CALLEY O'NEILL
ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE DESIGN
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Art and Soul for the Earth
Big Island of Hawai'i
Calley’s Early Roots in Gardening with Grampa
Calley O’Neill began gardening when she was “knee high to a grasshopper.” She grew up in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, next door to her pure Italian grandfather, Stephen J. Sessa, a professional photographer and avid gardener. Grampa had a green thumb. Everything he touch fo flourished. He was well known in town for his multi-tiered garden, which included a little of everything Italian: grapevines, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, eggplants, basil, and oregano. He even built a little greenhouse from old recycled windows long before recycling became common.
Grampa taught Calley the art of composting on the top level of the garden. He called it the “humus pile”. He taught her mulching, plant propagation, respect for insect life, and sensitive garden cultivation. The humus pile was magical. He taught her the importance of worms and soil life, instilling a daily reverence for the invisible ecosystem beneath her feet. Calley, his only grandchild with a keen interest in gardening, developed practical skills and a deep understanding of how care, design, biodiversity, and ecological awareness create abundance and beauty. And for a child, plenty of nature-based fun!
When townspeople married, they often hired Grampa to photograph them against the backdrop of his blooming azaleas. He was one of the first photographers in the world to hand-color sepia portraits. Meanwhile, Aunt Flory and Uncle Charlie lived next door with just a single, ancient cherry tree that produced the crispest, sweetest cherries imaginable—a magnet for the neighborhood kids!
Education in Social Ecology and Ecological Agriculture
A highly skilled designer, community facilitator, researcher, and innovative landscape practitioner, Calley has worked in ecological fine art landscape design since 1977, when she earned a master’s degree in Social Ecology from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont.
Her training combined rigorous science with hands-on practice, including:
- Biological Agriculture and Soil Science (Charles Woodard, Goddard College)
- Bio-Intensive mini-farming (John Jeavons, How to Grow More Vegetables)
- Ecological Design (John and Nancy Jack Todd, Institute for Social Ecology and New Alchemy Institute)
- Small-scale Organic Aquaculture (Barry A. Costa-Pierce, PhD, Goddard College)
- Sustainability, Renewable Energy, and Edible Landscaping (Goddard College Cate Farm)
- Culinary and Medicinal Herbs (Herbalist Adele Dawson, Plainfield, Vermont)
- Hawaiian La’au Lapa’au, traditional medicinal plant knowledge, graduated Moʻo level under the late Papa Henry Allen Auwae (9th generation Hawaiian herbal master and Hawaiian cultural teacher)
Her graduate fieldwork, a garden named The Solar Shield, combined aquaculture, gravity-fed i
irrigation/fertilization, and biointensive planting systems. It integrated bio-intensive food production and fish farming, a precursor to the Edible Landscaping and Community Gardens she would later develop in Hawaiʻi.
Early Leadership in Edible Landscaping
Alongside pioneers Robert Kourik and Rosalind Creasy, Calley was among the first U.S. designers to describe and popularize Edible Landscaping. Her gardening column and guidebook for the National Association for Gardening helped demonstrate that landscapes could provide both beauty and food security. She went further, highlighting landscapes’ essential roles in supplying food, craft materials, and medicine.
Calley’s gift for seeing the potential of banal landscapes and gardens and transforming them into beautiful, productive, resilient ecosystems became the foundation of her work. Often, she sat drawing and designing the future, envisioning possibilities everywhere she looked. Sometimes she could only describe them because it took too long to draw the rooftops turning into gardens, and the wall is turning into living walls, and the home is turning into cottage garden style sanctuaries. Her Edible Landscape guidebook was never published, as she refused to compromise on critiques of industrial agribusiness, which she viewed as harmful to the land and human health. In retrospect, she recognizes a more nuanced approach might have broadened its impact, but her integrity shaped her legacy.
Professional Landscape Design in Hawaiʻi
Calley worked professionally in landscape design and construction in Honolulu from 1980 to 1985 and continued her practice on Hawaiʻi Island from 1985 onward. She gained a reputation for terraced gardens, natural stonework, and Edible Landscapes in Manoa Valley.
Her work blends aesthetic design with functional food production, integrating Hawaiian regenerative agriculture, biocultural principles, and traditional knowledge. Notable projects include:
- The Paul Mitchell Edible Landscape, Lanikai, Hawaiʻi
- Terraced Foodscape, Dr. Daniel Sussott Residence, Manoa, Hawaiʻi
- The Children’s Garden at Lailani, Kona, Hawaiʻi Island
- E Ola Ka ʻĀina – “So That the Land May Live,” Hawaiʻi Island ~ A Center For Agriculture, Aquaculture, Art, and Abundance
- The Kahumana Mandala Garden, Waianae, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
- The Healing Gardens of Makahikilua, Master Plan for North Hawaiʻi Community Hospital, Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island
Hawai’i’s Ecological and Food Security Challenge
Hawaiʻi imports roughly 90% of its food, creating an unnecessarily fragile reliance on shipping, fossil fuels, conflict, and global supply chains. This dependence leaves the islands vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters, and economic disruptions. It also drives high food costs, forcing residents to rely on inexpensive, low-nutrition foods that contribute to long-term health issues.
Thoughtfully designed ecological gardens and landscapes offer part of the solution. When integrated across communities, these gardens:
- Support food self-reliance and local nutrition
- Restore soil health and biodiversity
- Conserve water and reduce energy use
- Encourage community interaction, connection, and biocultural education
- Preserve traditional Hawaiian crops like kalo, ʻuala, ʻulu, ko, and maiʻa
A well-designed community or school garden is a “people place”: pathways are walkable and inviting, beds arranged for beauty, accessibility, and productivity. The experience of working or visiting is calming, inspiring, and engaging. These spaces cultivate ecological literacy, a love of the land, and strengthen the human connection to nature. As Hawaiian wisdom reminds us: Take care of the land, and it will take care of you.
Community Gardens as Anchors of Resilience
Calley understands that children who learn to love he soil become natural gardeners. Community gardens are more than food systems, they are living classrooms, social hubs, and cultural preservation spaces. They provide opportunities for:
- Hands-on education about sustainable food systems
- Reconnecting with traditional Hawaiian agricultural practices
- Strengthening social bonds and creating community
- Increasing resilience against environmental and economic stressors
- Demonstrating that gardens can be central, beautiful elements of the landscape, not afterthoughts
By designing gardens that are ecologically sound, visually compelling, and socially engaging, Calley creates spaces people want to visit and protect, reinforcing the principle that thriving landscapes nurture both human health, joy, and the natural world.
A Collaborative Spirit and Vision
An enthusiastic, inspiring collaborator, Calley elevates ecological, edible, and therapeutic landscapes wherever she works. Her lifelong contributions demonstrate that well-designed landscapes are vital tools for ecological restoration, human health, and community resilience. Every restaurant, hotel, park, and school benefits from gardens that are both beautiful and productive.
Currently, one of Hawai’i’s most beautifully productive food gardens thrives at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Hawaiʻi Island. Surrounding an old ʻulu tree relocated for a new spa, this garden exemplifies a model for other resorts: thoughtfully designed, productive, healthy, regenerative, and inspiring. It serves as a reminder that investing in skilled gardeners and Horticulturists instead of just maintenance staff is wise, impactful, and transformative for guests and community alike.
