LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER

WATER & EARTH

I’m Matt. 

I started my outdoor design career here in Richmond a little short of a decade ago.  After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University and starting a small landscaping business I quickly learned that my interest was in design and planning and not on the installation side of the business. 

I went very quickly from mulching flower beds to learning swimming pool design, construction and implementation with arguably one of the areas most skilled swimming pool builders. Working in house with this company led me to reach out to other talented builders in different facets of the industry and design spaces for them for their clients.  A few years later I was freelancing in Richmond designing for 6-7 companies. My early career in Richmond produced some seriously cool outdoor living areas built by some of the best builders around.

In early 2016, my partner was offered a job in Silicon Valley. Knowing I would have to leave behind everything I built in Central Virginia we moved across the country and I started Water and Earth Landscape Design in Northern California. Serving the South Bay and Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a challenge but I took the opportunity to bring everything I learned in Richmond and applied it to a new place and it worked magically. During this time I also learned how to blend my traditional minded design upbringing and learned how to apply it to the modern aesthetic prevalent in California. 

Three and half years later and Water & Earth Landscape Design is a household name in Silicon Valley in the home improvement space. I built the company to a point where I could hire additional designers who I admired and collaborate on outdoor living spaces with. 

In early 2020, it was time to come home. Our few years in the area was amazing but we missed friends and family. I decided to bring the Water & Earth Landscape Design concept back home to Richmond, VA where everything started.  

Water and Earth continues to provide landscape design and planning services to Northern California as well as the Los Angeles area. 

I've spent a long time in this industry looking for my place and am happy to say it’s been found. My strengths have brought me full circle and I’m ready to show Richmond what I can do.  I’d love to hear from you about what you’re thinking about doing with your outdoor space.

Thanks, 

Matt Daly