Elizabeth Kuhn is the owner of Backyard Botanicals. She is committed to improving backyard ecology with native plants.
Elizabeth’s professional background includes residential and commercial landscape design, plant propagation, greenhouse management, seed collection, food production, medicinal herbs and wild edibles. She believes that the use of native plants in residential and commercial landscaping is key to sustaining our native populations of pollinators, birds and butterflies and serves as a counter-balance to the increasing destruction of many natural areas. It is Elizabeth’s job to artfully and skillfully design a garden that is right for the
client and for the natural ecology of your backyard.
Additionally, Elizabeth offers workshops on a wide range of topics including gardening with
natives, wild edibles, rain garden installation and seed collection for the backyard gardener.
Valerie Magnuson, Crew Member
Valerie is a recovering farmer and non-profit director fulfilling her passion for yard-scale ecological restoration as a crew member with Backyard Botanicals. Since joining the company in the Spring of 2020 she has assisted with all aspects of maintenance and installation. Valerie is a Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor for Jefferson County and is raising her three children in the Portland neighborhood of West Louisville.
Sara Ceresa, Crew Member
Sara’s eyes were opened to the miracle of landscaping with native plants at a Wild Ones meeting in 2018. She joined the Backyard Botanicals team in 2020 and loves actively working to increase native plant numbers in our region. Sara especially enjoys removing invasive species and using her magical pruning touch to encourage the best growth in plants.
You can find Sara volunteering around town with Trees Louisville, Habitat for Humanity, Waterfront Botanical Gardens, and in the Memorial Garden at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. Her latest passion in life is transforming 3-acres of overgrown land into her own Botanical Preserve. She is also working toward her Master Naturalist certification.
Jessa Henry, Crew Member
Jessa proudly wears many “Crazy Plant Lady” and “Just One More Plant” shirts gifted by those who know about her plant obsession. She began working with Backyard Botanicals in 2022. Jessa grew up enjoying the outdoors and started gardening at a young age. Upon learning that native plants help to rebuild ecosystems, she joined the movement with abandon. She enjoys photographing plants, pollinators, and wildlife. Jessa is involved in the local native seed-swap community and the Louisville chapter of Wild Ones.
Miriam Klein, Crew Member
Miriam came to gardening in 2018 after a career in music education, and she joined Backyard Botanicals in 2022. Native plant gardening was a natural fit: she loves creating spaces to support the plants and animals that rightfully belong in our shared environment. She wants to invite everyone outdoors to enjoy nature at close quarters, and believes this is the best first step in environmental activism.
You can also find Miriam helping customers at The Plant Kingdom, as well as gardening for a few personal clients. In her free time, she whittles away at her suburban lawn while expanding her native plant/ raised-bed-edibles/ permaculture-inspired personal garden.