What’s in a name?
Toposana is a made-up word—but it carries real meaning. Topo means “place.” Sana means “to heal,” or “to shine.” Together, they hint at what we’re all about: the healing power of place, and the quiet ways a garden can restore us (while we restore it). We added Studios because this isn’t just a gardening business. It’s a creative space. A collaboration. Between people and plants, clients and caretakers, spaces and stories. Every garden we tend is its own little studio—alive, evolving, and full of potential.

How It All Began
Hi, I’m Tawnia Quick, and I’m the owner of Toposana Studios. I’ve spent over a decade working in Bay Area gardens, and in that time, I’ve witnessed the quiet, powerful impact these spaces can have on the people who tend them. There’s something magnetic about the relationship between humans and plants—how it deepens over time, how it heals in unexpected ways. That connection is what keeps pulling me deeper into this work.

I got my start in my early twenties, studying Permaculture Design—a practice rooted in creating edible landscapes that are both self-sustaining and healing to the earth. While my curiosity soon grew beyond food gardens, permaculture gave me a lens I still use today. I began tending private gardens on the side, weaving ecological care into every space I touched: building soil health, turning garden waste into garden resources, and cultivating biodiversity as the most elegant form of pest control.

Over time, I started seeing the urban landscape differently—not as isolated parcels, but as a living patchwork of habitat corridors and climate-resilient micro-systems. And the more I tended to the land, the more I realized something else: the land was tending to me, too. It teaches us to slow down, to root in, to reach out, to bloom. It shows us when to rest and when to grow—and in doing so, it brings us back to ourselves.

Our Mission
At Toposana Studios, we help people reconnect with the places they live—through gardens that are alive, resilient, and full of meaning. Our mission is to restore landscapes and relationships: between humans and habitats, caretakers and wildness, beauty and function. Whether we’re coaching a new gardener, caring for a long-loved yard, or designing a space from scratch, our work always centers this question: how can tending this land help it thrive—and help you thrive, too?

What We Value
We believe gardens are more than pretty backdrops. They’re teachers, companions, tiny ecosystems, and powerful places of transformation. Our work is rooted in a few simple principles:

• Reciprocity — We tend the land, and the land tends us.

• Ecological care — Healthy soil, thriving biodiversity, and working with nature are the backbone of every project.

• Relationship over routine — This isn’t a cookie-cutter service. We listen closely, observe deeply, and adapt our care to each unique space.

• Beauty with purpose — We believe aesthetics and ecology belong together—and that beauty can be medicine.

• Creative collaboration — Between client and garden, between gardener and designer, between nature and nurture.

What We Do
Toposana Studios offers more than just gardening services—we offer partnership. Whether you need hands-on help, design insight, or someone to walk alongside you as you learn, we’re here to support your relationship with the land.

Our offerings include:

• Garden Care — Thoughtful, seasonal, and ecologically grounded maintenance for existing gardens.

• Garden Coaching — One-on-one sessions to help you grow your skills, your confidence, and your connection to your space.

• Garden Consulting — Expert guidance on planting plans, soil health, habitat support, water-wise strategies, and more.

• Creative Collaboration — Custom design and project support for those dreaming of something new.

Ready to grow something together?
→ Curious about coaching? Reach out to schedule a personalized session.
→ Need fresh eyes on your landscape? Book a consultation.
→ Want help tending your garden with intention and care? Let’s talk garden maintenance.

We can’t wait to see what your garden—and you—are becoming.