ABOUT

Happy Bear is the vision, business & cumulative landscape design project of Jax Hughes--

Jax has been working professionally with plants, cultivating community and designing landscapes for the last eight years. After receiving his bachelors degree in Agroecology from Sterling College, he has managed a 30 acre Permaculture farm in Nicaragua, started a small fruit & nut tree nursery in northern Vermont, and designed edible urban landscapes throughout Baltimore. Jax initially moved to upstate New York to design and manage the farm & edible landscape for Wildflower Farms, a farm-to-table eco resort. Now he is focused primarily on ecological landscape design + installations throughout the Hudson Valley. His work as a grower has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Conde Nast, Afar, Travel Weekly, and Organic Spa Magazine.

Jax seeks to create more of a resilient perennials-based food system in society where people can access healthy & delicious fruits, nuts, herbs and greens right outside of their door and in community spaces. His framework for design emphasizes native plants, food abundance and beauty throughout the seasons. Through the "lens" of permaculture principles, all elements of designs are intentionally laid out and mutually support one another. This allows for low-input management systems which require less care throughout the years and which grow more beautiful through time and wildness.

CREATING POSITIVE OUTDOOR SPACES

What is a Positive Outdoor Space?

Positive Outdoor Spaces are places in the environment which are enriched and defined by landscaping features (i.e. trees, landscaped beds, paths, hardscaping, etc). They are more than the mere "leftovers" of land between buildings and streets; they are places which feel inviting and invigorating for people to move through and rest in--places where there is harmony between the nuanced forces of Mother Nature and the artistry of human beings.

How does HB generate Positive Outdoor Spaces?

Through our landscaping & design work, Happy Bear creates Positive Outdoor Spaces that FEEL GOOD to be in. Our tree plantings and custom "food forest" gardens are sited to produce beauty and depth in the landscape--settings for quiet reverie and human connection. We take native & edible plants and use them to make ecologically healthy ecosystems that are also heathy for the human beings who will make memories there.

Life in a well-designed outdoor space can look like:

resting against a low garden wall covered in a native flowering vine
picking fruit from a young tree together as a family in late Summer
walking along a garden path at dusk to gather rosemary & thyme
sitting with old friends under a pergola with clusters of ripening grapes hanging from it
going down to a quiet garden bench in the morning to watch hummingbirds and bees enjoy springtime flowers