 About
Us: Giving Wings to The Yard Fairy
Hi! My name is Diane Downey and I'm so glad you stopped
by my website. I'm a licensed landscape contractor operating in the San
Diego area of California.
I own The Yard Fairy Inc., a landscape
design and installation company that specializes in renovating residential
landscapes.
A little background about me: I've been gardening since I was small.
My grandmother taught me how to plant, as well as how to build a compost
heap, and improve soil, when I was about 7. Everywhere I've lived, even
in college dorms, I've managed to find a way to grow things. We had a
greenhouse at our former home in England, and I would work out there even
in the winter time, sprouting seeds and coaxing plants through the cold.
Our front porch offered the perfect refuge for cold sensitive plants.
Once upon a time, my life and work looked very different than what you
see today. I was juggling a full plate, balancing life as a mom of two
young boys with a thriving career at a large pharmaceutical company. I
loved my job, where I worked in information technology, helping people
accomplish more using computers. But I also made it a priority to be actively
involved in my children's lives as well. Gardening was not as high of
a priority as I would have liked it to be, but I made time for work in
the backyard on weekends. So as you can imagine, I was one busy lady!
After a while, I began feeling that a change was in order. I decided
that working for a large company was not for me anymore, so I took some
time off. I organized and ran two events in my local community for women
entrepreneurs -- the Rancho Carrillo Women's Expo. It was great to be
able to meet with all these wonderful women who live just next door to
you or I, and who do all these amazing things to help them find balance
in their personal and professional lives. Working with them really reminded
me how exciting and challenging it is to be an entrepreneur. I began to
ponder what I could do as a business.
That summer, we decided to re-landscape our front yard. We wanted to
give it an original flair, and we had some specific problems that we had
to address. I created a landscape design; worked out how to achieve the
look I wanted, and installed it.
The result is an area of great peace and beauty. At the time, our children
were still little and they would play in and around our stream. We love
to sit beside it listening to the calming and cooling sounds of water,
while at the same time being able to say hello to our neighbors. I found
such great pleasure in doing this work that I knew this was my new career!
I returned to school to study horticulture at Mira Costa College, focusing
on plant identification, soil science, irrigation, landscape design, landscape
management, plant science, pest control and landscape construction.
Today, I'm thrilled to be able to share my love of gardening and plants
-- not only with my friends and neighbors in San Diego who solicit our
landscaping sevices, but with people around the world who find us via
The Yard Fairy website.
I have built a team of women who share the same passion and who, like
me, are graduates of the horticulture program of Mira Costa College. We
have designed and installed patios, walls, lighting, walkways, fences,
trellises, water features, irrigation/drainage systems and many, many
beautiful plants.
We're ready to share our love of landscaping with you and your yard.
Get Water Wise with the Yard Fairy!
Take a look at our award-winning landscape
design portfolio, hosted on Picasa Web!
Sign up for our eco-friendly
landscaping newsletter.
To learn more about our specific San Diego Landscaping Services,
click here.
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