A love of beauty, native Colorado plants, and good design inspired Mark and Emily Maeda to found Tree of Life Landscapes in 1998. Their design aesthetic draws upon the landscapes that they have seen around them as Colorado natives.
An ethical imperative inspires this aesthetic as well: design with native and well-adapted plants that thrive year-round in Colorado’s extremes while staying attuned to water conservation. The result means sustainable landscape designs that are imbued with practicality and beauty.
We specialize in native, well-adapted plants and locally-sourced hardscapes. We follow the design principles of order, unity, and rhythm in all of our work; this brings your outdoor space into beauty and balance with graceful lines and satisfying contrasts.
All of our designs conserve water and promote native pollinators in your garden.
Our design process takes us from the ancient craft of hand-drafted sketches into the realm of state-of-the-art design software for 2D and 3D modeling. Our plans communicate the vision for your landscape, and we believe their beauty will help you grasp the potential for your space.
Because the classical virtues of truth, goodness, and beauty are indispensable to our work, they also inspire the ways we serve our clients. While every part of life is touched with ruin, our relational goals and interactions with clients aspire to embody these virtues to create positive experiences.
President of Tree of Life Landscapes
A native of Colorado, Mark grew up in the cleanest of towns, Hygiene, and enjoyed athletics of all kinds along with skiing and the outdoors as a child. He attended the University of Colorado majoring in finance and accounting. After moving to Phoenix to work for a major corporation, he and his wife decided to embrace the joys of building a small business. They returned to Colorado, and Tree of Life Landscapes was born.
Mark found great joy in creating beautiful spaces for his clients and running a business. After 20 years of running Tree of Life, his greatest passion as a business owner is to see his employees succeed and grow as individuals and to see his clients experience happiness in enjoying their outdoor spaces.
As a liver transplant recipient, he knows each day is a gift and looks forward to time in the mountains, climbing peaks, and sharing that joy with his seven children.
Vice President of Tree of Life Landscapes, Designer
A native Coloradan, Emily Maeda grew up outside of Boulder on her parent’s farm where she learned to love the beauty of Colorado’s natural environment. Her love of plants quickly grew with forays into herb and flower gardens she designed and installed, and continued in her work at an organic farm.
She pursued her education in piano performance at both the University of Colorado and Arizona State University, where she also took classes in landscape design.
After moving back from Arizona, she continued her love of piano, both teaching and performing, while at the same time pursuing design skills in landscape design. She worked with a landscape architect and founded Tree of Life Landscapes with her husband, Mark with a deep desire to work with native, well-adapted plants and bring good design to people.
She has seven children, whom she loves deeply, and continues to play and perform music, seeing congruence in the rhythm of music and the rhythm of good landscape design. In her free time she loves to cook, run, read poetry and literature, and sit in the sun on her front porch.
Senior Designer
Growing up in the rural South, Johnny began helping his parents and grandparents in the garden before he could walk. After earning a bachelor of arts, he married his Colorado sweetheart, Kirstin, and returned to the Arkansas Delta. He worked as Curator of an historic family garden and museum, built in the Greek Revival style in 1870. Eventually Johnny and Kirstin moved back to Colorado to pursue an opportunity in landscape design and to be closer to Kirstin’s family.
The beauty of nature has always moved and inspired Johnny: “From fishing the ancient bayous and oxbow lakes of the Arkansas Delta to big game hunting in the Rocky Mountains, I am continually struck with wonder. The beauty, mystery, and joy of nature speak deeply to me, like a song the universe can’t stop singing.”
Johnny’s favorite aspect of his job is bringing the feeling of nature into the spaces people live in and pass through every day.
Apart from work, Johnny enjoys spending time with the love of his life, Kirstin, and their four young children.
Project Manager
Born in Boulder, Colorado, John grew up on a farm just outside of the city and has always loved the Colorado outdoors and landscape.
After working first in law enforcement and then overseas with an NGO for many years, John eventually made his way back to Colorado and into landscaping through his experience in management and working with people.
Today, John is a project manager for construction and leads all residential maintenance operations and sales, working with each individual customer to create a maintenance program that suits their landscape needs.
Outside of work, John enjoys spending time with his wife Sheryl and their ten children, and (at last count) seven grandchildren. John also enjoys fishing, golfing, and gardening.