Guiding Principles

Your land is an asset—not a burden. By working with your yard’s unique conditions, you can realize its full potential and play an important role in restoring ecological wellness. 

Through detailed consulting, design, and installation services, our team creates natural landscapes that prioritize your goals, support pollinators and wildlife with native plants, and address common landscaping challenges such as drainage issues, privacy, functionality, aesthetics, and more. 

Our organic landscape design and yard maintenance approach is inspired by permaculture principles, which are based in science and guided by ethics that use nature as a model for decision-making. Permaculture landscaping allows us to meet our human needs while preserving and enhancing our ecosystems. These principles offer proven results when it comes to creating beautiful, resilient landscapes. 

We take an all-organic approach to land stewardship that prioritizes the health of people and the planet. If you’re short on time or simply need support in caring for your landscape, we offer ecological landscape maintenance services as well as invasive honeysuckle removal and replacement packages to help you reclaim your yard.

We also implement all-organic growing practices in The Nursery at Our Land Organics, our native plant nursery featuring pollinator-friendly plants native to Ohio and Kentucky. All our plants are grown with a focus on economic, environmental, and social responsibility. 

Who We Serve

We offer a variety of landscaping services in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and surrounding regions. We primarily serve the communities of Anderson Township, Fort Thomas, Indian Hill, Loveland, Madeira, Mariemont, Milford, Montgomery, Newport, and Terrace Park. 

We specialize in large-scale transformations, multifunctional landscapes, and organic landscape maintenance, but every project is unique. Not sure if we’re the right fit? Simply get in touch for a free phone consultation. Or check out our gallery of sample projects.

John Hemmerle, AOLCP

Founder, Designer and Managing Director

Not too far from Cincinnati lies the Red River Gorge. The Red’s forest floor is carpeted with beautiful plants and towering trees that climb up the steep sandstone rock. You can’t help but be immersed. During the summer of 2008, I built cabins there with a friend, and I felt like part of the breathing flora, the clean water and sweet air. “I want this to be my life,” I thought—not just for a summer, not just on vacation, but every day. Life is too short not to experience abundance and beauty. And we can find it right in our own yards. We can go outside and watch for hummingbirds, hear the leaves of the plants play against each other, listen to the faint buzz of bees as they enjoy sweet pollen. We can breath a little easier, feel a little richer, and know that we’re playing an important role in ecological resilience simply through cultivating the right plants in the right place. Let’s build some peace, one yard at a time.

— John Hemmerle

Jennie Markel

Lead Designer

Landscape design rests on a living foundation that is in a constant state of flux. In addition to that ever changing basis are a client's needs and an inevitable impact on a site. In response to these project factors, landscape designer, Jennifer Markel loves creating beautiful, usable spaces with a strong awareness of client focus, aesthetic, and connection with the natural world. She also provides consistent communication, a passion for plants, and drawing document quality during all project phases.

Jennifer has worked in the green industry for more than 20 years as well as holding a Bachelor's of Science in Architecture and a minor in Horticulture from DAAP at the University of Cincinnati. She is a member of the APLD, ELA and is in the process of becoming a registered landscape architect. In addition to her work at Our Land Organics, she and her husband work to raise three children with a strong awareness of growing things and digging in the dirt. When there is quiet time she runs, reads, gardens and enjoys yoga.

Ben Nava

Logistics and Equipment Manager

Ben brings years of experience in organic agriculture and project management to his work at Our Land Organics. He has a keen eye for logistics and a love for the land we all share.

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Wes Sexton, AOLCP

Client Relationship Manager

Wes is experienced in sustainable horticulture and agriculture and also holds a degree in Poetry. He enjoys stonework and is an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional through the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s Organic Land Care Program (NOFA OLC). He loves watching things grow and using plants to enrich people’s lives.

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Todd Chadwell

Operations Manager

Todd enjoys the opportunity to combine his education in botany, ecology, and erosion and sediment control with his experience working in agriculture, ecological restoration, and environmental consulting to foster more natural landscapes that can benefit landowners and the environment.

Carter Sturgeon

Earth Steward - Lead Propagator

Carter is currently working toward a degree in horticulture at the University of Cincinnati while also pursuing certificates in permaculture, green roofs, and sustainable landscape design. They really fell in love with horticulture after interning at a homestead in 2019. Along with horticulture, they have a passion for art and art history.

Abby Alexander

Earth Steward - Crew Leader

Abby graduated from the University of Cincinnati in August 2022 with a Bachelor's in Environmental Studies and a minor in Biology. She has interned with the Cincinnati Zoo's Native Plant Program and worked in wetland restoration. She enjoys hiking, gardening, reading, and talking to her cat. Abby especially loves going on hikes during the spring to see all the spring ephemerals in bloom! Her favorite ephemeral is Virginia Bluebells.

Martin Werner

Earth Steward - Crew Member

Martin recently graduated from the University of Cincinnati, where he studied environmental science and biology. During his time at UC, he interned at the Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation & Research of Endangered Wildlife and conducted field studies for the USGS. He has a passion for the environment and strives to help care for it. Whenever there’s downtime, he’s probably out looking for birds."

Our Collective Training

Accredited Organic Land Care Professional, Northeast Organic Farming Association

Bachelor of Urban Planning, University of Cincinnati, DAAP

Master Composter Certificate, Civic Garden Center

Permaculture Design Certificate, Cincinnati Permaculture Institute

Fruit Tree Grafting Workshop, Hayfields Orchard

Wall Building Workshop, Dry Stone Conservancy

Regenerative Business Mentorship, Verge Permaculture + All Points Land Design

Farm Water Management, Keyline Design Workshop w/ Mark Shepard

Internship, NKU's Center for Environmental Restoration

Head Gardener, Gorman Heritage Farms organic market garden program

Americorps leadership development program, Public Allies Cincinnati

Community Garden Training Program, Civic Garden Center

Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association (OEFFA) conferences

Young Farmers Conference