Landscape design by Sol Playground
By Kathleen O. Brown
For Sol Playground owner Brannon Williams, helping clients realize their landscape dreams in an ecologically sound fashion is a passion. Based in Asheville, Sol Playground combines expertise in landscape design, horticulture and environmental sustainability to curate spaces that are visually appealing and ecologically minded.
“For an ecological landscape, plant placement is key,” Williams says. “I will often rearrange existing plants to more appropriate places where they will be happier. Part of the low-maintenance approach means these plants are given the conditions and room to fully thrive without needing extra care like pruning, watering or chemical treatments. This allows us to provide landscapes that are more enjoyable, giving year-round beauty without a constant need for attention.”
Sol Playground offers a variety of services including consultations with personalized guidance, design with custom landscape plans, plant palettes and plant layouts, installation, and maintenance with ongoing care and seasonal refreshes. The business’ name comes from Williams’ long-held vision for an art and botanical garden-based outdoor music venue in Western North Carolina—a place for connection and play—that he’s called Soul Playground.
Landscape design by Sol Playground
“When building this business for creative landscapes, we saw it as building momentum towards that larger project and purpose,” he says. “But the name Sol Playground really does speak to my design philosophy—creating fun, playful landscapes that are low-maintenance so your yard is a place of enjoyment, not extra work. Sol Playground speaks to a unique energy and philosophy, with ‘sol’ referring both to the sun and the heart and soul we put into this work. These plants—and we—are here to play in the sun, where soul meets soil.”
After several years doing environmental site assessments, Williams saw how ecological factors play a role in site design and can make or break a project. Through Sol Playground, he and his team read the land and identify spots of value or concern for clients in a way that makes landscapes practical and beautiful. Sol Playground’s creative project offerings include hardscaping, water features, living walls, planter boxes, boulders and stonework, and rain, moon and sensory gardens.
“We like to have fun while we design and install fresh landscapes for our clients,” Williams says. “When we put good energy into our process, we usually get a better end result and everyone is happier. But my absolute favorite part of doing this work is getting to walk through the finished product. It’s a rare kind of immersive art, engaging the senses through color echoes, soft textures and enticing fragrances. I feel lucky to get to make something that I can reach out and touch, smell, even taste, and then watch grow.”
Learn more about Sol Playground Landscapes at SolPlaygroundDesign.com.
