ABOUT
Staghorn NYC is a boutique landscape design firm based in New York City, creating refined, modern outdoor spaces across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the greater tri-state area. Our work spans urban rooftops, townhouse gardens, historic properties, and weekend homes throughout upstate New York, Connecticut and beyond. Known for thoughtful, naturalistic design and elevated detailing, the studio brings together functionality, beauty, and a deep understanding of how people live with their outdoor spaces.
As a small but highly specialized team of landscape designers, horticulturists, and project partners, Staghorn NYC manages projects of every scale from compact courtyards and terrace gardens to full-property renovations and multi-level outdoor living environments. Collaboration is at the heart of our process; we work closely with architects, builders, interior designers, and engineers to seamlessly integrate the landscape into the overall architecture of a site. Our trusted network of contractors and craftspeople ensures that each design is executed with exceptional care and precision.
Our design approach is rooted in context and client with every project being shaped by the site’s character and the way our clients want to live outdoors. No two gardens are alike. Whether the vision calls for a lush, ecological planting palette, a contemporary outdoor entertaining space, or a restful urban retreat, we create landscapes that feel both highly intentional and effortlessly lived in.
Staghorn’s work has received awards from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and has been featured in Dwell, ELLE DECOR, Domino, Brownstoner and the gestalten book Penthouse Syndrome. Our work will also appear in Blue Carreon’s forthcoming book, Secret Gardens of New York City, to be published in February 2027.
At Staghorn NYC, we believe great gardens are sustainable, resilient, and deeply personal—extensions of the home that evolve beautifully across the seasons.
Contact us to request a design consultation.
KATHERINE "KAT" AUL CERVONI
FOUNDER + PRINCIPAL
Staghorn NYC is led by founder and principal Katherine Aul Cervoni, a landscape designer known for creating refined, naturalistic gardens that balance contemporary structure with soft, textural, and seasonally expressive planting. Katherine holds a Master of Science in Landscape Design from Columbia University and began her horticultural career as an intern at the New York Botanical Garden, where she developed a deep understanding of plant ecology and urban landscapes.
Her work centers on creating outdoor spaces that feel both elevated and deeply livable: gardens that function beautifully, celebrate the rhythms of nature, and offer moments of calm within the density of city life. Through her blog, The Cultivation, Kat shares her expertise in gardening, horticulture, and outdoor living with an inviting, approachable voice, welcoming more people into the world of gardening regardless of their level of experience.
Before founding Staghorn NYC in 2014, Kat lived and worked in Tokyo, Japan, where exposure to highly intentional design and compact spatial planning shaped her sensitivity to scale, composition, and detail. She later worked with several prominent New York City landscape design firms, contributing to residential and commercial projects throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. These experiences continue to inform her people-centered approach and her ability to create outdoor spaces that feel cohesive, functional, and grounded in place.
Kat was featured in Homeworthy’s Gardenworthy series for her redesign of the Homeworthy founders’ private Manhattan penthouse rooftop garden. She also regularly contributes gardening and landscape-design expertise to publications including Homes & Gardens, Veranda, House Beautiful, Livingetc., Real Homes, among others.
Under Kat’s leadership, Staghorn has become a studio devoted to ecologically minded planting, thoughtful material choices, native and locally adapted species, and ethical working relationships. She is a member of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and regularly mentors emerging designers, plant enthusiasts, and entrepreneurs. Each fall, she also coaches budding entrepreneurs through Columbia University's annual Greater Good Challenge.
TRELLA ISABEL LOPEZ
JUNIOR LANDSCAPE DESIGNER
Trella Isabel Lopez is a New York–based designer whose work explores the relationship between architecture, landscape, and living systems. With a background spanning architecture and environmental science, her multidisciplinary approach is rooted in a deep fascination with the interplay between the natural and built environments.
As a Junior Landscape Designer at Staghorn NYC, Trella works across residential projects from concept through construction, developing landscapes that are responsive to their ecological, architectural, and social contexts. Her approach considers planting, materiality, and spatial experience, with an emphasis on cultivating intimate connections between people and living landscapes.
Trella holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, as well as a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Vermont. Her architectural background informs a sensitivity to scale, structure, and material detail, while her environmental studies have shaped her interest in landscape as a living infrastructure capable of supporting ecological resilience and community.
Before joining Staghorn, Trella worked as a Research Assistant with Columbia GSAPP’s Natural Materials Lab, where she investigated material systems and ecological approaches to architecture. During her time with the lab, she contributed to a project presented at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Trella has also worked as a Resilience Project Intern at Trinity Church Wall Street, where she developed a Resilience Plan that contributed to the broader research and planning efforts informing subsequent capital improvements led by Sasaki.
Across her work, Trella is interested in blurring the boundaries between architecture and landscape to create spaces that are not simply inhabited, but alive. Her work seeks to respond to the rhythms of nature while remaining grounded in the needs and experiences of the people who use them.