Natalie
Co-owner
Natalie, originally from Switzerland, has enjoyed gardening for as long as she can remember, but has been officially working in the field since 2013. She is currently taking Horticulture courses at Merritt College in Oakland, and is expanding her already existing knowledge on plants, insects, pruning and more. Her style of gardening is organic and reflects Yarrow’s goals, sustainability and earth friendly priorities. She is detail oriented and has an eye for making the garden look top notch while making sure the bees, butterflies and insects haven’t lost their habitats. On Natalie’s free time, she enjoys photography, spending time with her daughter, her dog, and adventuring to beautiful places.
(fluent in German)
Astrid
Co-Owner
Astrid was born and raised in Berkeley, and has been gardening since 2013 before partnering with Natalie to form Yarrow Gardening in 2022.
Inspired by her Grandmother’s love for plants and design, Astrid grew up understanding the impact of a well designed space. Astrid is currently completing her education in Interior Design and Interior Architecture at UC Berkeley Extension. While studying in the evenings and spending her days in the garden, Astrid is happily working towards a goal of combining her two passions: interior and exterior design. With Astrid’s expertise and passion for organic and timeless style, Yarrow Gardening is a one stop shop for all things design and decor. She loves working with indoor plants, floral design, pots, seating arrangements, and of course nurturing plants. During her free time, Astrid loves to play guitar and sing, redecorate her house, and spend time with her cat Olive, and her dog Bayou.
(fluent in French)
Follow Astrid’s fun instagram for design inspiration!
Virginia
TEAM LEADER/LEAD GARDENER
Virginia is a California native who grew up in the mountains of Costa Rica, Central America. All her life she has been a lover of nature, chasing after the deep wilds of the world. She is a traveler at heart and has worked as a gardener and farmer in many countries, training her into a hard and dedicated worker who loves to get her hands dirty in the satisfying work of a garden project. Her passion for plants lead her to study medicinal herbs at the Elderberry School of Botanical Medicine in Portland, OR, and she now has a love of turning California native plants into healing balms and oils. She has been working as a gardener with this team since 2019 where she has advanced in installations of gardens, pruning, soil health, and native plant knowledge. She loves to create a balance of wild yet neat gardens that promote native plants and edibles. She is also a new Mama, who is very much enjoying the challenge of motherhood!
(fluent in spanish)
Kahyela
Kahyela, a Bay Area native, is beginning her horticulture journey with Yarrow Gardening. Before joining the team, Kahyela completed a permaculture course, focusing on designing sustainable and regenerative gardens. She let’s nothing go to waste as she is passionate about Mother Earth, and is a lover of all living organisms. Her optimism and determination in the garden while learning new things, is valued at Yarrow, and not to mention she is a natural at making potted arrangements and has an eye for aesthetically pleasing plant design.
During her spare time, you can find Kahyela enjoying time with her dogs and her family, as well as playing the occasional guitar.
(Fluent in French!)
ERICA
Special appearance gardener-
Erica grew up in the English countryside which is where she developed her deep love of gardening in her parents’ fruit, vegetable and flower garden. She is trained in Occupational Therapy and has used gardening as a therapeutic medium for people with physical and mental disabilities. On coming to Berkeley she fell in love with the incredible weather, the smell of flowers and year round gardening possibilities and decided to work as a gardener here. She studied permaculture at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in northern California. Her interests are growing fruit and vegetables, sustainable gardening and native and low water plants. She also manages her family’s mixed fruit and nut orchard in Sonoma County. She is studying at Merritt College to obtain her garden design certification and as part of this she is constantly learning new information about horticulture, plants, trees, pruning techniques and garden design.
(has a British accent! huge plus)
Listen to some of Erica’s band’s music while you browse our portfolio!
AMBER
Special appearance gardener-
Amber is a California native who’s love and passion for gardening was passed down from her grandparents who both worked in the fields and tended to their own gardens. She holds her Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology from San Francisco State and is also a Certified Nutrition Assistant. Currently, she is pursuing her Associates degree in Landscape Architecture from Merritt College. Previous coursework experience has included high-level knowledge on relevant topics such as pruning, landscape design, and plant identification. Amber is also particularly interested in cultivating her understanding of different pruning styles, and hopes to build her knowledge in that area of the garden through her ongoing experiences. She enjoys working in gardens that are wild, California-native, Mediterranean, and have edible/ low-water usage plants. Amber is also interested in designing and working to create habitat gardens that are homes for various insects such as butterflies, bees, and birds. In her spare time you can find her enjoying the outdoors either hiking or camping with her dog Lupe.