Esteemed East End garden and landscape design firm Unlimited Earth Care is celebrating three decades of gorgeous designs and industry innovation. Here, award-winning designer and founder Frederico Azevedo fills us in on the firm’s growth, his favorite projects and what’s next.

Beautiful blooms outside the Unlimited Earth Care showroom and garden market

How has Unlimited Earth Care evolved over the past 30 years?

Unlimited Earth Care has really expanded as a firm in the past 30 years. We opened the Garden Concept Store, the Garden Market, and I published a book, Bloom: The Luminous Gardens of Frederico Azevedo, but I am actually very proud of the things that haven’t changed. We are still a sustainable garden design firm, and striking color palettes remain my signature as a designer. Even when all-white gardens were trending, I stuck to my approach to color, and I have always been able to make my clients happy. To me, part of the pleasure of living with a flower garden is to be in the presence of those incredible natural colors, and as a designer I plan color palettes that heighten these emotional effects while making choices that ensure the garden will be healthy. Some plants are companions, and for example, provide shade for sensitive blooms while enjoying full sun for themselves, and I compose gardens that balance these characteristics while contributing to the overall aesthetic. Beautiful landscapes are made up of healthy plants and flowers.

How has Unlimited Earth Care impacted the East End’s design community?

I am proud to have participated many times in the Holiday House design events, founded by Iris Dankner, which gather the Hamptons’ design community in support of breast cancer research. I am also a member of the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons, where I have given talks and enjoy participating and discussing flowers, environmental changes, and natural ways to counter rabbits and deer with local garden lovers. I’ve been endorsing pollinator gardens, meadows, and other lower maintenance, sustainable garden designs since the ’90s, so it’s really exciting to me that now clients approach me requesting them, and more and more people just want to discuss sustainable gardening with me every year—“How do I invite hummingbirds? How can I support the Monarch butterfly migration this September?” It’s very fulfilling.

A vibrant design by Azevedo

What have been some of your favorite projects to work on over the years?

In the Hamptons, there could be a waterfront garden down the road from a property in a field near farmland, and they could have very different soil and require totally different approaches. So, what I’m saying is that every project has had unique challenges and presented its own puzzles, and that constant challenge to design healthy gardens that are also beautiful and serve the clients’ lifestyle needs has meant that I am never bored. Every project has its own story, and what’s unique about this profession is that I get to experience the continued life of my designs because Unlimited Earth Care also offers full maintenance.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your career so far?

My family is very important to me, and my children grew up alongside Unlimited Earth Care. My oldest was born the same year I founded my firm, so being a designer and a lover of nature has always been an integral part of our lives. Gardens are personal to me, in my own home I created a landscape where my children could run around, learn to love the beauty of nature and play, and as they grew older, where they could read and work when they visit, and invite their friends to watch butterflies from the pool.

It is very rewarding to create designs that enhance my clients’ lives. I really think about what they like to do and consider the kinds of private and entertaining outdoor spaces that could inspire family gatherings or allow for private meditation. I try to draw living spaces to the outdoors, and once you’ve allowed those spaces to transition into the garden there’s no going back—it can really bring joy.

What can we expect next from Unlimited Earth Care?

There may be another book coming, as Bloom is sold out everywhere except for our store. 2023 marks Unlimited Earth Care’s 30th anniversary, so on Saturday, June 17, between 4 and 7 p.m., everyone is invited to join us and celebrate with cocktails, flowers and hors d’oeuvres at the Garden Market (2249 Scuttle Hole Road).

We also have a weekly illustrated garden newsletter, and anyone who would like to receive photographs and drawings of flowers as well as tips and garden news can visit our new website unlimitedearthcare.com or email [email protected].