Studio
We start with understanding how a place feels and works: its light, climate, trees, views, movement, and the people who will use it. Then we give it clear structure, a welcoming feeling, and enough freedom to continue to change.
It starts
with a pencil
and an idea.
Recognition
Residential Landscape Design
1st Place
Broad Oaks, Houston
2026
Landscape Architecture
Magazine
Private Ranch
Flat, TX
April 2026
Who we are
Jonathan founded Outdoor Practice around a simple idea: beauty matters, and the best landscapes often feel right before you can explain why. They are easy to read, layered, grounded in their place, and full of enough life to keep changing.
Over fifteen years his work has spanned private estates, educational campuses, working ranches, and hospitality environments. Across them, he returns to the same questions: Does the place make sense? Do people feel comfortable enough to stay? Do the materials feel genuine? Will the planting and structure become better with age?
Jonathan serves as a trustee at Architecture Center Houston and chairs its Programming and Exhibition Committee, and sits on the national ASLA Climate Action and Biodiversity Committee. He writes for ASLA, with recent work published in ASLA Magazine and The Dirt.
He holds a degree from Colorado State University and is licensed in Colorado, Texas, and New York.
How we work
Dreams
come
first.
01
We begin with what makes a place itself: light, trees, climate, views, movement, and how people will use it. The first goal is legibility — a layout that feels natural to understand and specific to where it is.
02
We organize the bones first: circulation, rooms, views, and the push and pull between open and enclosed space. Then we test the moments that make it memorable — an unexpected seat, a wilder edge, a well-placed crossing.
03
We keep plant and material palettes disciplined and use materials for what they really are. Stone should look like stone and concrete should look like concrete. Details are developed so the landscape can age, take wear, and record use instead of fighting it.
04
The work continues on site. We stay involved through construction to protect design intent, alignments, planting mass, and the small decisions people may never notice individually but add to the whole.
Lived in.
Better
for it.
We make places you want to stay in, come back to, and bring other people to. Places that feel right, feel full of life, and get better as they are lived in.
Let's build something beautiful together.
Start a project