Gardens Galore: 30 Years of Colorful Landscapes from Designer Frederico Azevedo’s Unlimited Earth Care

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

The Hamptons inspires awe for many reasons, but the coastal and historically agricultural stretch of New York is especially loved for its artful landscapes. And, while enjoying summer parties or driving by luxurious estates here, you could be taking in the work of award-winning landscape designer Frederico Azevedo.

The Brazilian-born visionary has been creating vibrant and colorful gardens in the Hamptons since he founded Unlimited Earth Care, a full-service garden and landscape design firm that offers design, maintenance, and installation services. Now, it’s time to pop the bubbly and celebrate the accomplished designer as Unlimited Earth Care turns 30.

To mark this milestone, we’re taking you on a tour of Azevedo’s mesmerizing projects. Not to mention, digging into his roots, abundant career, and personal reflections.

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

For some, passions bloom young. That was the case with Unlimited Earth Care’s founder. Growing up in Brazil in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Azevedo was surrounded by the incredible public works of influential Brazilian architects and landscape designers like Roberto Burle Marx and Lota de Macedo Soares. He was struck by what strong emotions natural design could evoke and how good he felt in those spaces. Azevedo nurtured his love of nature as a child and often gardened, rearranging the potted flowers and planting for future carrot soufflés. In truth, he was planting the seeds of his future. Life would take him to study garden design in England and the US before he settled in the Hamptons to found his acclaimed firm in 1993.

Why the Hamptons? Azevedo shares, “It is rare to see farms, fields, ocean, bay, and woods so close together, and I think this set the stage for the love of design in the Hamptons and the strong design community that has flourished there.”

A haven of creativity, nature, and luxury design, the Hamptons is flushed with spectacular sights to take in. Those who buy here often want their homes to be a serene place of beauty—their refuge for holidays or weekends with loved ones— and Azevedo delivers that and more.

“I design specifically for each property, and so my approach varies depending on what I’m trying to accomplish. A waterfront view shouldn’t be in competition with the garden, so I work on framing and buildup. I design a way to guide people to the experience of the view.”

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

But, as typical as it may seem, Hamptons properties don’t all have a coastal view to highlight. That’s no bother to Azevedo. Instead, it’s a welcome opportunity for him to make something magnificent. For instance, if a property is large with a flat green lawn, he might fashion a sense of place by creating the estate’s view with his signature curving floral borders. It comes down to developing depth in this case. “Composing a vista is about layering and scale. I begin by choosing the farthest point to which I intend to draw the eye. That’s where I plant the largest trees, such as cedars, Leyland cypress, spruces, arborvitaes, and pines…Layering these has an impromptu yet coordinated effect.”

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

However, most of all, it’s the firm’s custom color palettes and sustainable philosophy that keep clients coming back for more. Furthering ideas that blossomed in his childhood, Azevedo still aims to inspire different emotions in his projects and bolster local ecosystems. He brings to life exuberant color stories with native and well-adapted plants and flowers, selecting what will best attract and support pollinators like hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Funny enough, what makes these pollinators happy seems to delight humans, too.

Over the decades, Unlimited Earth Care has become a staple of the community thanks to the designer’s enduring vision, deep love of the area, and mind towards the Hamptons’ needs. As well as designing, installing, and maintaining breathtaking landscapes, Azevedo has expanded his passion for gardens into other mediums. At Unlimited Earth Care’s Bridgehampton headquarters, The Garden Market is the ultimate destination for landscape design. Here, DIY homeowners and landscape professionals alike can shop a curated selection of native flora ready to harmonize with this specific terrain. But that’s not all. In 2019, Azevedo became an author. He published Bloom: The Luminous Gardens of Frederico Azevedo, which has grown into a sold-out must-have for people’s coffee tables and greenhouses.

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

It’s easy to see that Azevedo’s career is diverse and fruitful, but we wanted to find out his own reflections and hear about his future plans. Here’s a snippet of our conversation with the Hamptons-based landscape maestro.

What are you most proud of about Unlimited Earth Care after 30 years?

It’s not one moment really that comes to mind that I am most proud of. What I’m proud of is the whole 30 years of Unlimited Earth Care. I’m proud of maintaining older designs that continue to thrive, I’m proud when my meadows are visited by birds, and when clients send me photos of their cherry blossom trees at peak bloom.

I’m proud of those moments when my children played in our own garden— catching fireflies and drawing the butterflies—and now when they visit to read by the pool near the flowers. I am proud that so many of my clients have become good friends over the years. My sustainable design philosophy has grown alongside Unlimited Earth Care, and this marks our continuing future in designing beautiful, healthy, sustainable gardens.

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

What’s next for you and Unlimited Earth Care? Are there any endeavors or goals you are excited to share?

Yes, I’m so looking forward to further expanding The Garden Market and The Garden Concept Store. I love finding new outdoor furniture and unique garden accessories to carry—every year new sustainable materials are developed and designers find innovative ways to, say, store a garden hose or reimagine the watering can. An entire chapter of my book, titled “More,” was about this side of garden design: What comes after everything is planted. People come in to look for design solutions and garden accessories to enhance the experience of their garden or just to keep engaging with it. I love that. It’s a chance to just get creative with people and keep in touch with the larger design community.

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

Bloom: The Luminous Gardens of Frederico Azevedo, published by the wonderful Pointed Leaf Press, was an incredible experience and I am planning for more books. Bloom was an overview of my aesthetic and my design philosophy, and it featured hundreds of photographs from my 30 years of designing gardens and landscapes, so I’ve been thinking that my next book would focus on one signature element and be more of a study.

Of course, on the garden and landscape design side, I am definitely excited about the future. The living medium of natural design is where I get to really create something beautiful and healthy—it is what I love to do. Every year I am lucky to have more chances to do it across diverse types of environments, mostly in the Hamptons but also Palm Beach. I hope to continue developing sustainable garden designs, such as my lush meadows and pollinator gardens.

Photographs Courtesy of Unlimited Earth Care.

Now that you’ve gotten to know the caring creator behind Unlimited Earth Care, don’t be shy. Stop by The Garden Market and The Garden Concept Store located at Unlimited Earth Care’s headquarters: 2249 Scuttle Hole Rd, Bridgehampton. This summer, you can also come there to celebrate The Anniversary Event on Saturday, June 17th between 4:00pm and 7:00pm.

Email info@unlimitedearthcare.com or call 631-725-7551 for more information and to work with Frederico Azevedo on your next landscape project.