Molly Sedlacek is the founder of ORCA, a female-founded landscape design and product studio based in Los Angeles. In this episode, she shares how her upbringing with a landscape-designer mother and forester father shaped her belief that materials are living participants, emphasizing simplicity, permeability, and designing for visible time and patina rather than permanence.
We address fire-smart landscape design, including Class A fire-rated black locust lumber and the importance of keeping trees, plus advocacy through client questionnaires that tap sensory memories.
Chapters:
00:00 Start
00:34 Meet Molly of ORCA
02:49 ORCA Name and Roots
04:14 Nature First Design
08:06 Client Questionnaire Prompts
11:37 Designing for Enough
13:41 Visible Time in Gardens
16:39 Local Materials and Pavers
23:30 Wood and Fire Smart Design
31:46 Advocacy Through Education
34:57 Docent Workshops Launch
42:28 Patina Over Maintenance Free
49:19 Rethinking Concrete and Pools
54:32 Closing Thoughts
Follow Molly:
Website: https://www.orcaliving.com/
ORCA on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orcaliving/
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Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/
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About Land Language:
Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.
