Welcome to Resilience Design!
Specializing in urban and rural homesteads, landscape designer and horticulturist Mulysa Melco brings 18 years of experience and a life-long passion for plants, nature and ecological living to her new practice.
Creating productive, multi-functional spaces that support sustainable living is my aim. Any yard or property has the potential to be an asset and pleasure to its people, and I help clients to tap into natural abundance right where they are, taking into consideration the unique characteristics of their site.
Design Services
Residential Landscapes
Permaculture Systems
Food Forests and Orchards
Container Plantings and Green Walls/Roofs
Rain Garden and Bioswales
Consulting Services
Plant Identification
Ecological Assessment
Garden Coaching
Project Planning and Permitting
I design residential landscapes to enhance habitat for people, plants and wildlife. My approach incorporates Permaculture principles and an awareness of needing to re-envision how we use our land and resources as our society transitions to lower energy consumption. I believe there are myriad powerful, positive and pleasurable changes we can make in our daily lives – starting in our own yards.
In 2000 I started my own design/build and maintenance company in the Twin Cities, Asylum Design. With the help of an enthusiastic crew and a supportive family I worked on 30 garden projects that translated spirit of the prairie/savannah ecosystem into functional urban spaces. We also grew native plants and organic veggie starts for our clients, our annual plant sale extravaganza, and our farmer’s market stand.
For five years I coordinated the Planscaper design program at Dennis’ Seven Dees, a 60-year old family-owned company in Portland, Oregon. My design work there included over 500 projects that addressed a very wide range of themes such as Northwest native, medicinal, Asian, xeriscape (water-saving), wildlife habitat, tropical, formal European and contemporary.
Recently I finished an amazing Permaculture Design Certification course. My mind is overflowing with new approaches and decision making tools to help clients move towards sustainable (and fun!) solutions to managing their property. Even better, I met so many resourceful and energetic people that are doing inspiring work. I’ve been able to immediately implement some ideas in my own garden, which is taking shape now.
To discuss ideas for increasing the productivity of your space, lowering your maintenance or beautifying your property, contact me to set up a consultation.
Mulysa Melco
asylum [a t] mulysa.org
Here are a few examples of past work. Click on images to view larger size.
Prairie School Back Yard
Minneapolis, Minnesota
A kitchen addition necessitated a landscape revision for this compact back yard space. Features include a small patio, increased privacy, herbs, fruiting screens and a bench. The plantings are almost entirely indigenous and strive to complement the arts and crafts architecture as much as the carefully planned addition does.
Permaculture Design Course Project, PSU Art Building, 2010
The public entrance to the building is softened with multi-functional plants: some provide fiber, dye and material for student artists; others filter runoff in rain gardens; many are edible and all have value to beneficial insects and urban wildlife. A low maintenance level, safety and accessibility were taken into consideration throughout the design process.
The garden is guided by the plan, but evolves. We are informed by the site, inspired by small accomplishments and cheered on by the residents who have taken up our offer of habitat.
See photos of the garden on Flickr.
Michael and Mulysa’s Portland Garden, 2011
Working sketch – Luso-Baroque style permaculture plot
Mulysa and Michael’s Portland garden, 2009
Master Plan – Family Garden
Southeast Portland, Oregon
Kids, dog, veggies and lots of fruit and berries – these were some of the elements that went into the mix.
Plan of a Front Yard Garden
St. Paul, Minnesota, 2003
A late 40′s brick ranch house on a large lot gets an update, adding wildlife value, seasonal interest and lower maintenance.
Illustration of a garden I visited
London, England 2004.
Fenton House has a 300 year old orchard with bees and a green house, a kitchen garden, a formal lawn with topiary, color boarders, tubs planted with Agapanthus, a sunken rose garden, clipped hedges, benches under arbors: all in a relatively small area. It’s delightful. I loved it so I drew this plan of it.
Concept sketch
Roseville, Minnesota, 2000
This suburban ranch house was surrounded by a lot of lawn and not much else. The property was backed by a railway right of way that was home to lots of wildlife and an interesting mix of plants, but the yard was so open it felt stark and exposed. In this working sketch, beds around the house extended to the front and back property lines, making a functional wildlife corridor that brought the scale of the yard in line with the house and created more private places to relax. The final design kept more lawn space, but still allowed for generous beds layered with native and drought tolerant plantings in shades of blue, white and silver. It became a place where the family wanted to be.
Cottage Garden Plan
St. Paul, Minnesota, 2002
A very small, bland front yard with a retaining wall became an exuberant flower garden that matched the homeowner’s fun-loving personality. Bold magenta, fuchsia and purple blooms brought in butterflies, songbirds and hummingbirds, and a structural backdrop of evergreens and wrought iron provided interest in the winter.
Read my top 3 Landscape Design tips.
About Mulysa
Mulysa Melco is a painter and landscape designer in Portland, Oregon. She has a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a graduate degree in landscape design and garden history from the University of Minnesota. She studied at the Istituto d’Arte in Florence, Italy and interned at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.