Evolving Landscapes: Designed to Nourish explores how landscape design can do more than shape beautiful spaces—it can feed us, connect us to place, and support healthier ecosystems.
This year’s conversation looks at the growing role of edible landscapes in residential, hospitality, and community settings, from kitchen gardens and orchards to native and climate-adapted plants that provide food for people and wildlife. Landscape designers and experts will discuss how beauty, function, seasonality, and sustainability can work together to create landscapes that are both productive and deeply connected to their surroundings.
Part of the annual Evolving Landscapes series, Designed to Nourish invites us to reconsider what we ask of the landscapes around us—and what becomes possible when they are designed not only to be admired, but to nourish.
Panelists:
- Andie Cochran, Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture ACLA
- Christian Macke, Principal and Landscape Architect, Christian Douglas Design
- James Munden, Partner, PLA, MFLA
Moderator:
- Heidi Gerpheide, Publisher, California Homes
JAMES MUNDEN
PARTNER, PLA
James Munden is a Partner at MFLA with 20+ years of experience in landscape architecture, urban design, and community development. He received his BA (Honors) degree and postgraduate diploma in landscape architecture from the University of Central England in Birmingham, U.K. James is a licensed landscape architect in the state of California.
Since 2010, James has been collaborating with Marta Fry on a diverse portfolio of projects in the Bay Area, Sonoma County, Napa, Monterey and Arizona. Work includes a variety of agricultural sites, hospitality, wineries, State Parks and residential estates.
James’s career began in the U.K. working three years on research & development projects that sparked his curiosity for innovative and sustainable design; before moving to London where he received his license as a landscape architect. His early upbringing in the countryside of the Southeast Coast of England, involved time spent working on well-established agricultural land and an early 1800’s walled garden on his parents property. Rural landscape continues to inspire his passion in protecting and restoring land through design.
Being a lead in award winning projects, James expresses an importance in identifying the diverse relationships people have with their environment. Acknowledging previous land use, physically and culturally, James creates high quality designs that are artistic, relevant, and environmentally responsible. Outside the studio, James is getting his hands dirty in his own garden in Healdsburg.