Regenerative Design Group

Von Harvey is officially a worker-owner of RDG! 🎉

The person behind our websites, words, and social presence, Von brings a mix of creative range and technical fluency to her work. As our Communications Specialist, she shapes how RDG presents itself to the world—and now has an ownership stake in where we're headed.

Welcome to the co-op, Von! We're so glad you're part of shaping what's next.

[ : Selfie of a woman indoors, smiling, with purple hair and purple cat-eye glasses. Autumn foliage is visible through the window behind her.]

Last weekend we tabled at Greenfield's 16th annual Bee Fest, a local tradition celebrating these important pollinators.

If your organization is looking to invest in pollinator habitat, the MA Community Biodiversity Grants program is currently offering $20,000–$150,000 for projects that support biodiversity conservation — deadline June 24. We'd love to help you design something!

Fill out our contact form: https://www.regenerativedesigngroup.com/contact/

[ : 3-image carousel: 1. Fen Johanson and Nate Card at the RDG booth under a blue canopy tent, with a native bees display board and activity tables visible behind them. 2. A wider view of the booth: Laura and other RDG staff with visitors, including young children coloring at the green-draped table. 3. Close-up details from the coloring activity — an adult coloring in a bee illustration, and a child's hands over a creatively-colored bee on a flower.]

Fen and Nate will be tabling at Greenfield Bee Fest this weekend! Come say hi! We hear the event is BYOBee ;)

Spring site visits mean getting our hands in the soil! We were out at two different properties recently, observing the land and collecting soil samples for testing. Understanding a place is essential to planning and design decisions. (And Jono had to say hi to some chickens)

[ : 5-image carousel of recent site visit images: 1. Seva and a dog friend lifting soil with a shovel in a field 2. Close-up of the soil 3. Seva observing soil properties with her hands 4. A team at a site, including RDG's Laura Krok-Horton and Jono Neiger, making observations 5. Jono looks in on a chicken coop.]

Spencer Brook Farm in Concord, MA is holding a Soil Blocking Workshop on Saturday, May 2 at 1:00 pm!

Soil blocking is a fabulous way to eliminate plastics from our food production and soils.

More details and registration on their website

SOIL BLOCKING BASICS — Spencer Brook Farm Soil Blocking Basics WorkshopSpring 2026 Saturday May 2, 2026 at 1:00 pmTo ensure ample workspace and personalized instruction, each workshop is limited to a small working group so early registration is encouraged. Workshop DescriptionJoin us for a 2-hour, hands-on workshop focused on the practical....

Regenerative Design Group is hiring an Associate Landscape Designer. 🌿

This is a full-time role for someone with 3+ years of experience who's excited about ecological design, skilled in CAD and construction documentation, and ready to work collaboratively on meaningful projects. Worker-ownership eligibility after 2 years.

Applications close April 15, 2026.

Full job description and application here:
https://www.regenerativedesigngroup.com/now-hiring-associate-landscape-designer/

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Now Hiring: Associate Landscape Designer | Regenerative Design Group Please submit by April 15, 2026. Position Summary Regenerative Design Group (RDG) is seeking a production-focused Landscape Designer with a minimum of 3 years of professional experience. This full time team member will work directly with Associate + Senior Designers and Project Managers throughout e...

New Blog Post!

"Mapping What’s at Stake: RDG Develops New Soil Carbon Dataset for Massachusetts"

Soil holds more carbon than all of the trees in Massachusetts’ forests. Yet until recently, there was no reliable way to see how much carbon was stored in any given piece of land, or what a change in land use would cost or benefit in carbon terms.

RDG's SOCMA project created a tool planners and land managers can use to do just that.

https://www.regenerativedesigngroup.com/mapping-whats-at-stake-rdg-new-soil-carbon-dataset-ma/

Mapping What's at Stake: RDG Develops New Soil Carbon Dataset for Massachusetts | Regenerative Design Group Soil holds more carbon than all of the trees in Massachusetts’ forests. Yet until recently, planners and land managers didn’t have a reliable way to see how much carbon was stored in any given piece of land, or what a change in land use would cost or benefit in carbon terms. That’s the gap the...

RDG representing at the NOFA/Mass conference last Saturday!

Bas and Rachel presented "Beyond the Horizon: Taking Action for Healthy Soils," reflecting on the past, present, and future of the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Action Plan.

Grateful to NOFA/Mass for hosting and to everyone who joined the conversation!

We’re excited to be presenting at this year’s NOFA/Mass Winter Conference on Saturday, February 28, at UMass Amherst. The theme this year is Healthy Soils in Action!

Members of our team helped author the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Action Plan, and we’re honored to continue working alongside farmers, planners, designers, and advocates who are putting healthy soils principles into practice across the state.

Join Rachel Lindsay and Bas Gutwein for “Beyond the Horizon: Taking Action for Healthy Soils” from 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM in Campus Center room 165.

The session will reflect on the past, present, and future of the MA Healthy Soils Action Plan — including how it came together, what didn’t make it in, and what’s emerging now, from new soil carbon mapping to implementation tools for design and construction.

Registration is open!
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2026 NOFA/Mass Winter Conference Registration hosted by Whova 2026-02-28, Amherst, MA

“Low-maintenance” is one of the most common requests we hear from new site design clients. But what does “low-maintenance” actually mean?

In our latest blog post, Rachel Lindsay reflects on a six-year experiment in a small, street-side garden planted with mostly native, drought-tolerant species. Once established, the space requires only a few hours of care per year—but that care depends on plant knowledge, timing, and a willingness to let the landscape evolve.

The post also explores why maintenance can’t be measured on a single axis. Time is only part of the equation. So are skill, tools, seasonality, and even personal preference.

If you work in landscape design, planning, or maintenance, this is a useful reframing of how we talk about care.

Read the full post:

https://www.regenerativedesigngroup.com/myth-low-maintenance-landscape/

[ : Tall purple flower spikes rise from a lush street-side planting, with a butterfly perched on one stem. A red house with cream trim sits softly in the background.]

Myth of the Low-Maintenance Landscape - Regenerative Design Group In the survey we send to all new and prospective clients, one of the most frequently requested goals is a “low-maintenance landscape.” If all time spent tending a landscape were equal, that might be something we could quantify. But it isn’t. High and low are simply not very good descriptions f...