Team

TARA STRIANO - FOUNDER, PRINCIPAL: Tara is a landscape designer and horticulturalist with a focus on natural and organic practices. She earned her Certificate in Horticulture from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and graduated from the Master Gardner’s Program at the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Tara is also a professional photographer whose pictures of the North Fork regularly appear in the New York Times and other publications.

ERIC MARTZ - PARTNER: A country boy at heart but with an artist’s sensibility, Eric grew up in rural Pennsylvania and then spent more than a decade working as a creative director for some of Manhattan’s top advertising agencies. Eric now focusses his creativity on hardscape design. Having spent several years working closely with North Fork developers, Eric also handles all aspects of Salty Root’s project management and coordination.

DREW RILEY - LANDSCAPE DESIGN: Drew is a creative thinker who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty (literally). With a BA in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, he has a keen eye for color, texture, and composition. Drew approaches garden and landscape design with overall visual impact in mind using native plants whenever possible. Sourcing the perfect plant specimens for your project is his superpower.

Press

The Work We Do - Suffolk Times

Mattituck Volunteers - Suffolk Times

Approach

We combine landscape design with meticulous installation to create elegant outdoor spaces. Salty Roots is a full-service firm, providing landscape and garden solutions to homeowners, and businesses.

Designing and cultivating unique outdoor spaces takes a passion for nature and a desire to protect it. We have a firm commitment to using environmentally friendly practices.

Our collaborative process is designed to help you discover and achieve your aesthetic vision. We can help you choose the perfect stone for your patio or the right blend of perennials and evergreens to create year-round garden interest.

People come to live and stay “Out East” because of the relaxed lifestyle, the lovely people, and the landscape. That’s why we love being here. As long-time residents of Mattituck, we have a deep love and knowledge of the area and its natural splendor. We strive to create beautiful and functional environments that celebrate what the region has to offer.

Design

Our design services can be adapted to small gardens, patio containers and larger properties. Complete landscape design for both residential and commercial clients is our specialty and pleasure. We aim to create visual interest that can endure all four seasons by layering unique groupings of perennial, evergreen, and annual plants.

For larger designs we begin with an initial meeting to discuss your project. From there we conduct a site analysis and develop a base plan of your property. Using this groundwork we then create a conceptual design. At this stage in the process we work with you to make any additions or revisions necessary. After all changes have been made we present you with your detailed final design and an accompanying plant list.

Installation

We work closely with a select group of professionals to manage every aspect of the design installation, including plantings, hardscape, pools, pergolas, lighting, fencing, irrigation, grading and drainage. 

Anthony, Peconic

"Tara and her team designed an amazing transformation of our entire property after we completed a major home renovation. Literally providing the icing for the cake. We had to deal with an existing pool deck that was an eyesore. Tara did a comprehensive design plan that included all the plantings, the hardscape and the fencing. We now have a natural looking property that is fully functional and beautiful. Salty Roots oversaw the entire project, and currently maintain our property on a weekly basis. Tara and her team take care of everything including organic lawn care as well as tick and deer treatments.  They check on the property on a regular basis all year long and always keep me updated on all aspects of the property.  

Tara is a pleasure to work with and I have recommended her many times and will continue to do so.”

Debbie, Southold

"I cannot begin to thank Tara enough for transforming an ugly mess into an elegant, yet practical landscape. Tara combined her talents as an artist and a plant lover In order to understand lighting and soil conditions spending many hours at various times during the day to study our property before realizing a design. When it came to planting, Tara worked along with her crew taking ownership of the project. She worked within our budget by artistically rearranging many of the existing plants Tara used native and deer resistant plants in the designs. The plants that she added are the finest quality and went into the ground the day of delivery. She continued to check on the plantings after they were in the ground and set us up with a regular deer spraying program

Tara takes pride in her work and is the quintessential professional attending thoughtfully to every detail. It is a pleasure to work with Tara."

AISLING, MATTITUCK

“Salty Roots helped make our dream for a backyard oasis into a reality! Tara, Drew, Eric, and the entire Salty Roots team, have incredible creativity and vision, and are absolutely wonderful to work with! They took a bare yard and made it into a sanctuary by thoughtfully designing and placing every planting bed, tree, and element. The result is beyond anything we could have hoped for, we are so grateful to have worked with Salty Roots!”

Cynthia, Greenport

“For the past seven years we have been blessed to own a beautiful Home on the North Fork of Long Island in Greenport, NY. Part of what makes the house so special is our extraordinary backyard. With its flora and fauna and glorious gardens which have been overseen by the magical hands of Tara Striano and her company Salty Roots. From her incredible knowledge of plants and flowers and her commitment to doing it the “organic way” from the rosebushes to the hydrangeas to the vast herb garden, Tara is the go to person to make you the landscape of your dreams!!!”

ALLISON, TRES BELLE SPA, BROOKLYN

“I have employed Salty Roots to design the seasonal planters outside of my business for years. My plant pots are always showstoppers. Neighbors and clients are always coming by to compliment me on them and ask who the designer is. Tara and Drew are artists!”

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