, and Thrive Lot provided the expert witness to win the case, setting a strong precedent in Alabama for native plants in city yards!
“I love my yard! Every month there is something new and interesting blooming, fruiting or changing and there are a lot more bees and birds.”
"All the neighbors love it. As do we. We get so many compliments. Would be happy to speak with anyone and give you all a positive review. Loretta was amazing."
Molly wanted her front yard to be a space for pollinators and to serve as a highly functional area without grass. Through the GRIP program in Denver, Molly received a rebate for converting her front yard into a water-wise and beautiful landscape that supports the wildlife around her.
"Dan was professional and informative. I loved the designs for the front yard and the help with the GRIP rebate program."
After Lisa and Ed finished renovating their home, they knew they wanted a relaxing, zen garden space for enjoying time at home and growing flowers, food, and herbs while seeing pollinators and wildlife. We did extensive hardscaping work to create the foundation for the space and are currently adding more plantings on this project.
"Our yard is becoming a relaxing eco-paradise! We're so grateful to have found Thrive Lot for this process. They're prompt, transparent, and do quality work on time and budget with rare skills in soil and plant composition."
Beth and Keith wanted to transform the outdoor space of their historical Boston home into an ecological and edible paradise with plenty of functional space for their kids to play and discover nature. We took a phased approach to transforming the turf and invasive landscape into edbile beds, a trellis, and pollinator habitat with a no-mow yard.
"It has been phenomenal to see the tremendous diversity of pollinators now coming to my beautiful garden. Hard to believe how much a difference this transformation has made in only a few months. I love strolling in my garden and eating blueberries while I watch the bees. Neighbors have called my garden 'magical' and thanked me for the new view they’re enjoying too!"
Ann and George had a garden that had fallen into disrepair. They worked with us to create a patio space with multiple garden beds sustained by a professional cistern for rainwater capture and surrounded by beautiful native and pollinator friendly plantings.
Mary and her family moved out of the city during COVID and wanted to return their property back to nature in a beautiful way. They wanted edible design and water management that accounts for the massive amount of wildlife in the area. We established a forest garden and native, low-maintenance lawn area complete with a play area and see-saw for the kids.
“We were so happy to have professional help to transform our overgrown property into a continually more abundant and productive ecosystem! Thank you Thrive Lot and Brandon!”
Harry is an engineer who loves hydroponics, but wanted a faster way to naturally create more food on his property while reducing maintenance and beautifying the property. We installed a pond and natural water management with swales to support a massively abundant food forest complete with garden, fruit trees, and native pollinator habitat.
"We had Thrive Lot install a food forest in our yard. We added a pond as well. We are very pleased and very excited. We have blueberry hill which is one area with a variety of blueberry plants. We have a variety of trees. The pond really makes the back yard look great and THERE IS SO MUCH FOOD."
Melissa wanted a unique space in her backyard to enjoy beautiful days outdoors surrounded by food bearing plants and nature. We designed and installed a custom, 4-bed planter system around a stone patio, and filled it with a forest garden. We also added a grapevine and trellis with surrounding herb and pollinator garden adjacent to the back deck.
We maintain a 5-star average across all the places people review us online.
If you can't leave a 5-star review after working with us, let us know and we'll make it right.
Anything less than 5 stars is a failure.
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Thrive Lot is having a direct impact on helping our environment, from bees to birds to butterflies. Check out what we've accomplished so far.
ft² of yard transformed
trees & plants installed
gal of water conserved
lbs of CO₂ sequestered
Schedule a free estimate call below with your local Eco Pro.
Act NOW
Availability is Extremely Limited
Click below to get started.
Check Availability for Free EstimateOur local Eco Pros™ have seen worse than your yard.
Pests, wildlife, bad soil, NO soil, full shade, steep grade, too hot, too cold––whatever.
Nature is the key.
We mimic thousands of years of natural forest development by stacking organic compounds to build soil and planting hardy, localized cultivars that work together to create a thriving ecosystem.
It depends on your goals.
Food, low-maintenance, beauty, habitat, or all the above?
We've designed our process to quickly and easily accomplish your goals to the maximum possible with your lot and your budget.
Our local Eco Pros™ follow this process to quickly assess your property and build a planting plan.
We then source the plants, install, and maintain them all for you!
We employ 2 basic strategies when dealing with aggressive wildlife pressure.
1. Feed the starving wildlife with native food planted away from your food
2. Put fences and cages around tender, human food plots
Everyone, everywhere deals with this. It's no biggie.
This ain't your grandma's garden.
Permaculture forest gardens feed families of 4 on quarter-acre plots in the desert with just a half day of work per week.
Native, food-bearing trees, shrubs, and perennials pay dividends for life with a small investment up front and almost no maintenance.
Of course, we'll grow tomatoes and broccoli too if you want, we're doing all the work for you after all.
But there are many ecological strategies we employ to maximize outcomes with minimal investment.
Some are, but not the ones we grow.
We work with landscape architects where needed to create beauty as well as bounty.
You should have it all, and eat it too!
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We only accept a tiny fraction of the applicants to become Eco Pros™, and we vet each one to the highest standards.
Every single Eco Pro™:
We know construction costs typically tend to get out of hand, and that's no fun.
That's why we designed our process for transparent pricing from the very beginning.
We'll get you as close to your goals as possible within any budget, and we stick to our quotes.
Our goal is that over time, your investment creates enormous returns from increased property value, food production, and better health.
We will!
Stewardship of your ecosystem is our blueberry jam.
From visiting once per year to visiting twice per week, we can tailor a maintenance program, or stewardship as we call it, to your needs and budget.
We can even teach you over time to take over the aspects of garden labor that you love, and leave the rest to us.
We're always available if you have a problem or question too!
We've got you covered.
As ecosystems grow and evolve some plants will naturally replace others.
For trees and shrubs that are a permanent part of your design, we'll replace them free of charge up to 3 years after install if you're on our recommended stewardship plan.
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Local first.
We don't restrict our Eco Pros™ on plant sourcing.
They know the best local and regional sources, and oftentimes they are propagating and growing rare cultivars themselves for the purpose.
Our priority for plant sourcing is always 1) hyper-local, 2) regional and as a last resort 3) mail-order.
If we have to source from farther away, younger plants do better adapting.
We get it, this is a big and very personal investment.
You have to live in it, after all.
That's why our process starts with you and flows through rigorous design and feedback to adapt to changing needs and understanding along the way.
We also like to start small with small phases and build on them, just like nature does.
Perfect. We do it all.
That's right, we're a one-stop shop for all your outdoor construction needs.
We'll source the local team to handle everything from tree removal to patio construction, pergolas, greenhouses, irrigation, and even beekeeping.
No one else does that.
Composting, pruning, chickens, bees, water harvesting, black soldier fly larvae production, propagation, seed saving, canning, harvesting–OH MY!
It can be overwhelming.
That's why we're here for the long haul.
We help with coaching, consulting, and just rolling up our sleeves and doing it for you.
Whether you just want some no-maintenance plantings, or you want a full-blown homestead, we're here to help you succeed and connect you with the expertise you need.
This should be fun and filled with joy!
That depends on your project, property and budget.
Some folks want it all quickly and are willing to make the larger investment to install more mature trees, engineered soils, and be up and growing in one season.
Others want to take it slow, save money, and steward nature over time into their dream ecosystem.
Either way, we've got you covered.
That's why we'll discuss pricing and process up front to make sure we're on the same page.
We'll balance timeline and budget to get you to your Goldilocks zone––just right!
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is today.
The process takes time, but with our Eco Pros™ you can be up and growing within days or weeks, depending on demand and your budget.
The most important thing is to start now. Even if it's small.
A mighty oak grows from the smallest acorn.
We are local!
We work exclusively with local small businesses.
Sure, you can hire Joe Blow to try this, but what happens when he runs off with the money, or can't perform to expectations?
With Thrive Lot, you can trust the power of our whole network to get your project done right.
We can pull multiple providers to accomplish your project, and we represent you throughout the entire journey.
Plus, our Project Advocate team always picks up the phone and answers emails. We're here for you and always keep the communication flowing.
How many contractors do you know that do that?
Our providers are experienced in installing in your local area, remember?
They have the licenses, permits, insurance, and knowledge to complete your project safely and legally.
We always call before we dig, just like you should!
Never with chemicals.
There are several eco-friendly processes we employ, depending on your timeline and budget.
With longer timelines and shorter budgets, we'll often employ solarization, the process of covering lawns with landscaping fabric for 6-8 weeks to let the sun kill grass and germinate and kill weed seeds.
With shorter timelines, we'll dig, burn, or otherwise smother out what needs replacing, depending on the property and species we're dealing with.
You can try! Our experience is that "it's only cheaper today."
We guarantee you can find a cheaper estimate. Our goal isn't to be cheap, it's to do quality work we can stand behind for years to come.
The cheap guys and gals don't have the network, process, and team to back it up we do.
If budget is a concern, let's make a plan to get you the biggest bang for your buck, with quality you can count on.
The worst thing you can do is waste any of your budget and have to bring us in to fix cheap work.
All good! The key is understanding requirements and creating a beautiful design to meet them.
We work with HOAs and in the strictest cities.
Blueberries make the most beautiful landscaping bushes, and no one will know it's part of an edible garden!
There's always a way to create an ecosystem that looks beautiful and makes the neighbors jealous!
If you've got a little space and a little sun, we can plant a lot.
Hanging baskets, espaliered fruit trees, hardy kiwi vines over pergolas on porches, even mushroom logs can fit anywhere.
We do patio planters of all shapes and sizes.
Of course! Our process ensures it.
In fact, children who are regularly exposed to natural areas are 55% less likely to have social and psychological disorders.
On our discovery call, we'll talk about the areas you want pets and children playing and we'll make sure the plants are safe for them.
It depends!
Typical budgets fall into one of these two categories.
Best for small projects with low complexity.
A few raised beds?
A compost station?
Quick and simple.
Suited for large, complex property transformations.
A detailed design ensures alignment before work begins.
Schedule a free estimate call below with your local Eco Pro.
Act NOW
Availability is Extremely Limited
Click below to get started.
Check Availability for Free Estimate
