About Us
What we do
We create living landscapes that restore the connection between people, place, and ecology.
Habitat Guild is a full-service regenerative landscape company offering design, build, and care services throughout Northern Colorado.
Our Roots
Habitat Guild grew from a belief that landscapes can do more than look beautiful. They can restore ecosystems, support biodiversity, and strengthen our connection to place.
Our team brings together decades of experience across sustainable landscape design, permaculture, irrigation, maintenance, and ecological best practices. Guided by research and inspired by the living systems we work within, we approach every project as an opportunity to create regenerative spaces that give back more than they take.
We are a guild of landscape professionals committed to using landscape as a force for good.
the Guild
The Guild is a collective of designers, builders, educators, and land stewards working toward a shared goal: creating landscapes that support healthy ecosystems and meaningful human connection. Like traditional guilds, we are bound not by a single role or title, but by shared values, skills, and a commitment to thoughtful, land-based work.
Some members work with Habitat Guild full-time, while others bring their own independent practices into the collective. Together, we collaborate, learn from one another, and contribute our strengths toward a common purpose: designing and caring for landscapes that serve both people and the living world they belong to.
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Derek’s work is inspired by the potential of the built landscape to promote a thriving, healthy environment, with an eye for a naturalized place-based aesthetic. His background is a unique blend of the practical application of landscapes with an academic and research-based lens, to design and install functional & beautiful spaces at the intersection of humans and nature.
After earning his degree in Environmental Studies from Naropa University in 2009, Derek deepened his hands-on expertise through years of groundskeeping and earned both Colorado Master Gardener and Permaculture Design certificates. He went on to complete a Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver in 2016, blending practical skill with research-driven design.
His professional experience spans residential and public projects, from working with The Big Sandbox in Denver and Philadelphia to help school districts naturalize schoolyards, to designing immersive children’s gardens across the country with Didier Design Studio. Before founding Habitat Guild in 2020, Derek led schoolyard habitat initiatives for the National Wildlife Federation, helping K–12 schools and child care centers across Colorado reconnect kids with nature.
Today, Derek continues to design and steward landscapes that serve people, pollinators, and the planet. He is a registered Landscape Architect in Colorado.
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Emily Reeves brings hands-on landscape design, client education, and strategic storytelling to the Guild. She is also the founder of True Nature Gardens, a garden design and coaching practice rooted in habitat-centered gardening and fostering a deep connection to self and community.
Emily designs gardens and coaches homeowners in creating landscapes that function as living systems that support soil health, biodiversity, and meaningful human relationship with the land. Her coaching work emphasizes building confidence and long-term stewardship, developing deep relationships with the natural world, and helping people understand why their landscapes work, not just how to maintain them.
In her marketing role, Emily helps translate the Guild’s on-the-ground work into clear, compelling narratives that educate and inspire.
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Rita brings over 15 years of experience in the design, landscape, and construction industries. With a Master of Landscape Architecture, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design, and Permaculture Design Certification, her work integrates ecology and aesthetics to create spaces that are restorative, memorable, and functional.
Her broad design background, which spans placemaking, visual communication, and community engagement, allows her to translate complex ecological ideas into designs that resonate across audiences. Rita specializes in creating landscapes that seamlessly knit together the urban fabric and the natural world.
As the founder of Braid.Work, a landscape architecture collective, Rita “blends ecologically responsive ideas with aesthetically pleasing elements to create unique and stunning designs… integrating natural cycles and systems across all scales to ensure social and environmental harmony.”
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Emily Goldman weaves art, science, and gardening techniques in response to site conditions and the client's goals to create landscape designs that are beautiful, functional, and ecological.
Collaboration is at the heart of gardens and land stewardship work, incorporating green industry knowledge with specialists in arboriculture, irrigation, nursery production, plant sourcing, soil, water conservation, entomology, ecology, topography, and built architecture.
As your designer, Emily will help weave a web of interconnected biodiversity and facilitate team coordination from project installation to ecological nurturing plans. Emily is excited to be a part of Habitat Guild's talented team, dedicated to nature and finding ourselves within it.
Emily also serves as an Ambassador for the City of Fort Collins Xeriscape Incentive Program, is a current board member at the High Plains Environmental Center, designs for Denver Botanic Gardens Horticulture Outreach Program, runs Emily Goldman Landscape Design LLC, and was the former Assistant to the Director at Plant Select.
Emily has degrees in Landscape Architecture from Colorado State University and Fine Art from Naropa University, but she is first and foremost, a gardener.
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A Colorado native, Yana has worked in the landscape design, build, and maintenance field along the Front Range since 1997. Over the years, he has gained deep experience across public, private, and academic institutions—building a holistic understanding of how outdoor spaces are created and sustained.
Yana holds certifications as a Colorado Master Gardener (CSU Extension), Certified Irrigation Contractor (Irrigation Association), and Landscape Industry Certified Technician (National Association of Landscape Professionals). His expertise spans hardscape, horticulture, and irrigation, and his passion for sustainable ecological practices finds its ideal expression at Habitat Guild.
What we stand for
sustainability
Our thoughtful designs aim to restore biodiversity, build resilience, support the local economy and ecosystem, and cultivate landscapes that require fewer inputs to maintain in the long run.
Quality
We build our landscapes to last. Our custom designs are rooted in detail, while thoughtfully considering the big picture. All of our materials are procured from local, high-quality suppliers, and our crew upholds the highest care and attention to detail while building your space. We guarantee all of our work and go beyond the industry standard.
transparency
We are committed to transparency throughout our business. This looks like honest, authentic, clear communication throughout the entire process, and a quality product you can cherish for years to come.