Meet Sarah Weafer And Pete Chandler | Landscapers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Weafer And Pete Chandler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah and Pete, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Our business started with our own property and thoughts of how we can impact our local community. In revamping our property, others are inspired to improve their own, which leads to brainstorming landscaping ideas and a sharing of resources. Community is enhanced when people walk by our property and are appreciative of the beauty. We delight in having conversations when people stop by to comment on how much they love our landscaping, flowers, or vegetable garden…and those conversations led to having an open gate policy for neighbors to come and pick vegetables and herbs as needed.

This, in turn, helped open our eyes to the abundance around us, and how that can be nurtured and shared: our neighbors picked greens, scallions, and squash from our garden; we picked apples from the people next to us and across the street; a local lawn maintenance company owner gave us grass clippings from his mowing jobs for our compost and mulch; the folks one street over made multiple deliveries in the neighborhood of fresh peaches from their fully-loaded tree. It’s a reason to connect with people–both those we know and those who are new to us.

We as individuals and through our company, Sundial Landscapes, provide simple and cost effective ways for people to connect with their own properties, and create abundance and beauty that can be shared with the greater community. We love feeling like we are contributing to the creation of a healthy, thriving neighborhood.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Pete:

I’m new to landscaping as a business; I’ve always enjoyed creating and tending to gardens, building walls, and hardscaping. My previous career as a teacher and coach gave me some time and space to explore my interests outside of those jobs. I’ve so appreciated being in school communities and collaborating with others, sharing ideas. I’ve also been involved with healthy home consulting and energy efficiency work for schools, organizations and individuals. I was always looking through a lens of resource management and conservation and respect for the natural world–and our landscaping company is all about that. We look at available resources, how water is used, solar orientation, etc. I also love landscaping from what I’ve learned about plants and pollinators; it’s just a part of my education. I don’t pretend to know everything about every plant but I continue to be eager to learn and share. I’ve always loved designing: curricula, landscapes, art pieces, and that’s been a big part of my life. What sets us apart is that we love melding design and execution using hand tools and utilizing on-site materials as much as possible.

Sarah:

I’ve spent most of my career in the outdoor recreation sector, focusing mostly on trails: trail design/construction/erosion mitigation; organizing events that take place on trails (running, Nordic skiing, hiking, mountain biking, volunteer work days); land and trail management, acquisition, and conservation; and collaborating with other land and trail-focused organizations from small land trusts to national conservation non-profits. What excited me most about that work was two-fold: tapping into my creativity by imagining, designing, and creating outdoor spaces for others to enjoy; and collaborating with individuals in other organizations as well as volunteers to create excitement and community around events, clinics, trail work days, and conservation efforts. Both that creativity and community translated easily into my work as a landscaper, and I’m so excited that I get to experience, foster, and grow both of those at Sundial Landscapes. I think it’s that community piece that helps set us apart from other landscaping companies; it feels like we are not just building beautiful landscapes for customers, but we are also building communities that share in that beauty and bounty.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We love–and spend much of our spare time on–the trails in Colorado Springs, so that would be a central part of an itinerary. Our favorites for mountain biking are Red Rock Canyon Open Space and Stratton Open Space, and we love to hike at Garden of the Gods and the greater Cheyenne Canyon area. We are very spoiled that we are able to access all of these right from our house, though Cheyenne Canyon adventuring makes for a long day. Each day would include a hike or bike ride–maybe one long hiking day up Mt. Rosa, and another long mountain bike excursion day through Red Rock, Stratton, and Gold Camp area trails. Other days would include shorter hikes through the quieter trails at Garden of the Gods (we know the less-traveled ones!); a hike up Mt. Muscoco and Mt. Cutler; a walk to quirky, diverse, and fun Manitou Springs for experiencing the mineral springs fountains and penny arcade; a Saturday morning walk (in summer months) to the farmers’ market in Old Colorado City; meals at Tapateria, Jake and Telly’s Greek Taverna, Ivywild School, and The Ute at City Rock; a visit to Yellow Mountain Tea House; Memorial Park for the hot air balloon festival. We also love the short drive to the Falcon trail for mountain biking on the Air Force Academy grounds.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When we moved to Colorado Springs one year ago, our friend, Will, saw what we had done on our property and hired us to “make my yard look nice.” He didn’t have ideas for what he wanted specifically, but he wanted to be able to enjoy his yard–which was at that time consisted of mostly dirt, weeds, and old edging. He allowed us complete creative freedom with the project, and delighted in the finished product. We might not have even considered starting a business were it not for the number of people stopping by to inquire about our services, along with Wills’ happiness with the finished landscape. He believed in us then, and continues to be one of our biggest advocates.

Website: https://www.sundiallandscapes.net/

Instagram: sundial_landscapes

Image Credits
All images taken by Sundial Landscapes