About YLS

What do we do?

YLS provides creative solutions to your landscape needs. We specialize in challenging and unusual single family and multi-family residential, public, commercial, and industrial landscape architectural design projects. We also do construction, planting, and maintenance coordination for a selected number of our design projects. Since 1964 Tom has focused on creating environmentally sensitive and economically efficient landscape projects using natural, recycled, and low maintenance materials and techniques; colorful and eye catching multi-seasonal effects, and low water use techniques (Xeriscape).

What services do we provide?

YLS provides conceptual master and area landscape designs; sketch plans; cost estimates and phasing schedules; detail design plans, sections, and elevations; construction drawings and bid documents; as well as project coordination and on-site and supplier inspections. You have the option to complete your project as a do-it-yourselfer, with your own landscape contractors, select from YLS’ list of successful landscape contractors, or have YLS coordinate and/or inspect specific phases or your entire landscape project. To learn more about our landscape architectural services and our design process, visit our web site.

Our mission is to help you to see, experience, create, and enjoy the wonderful landscape world around YOU!

Tom’s career as a landscape architect: Since receiving his degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois in June, 1964, Tom has been involved in many single family residential projects from detail designs for small front entrance areas, patios and decks, and waterfalls, to a master landscape plan for a 70+ acre ranch near Aspen, CO. As a student landscape architect in the summers of 1961,62, and 63 he worked on several large scale public projects with the National Park Service, including Glen Canyon National Recreation Area at Lake Powell in northern Arizona; Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon National Parks and Rainbow Bridge, Capitol Reef, and Cedar Breaks National Monuments in Utah. In 1964 he began his professional career with the Illinois Division of Highways in southern Illinois designing landscapes for state and interstate highways and rest areas. He was Campus Landscape Architect from 1967-71 for the new campus at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIU-E) in southwestern Illinois. During his early career in the Midwest he was a consultant on subdivisions, commercial and industrial buildings and parks, and public and private schools and public parks in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

YLS’ award winning projects: Several of our projects have won awards; have been featured in newspapers, magazines, and on TV; and have been selected for various garden tours:

McClain/Steele Residence at in Washington Park in Denver was selected by the Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (CCASLA) for the 2001 Summer Garden Tour.

Rocky Mt. High Outdoor Cafe feature garden at the 2000 Colorado Garden & Home Show won an Award of Excellence.

McDonald Residence in Wildcat Ridge in Douglas County was selected for the Denver Water Xeriscape Honor Roll in January 2000.

Reed Residence in Highlands Ranch won a Xeriscape Colorado award in 1997

Cottonwood Water & Sanitation District's Phase 1 project near Parker, CO won a Community Development award from Xeriscape, Colorado in November 1996.

Matthews/Greer Residence in Washington Park in Denver won awards from Xeriscape, Colorado in November 1996 and the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) in February 1997, and was also selected for the Denver Water Xeriscape Honor Roll in February 1997 and the CCASLA 2000 Summer Garden Tour.

Vial/Dawson Residence in southeast Denver won awards from Xeriscape, Colorado in November 1996 and the ALCC in February 1997, and was featured in the Better Homes & Gardens Summer 1997 issue, was featured on KUSA Channel 9 News in 1996, and was on the Denver Water Xeriscape Garden Tour in 1995.

Vellman Residence in Deer Creek Canyon, and the Walnut Hill General Improvement District's Phase 1 project on Arapahoe Road were featured in the Xeriscape, Colorado WaterWise newspaper in 1996.

White Residence in Aspen and the Hunter Residence in Englewood were ALCC award winners in 1992.

White Residence in Castle Pines was a ALCC Grand Prize winner in 1989 and was on the CCASLA 1989 Summer Garden Tour.

Newton Residence in Golden was a Xeriscape Yard Contest winner in 1986.

Wunderlich Residence in Washington Park in Denver was on the CCASLA 1988 Summer Garden Tour, was a Xeriscape Yard Contest winner in 1986, and was featured in the Rocky Mt. News in 1985.

Tom’s books & articles: A book Tom co-authored, Xeriscape Gardening - Water Conservation for the American Landscape, was released by Macmillan Publishing Co in July 1992. The book, as well as many of his lectures, courses, and workshops, focuses on the seven fundamentals of Xeriscaping and is intended for the do-it-yourselfer. Tom has written a series of articles on landscape architecture and related topics such as home landscaping and Xeriscaping that were published in the Douglas Country News-Press in 1983-84 in a regular column entitled "Tom's Landscape Hints". He has also written several articles that have appeared in the Denver Post; Rocky Mt. Home Builder Magazine; Colorado Homes & Lifestyles Magazine; Colorado Green Magazine; WaterWise, Xeriscape, Colorado!'s newspaper; and the 2000 Denver Home Improvement Directory. He is currently working on his second book/CD ROM tentatively titled Common $en$e Landscaping on budgeting, costing, valuing, and financing of landscape projects. He was on the editorial committee for the new Xeriscape Plant Guide published by Denver Water and Xeriscape, Colorado in 1996, and was president for Xeriscape, Colorado! in 1995.

Tom’s career as an instructor & lecturer: Tom has taught over 350 landscape architectural, landscape horticulture, home landscaping, Xeriscaping, and home gardening courses, seminars, and workshops for several institutions in the west and mid-west. At Arapahoe Community College - Community Education Program he teaches an eight week home landscaping course entitled "Do-it-with-Help - Home Landscaping" and ½ day Saturday workshops on Getting Started with Your Landscape Design, Water Conservation Through Creative Landscaping - Xeriscaping, The Pleasures of Water Features, How to Plan and Build Special Garden Features, and Plant Selection & Planting Design, and Maintenance of Your Landscape - A Laid-Back Approach. He also does several lectures, courses, and workshops throughout the Rocky Mt. region.

In 1969-70, while at SIU-E, Tom taught a masters level course entitled "Environmental Aspects of Urban Planning". From 1971-73 he was an instructor in the Landscape Horticulture program at Danville Junior (now Area Community) College in his hometown of Danville, Illinois. He taught adult education home landscaping courses for three different institutions in Columbus, IN from 1973-82. From 1985-92 he was an instructor for 7 ½ years and department head for 5 ½ of those years in the Landscape Architecture Technology program at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, CO. In the fall of 1997 he taught a landscape estimating and business practices course in the Landscape Horticulture program at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, CO. Tom taught a week long course at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY in the summer of 1999 entitled "Outdoor Landscape Experiences - Water Conservation through Creative Landscaping".

For the past several years Tom has given several lectures each year for the Colorado Federation of Garden Clubs' Landscape Design Study Program in Denver. In 1998 he wrote the chapter entitled "Evaluating Landscape Designs of Residential, Public, and Business Property" for the National Council of State Garden Clubs’ book, Stewards of the Land. He was a tour guide in downtown Denver and at Vail’s Betty Ford Botanic Garden for the National Council’s annual convention in Denver in June 1998. In November 1999 he lectured on Evaluating Landscape Designs and Xeriscape at the Garden Clubs of Illinois Landscape Design Study Program at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois.

Tom also offers a variety of programs to garden clubs and civic and community organizations. He also gives lectures on Xeriscape and on landscape architecture as a professional career to elementary, high schools, and vocational programs.


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