Map
What is happening around you. Gardens to visit, events, seed libraries, plants for trade, volunteering opportunities.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Vitality
The whole picture, in one table.
The luxuries are real, and most of them stay free. This page is the whole picture: what comes with any Holon account, what membership unlocks, and how the math sustains itself. There is one row for every offering. Find your fit and walk through it.
If membership is out of reach
Our 3% Initiative gives the same access to anyone who needs it, at no cost. It is funded by members and direct donations. Learn how the 3% Initiative works
Three ways to be a member
Sapling, Grove, Habitat.
Each tier unlocks a deeper partnership. Move up when you are ready. Move back when life shifts. Membership is annual; you can pause, change, or end it at any time. Look for the tier badges in the table below to see what each unlocks.
Compare what is included.
Five ways to engage with Holon. Every offering belongs to one of these columns. Use this table to find your fit.
| Offering | FreeAnyone with a Holon account | SaplingEntry membership | GroveActive partnership | HabitatFull ecosystem | Project workBy engagement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PortalWhat every Holon account unlocks. | |||||
MapWhat is happening around you. Gardens to visit, events, seed libraries, plants for trade, volunteering opportunities. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
VolunteeringFind ways to help in your neighbourhood. Built for safety, regulation compliance, and small-scale local action. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
EventsHyper-local calendar of plant exchanges, gardening collaborations, and community gatherings. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
Trade, share, and source native plants outside the conventional industry. Built to redirect a multi-million-dollar landscape supply chain toward local ecosystems. | — | Sapling+ | Sapling+ | Sapling+ | — |
Plant LibraryA first-of-its-kind plant database that connects ecology, safety, food, allergens, child and pet considerations, and local impact in one view. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
MessagingCoordinate small events, plant trades, and volunteer days with neighbours. Privacy and safety controls built in. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
Track your garden's species, ecological data, and seasonal changes. Spreadsheet-power for the data-driven; light and friendly for everyone else. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
Export a detailed report of your garden's plants and ecosystem benefits. Useful for HOA conversations, neighbour education, and sharing your work. | — | Sapling+ | Sapling+ | Sapling+ | — |
Support / DonateContribute directly to Holon and the 3% Initiative. Every account can support the work, regardless of tier. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
Commit / Set ObjectivesSet goals for your yard and your stewardship practice. Get a tailored plan and recommendations grounded in your specific context. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
Check your own progress against your commitments. A starting point for community trust. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
Invite others to verify your commitments. Deeper accountability, broader trust, and access to benefits that depend on it. | — | Sapling+ | Sapling+ | Sapling+ | — |
The ongoing work of caring for your garden across seasons. Tending, editing, protecting ecological balance. | Included | Included | Included | Included | — |
Exclusive EventsSmall gatherings for our most engaged community. Philosophy, hands-in-the-soil sessions, conversations about what is next. | — | — | Grove+ | Grove+ | — |
The yard becomes beautiful gradually as plants establish at their own rhythm. Lower cost, slower visible change. Same destination as the Accelerated path, just on the garden's timeline. | |||||
Monthly Art PackageOnce a month, a piece by a local artist whose work resonates with the kind of conservation we are building together. | — | — | Grove+ | Grove+ | — |
A focused visit to your garden. We learn what you have, what you want, and leave you with a clear next step. Sometimes that is all you need. | — | — | — | — | By project |
Materials & ToolsWe plan and source the right tools and materials for your context. Saves you money on things you would not have used. | — | — | — | — | By project |
Monthly Seed PackageA hand-curated mix of seeds for your region and season, shipped monthly. Add them to your Garden Card the moment they go in the soil. | — | — | Grove+ | Grove+ | — |
Our proprietary, non-permanent irrigation system, paid monthly instead of as capital expense. Survives extreme weather, no maintenance bills. | — | — | — | Habitat | By project |
Monthly Plant DeliveryA hand-grown plant from our gardens, shipped monthly, chosen for your region and season. | — | — | Grove+ | Grove+ | — |
Partial or full stewardship by our team when you do not have the time or capacity. Scope and cost depend on your yard, your goals, and how much of the work you want to keep in your own hands. Included in Habitat membership at the agreed-on scope; available as a project line on any tier. | — | — | — | Habitat | By project |
Advocacy SupportEducation, technical arguments, and in extreme cases legal support when HOAs or neighbours challenge your conservation work. Scope and cost depend on the nature of the dispute and the level of formal representation needed. Included in Habitat membership at a baseline level of support; expanded engagements available as a project line on any tier. | — | — | — | Habitat | By project |
The yard looks beautiful right away, with the underlying ecosystem still maturing for another year or two. Higher cost, faster visible change. Same destination as the Natural path, reached faster. | |||||
Design / Architectural LandscapingFormal planning for stewards who want a complete plan before any Transition begins. Designers, ecologists, and urbanists working in your specific context. | — | — | — | — | By project |
Collaborative, improvised garden design with the steward and family. A faster, more creative alternative to traditional landscape architecture, without skipping the safety planning. | — | — | — | — | By project |
Intervention / TransitionThe build. Local artisans, multi-disciplinary teams, and engineering rigor that quietly outclasses the conventional landscape industry. | — | — | — | — | By project |
Portal
What every Holon account unlocks.
Volunteering
Find ways to help in your neighbourhood. Built for safety, regulation compliance, and small-scale local action.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Events
Hyper-local calendar of plant exchanges, gardening collaborations, and community gatherings.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Trade, share, and source native plants outside the conventional industry. Built to redirect a multi-million-dollar landscape supply chain toward local ecosystems.
Plant Library
A first-of-its-kind plant database that connects ecology, safety, food, allergens, child and pet considerations, and local impact in one view.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Messaging
Coordinate small events, plant trades, and volunteer days with neighbours. Privacy and safety controls built in.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Track your garden's species, ecological data, and seasonal changes. Spreadsheet-power for the data-driven; light and friendly for everyone else.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Export a detailed report of your garden's plants and ecosystem benefits. Useful for HOA conversations, neighbour education, and sharing your work.
Support / Donate
Contribute directly to Holon and the 3% Initiative. Every account can support the work, regardless of tier.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Commit / Set Objectives
Set goals for your yard and your stewardship practice. Get a tailored plan and recommendations grounded in your specific context.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Check your own progress against your commitments. A starting point for community trust.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Invite others to verify your commitments. Deeper accountability, broader trust, and access to benefits that depend on it.
The ongoing work of caring for your garden across seasons. Tending, editing, protecting ecological balance.
- Free
- Included
- Sapling
- Included
- Grove
- Included
- Habitat
- Included
- Project work
- —
Exclusive Events
Small gatherings for our most engaged community. Philosophy, hands-in-the-soil sessions, conversations about what is next.
The yard becomes beautiful gradually as plants establish at their own rhythm. Lower cost, slower visible change. Same destination as the Accelerated path, just on the garden's timeline.
Monthly Art Package
Once a month, a piece by a local artist whose work resonates with the kind of conservation we are building together.
A focused visit to your garden. We learn what you have, what you want, and leave you with a clear next step. Sometimes that is all you need.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- —
- Project work
- By project
Materials & Tools
We plan and source the right tools and materials for your context. Saves you money on things you would not have used.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- —
- Project work
- By project
Monthly Seed Package
A hand-curated mix of seeds for your region and season, shipped monthly. Add them to your Garden Card the moment they go in the soil.
Our proprietary, non-permanent irrigation system, paid monthly instead of as capital expense. Survives extreme weather, no maintenance bills.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- Habitat
- Project work
- By project
Monthly Plant Delivery
A hand-grown plant from our gardens, shipped monthly, chosen for your region and season.
Partial or full stewardship by our team when you do not have the time or capacity. Scope and cost depend on your yard, your goals, and how much of the work you want to keep in your own hands. Included in Habitat membership at the agreed-on scope; available as a project line on any tier.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- Habitat
- Project work
- By project
Advocacy Support
Education, technical arguments, and in extreme cases legal support when HOAs or neighbours challenge your conservation work. Scope and cost depend on the nature of the dispute and the level of formal representation needed. Included in Habitat membership at a baseline level of support; expanded engagements available as a project line on any tier.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- Habitat
- Project work
- By project
The yard looks beautiful right away, with the underlying ecosystem still maturing for another year or two. Higher cost, faster visible change. Same destination as the Natural path, reached faster.
Design / Architectural Landscaping
Formal planning for stewards who want a complete plan before any Transition begins. Designers, ecologists, and urbanists working in your specific context.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- —
- Project work
- By project
Collaborative, improvised garden design with the steward and family. A faster, more creative alternative to traditional landscape architecture, without skipping the safety planning.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- —
- Project work
- By project
Intervention / Transition
The build. Local artisans, multi-disciplinary teams, and engineering rigor that quietly outclasses the conventional landscape industry.
- Free
- —
- Sapling
- —
- Grove
- —
- Habitat
- —
- Project work
- By project
Three ways to be a member.
Sapling
Entry membership
$3 / month
About a dollar a week. Less than a single coffee, redirected to your stewardship practice.
You and us, getting to know your yard. Priced at the platform cost of one Portal account. Trade and source plants through the Distributed Nursery. Send neighbours a Garden Report when an HOA conversation needs evidence. Invite community verification of your stewardship commitments.
Grove
Active partnership
$30 / month
About a dollar a day. Comparable to a Substack you read or a wine club shipment.
Everything in Sapling, plus monthly seed and plant deliveries from our gardens, hands-on stewardship help when you need it, exclusive events with the Holon team, and advocacy support if your work runs into HOA or neighbour pushback.
Habitat
Full ecosystem
$300 / month
About the cost of a typical Houston HOA fee, redirected to your land instead of the cul-de-sac. Includes Irrigation as a Service.
Everything in Grove, plus our proprietary Irrigation as a Service. No capital expenditure, no permanent install, no maintenance bills during freezes or droughts. Built for stewards who want the most active partnership we offer.
Every tier funds free access through our 3% Initiative for those who need it.
Give a membership
A vitality yard makes a meaningful gift.
A Holon membership is a quietly beautiful present for the people in your life at moments that ask for ground. A new chapter, a settled chapter, or a chapter you simply want to mark. It says: I see what you are building, and I want to help the ground hold it. We will reach out to the recipient with care, on a date you choose, with a Site Conversation as the first step.
Good occasions to give one
A new home
A housewarming gift the household will live inside for years. The yard becomes a love letter from you to their soil.
A wedding or partnership
Most wedding registries are about the inside of the house. Give them the outside; give them the block they will raise children on.
A move to a new city
A new yard is the fastest way to feel rooted in an unfamiliar place. The Custode visits become a way to know the neighbourhood.
A baby on the way
A garden the child will grow up inside. Native pollinators on the porch by the time they walk.
Retirement
A yard becomes a daily practice with seasons. The Custode relationship becomes a weekly social anchor.
A birthday or holiday
Standard gifts depreciate the moment they are unwrapped. A vitality yard appreciates over decades.
What a garden costs.
Until now, Houston gave you two ways to get a garden. Hire it all out, and the price carries trucks, insurance, and an office you will never visit. Or do it all yourself, and the price hides in retail markups, eighty hours, and your back in July. We are building a third way: Do It Together, with you, with us, with your street. Move the slider and watch the cost change shape instead of just size: from money into mornings, from one bill into many hands. We still show the math. We stopped pretending the math was only in dollars.
The Holon way: how much of it happens together?
Mostly youTogether
Half and half. Your street joins for the big pushes. Mulch arrives on a Saturday with twelve neighbors and coffee. Craftspeople take only what is truly technical.
Who carries the work
You 42%Your street 14%Craftspeople 12%Holon 32%
Dollars, year one
$3,100
your own purchases$300
to craftspeople$400
to Holon$2,400
full-service comparison: $12,000 and up
Your Saturdays
~7 (41 hrs)
the daily noticing stays yours
Heavy lifting
Moderate
Houston summer counts
People in the story
13
neighbors, makers, your Custode
About $400 of this goes directly to craftspeople within a few miles of your yard.
Estimates are modeled on a 1,000 square foot yard with Houston-area native palettes and average soil. Natural Transition seeds the yard over seasons; Accelerated Transition installs the bones up front. The numbers here are a model of the mix, not a quote. We confirm your numbers, and your size, in a free Site Conversation.
The two old roads
Hire it all out
$12,000 to $25,000
A full-service native build on a thousand square feet typically lands here. The people doing the work are skilled, most of them love the work, and the same structure that writes your bill pays them too little. Materials pass through a few large suppliers, the watering requires a state license, and the benefit concentrates: one yard improves, the money leaves the street, and the hour outside with a neighbor never happens, at any price.
Do it all alone
“Free,” paid differently
The same thousand square feet, done alone, looks free and is not. Native plants run ten to fourteen dollars a gallon at retail, when you can find them. Nine cubic yards of soil move by hand. Count the tools, the weekends, the heat index, and the risk of becoming a contractor's emergency in week three. Doing it yourself is brave. It is also the same disease as the first road: every input traveling the long way around to reach you, alone.
Two roads, one structure. The cost was never in the plant. It was in the distance.
For institutions
Corporate, foundation, or institutional gift?
If your organization is exploring a gift, sponsorship, partnership, or donor-advised-fund routing that doesn't fit the residential tier ladder, write to us here. A real human reads every submission and replies within two business days.
Common questions
Ten questions we hear often, answered plainly.
What is Holon?
Holon is a Texas non-profit that helps homeowners and organizations turn their yards into native habitat. We are a community first, with paid services that fund free access for everyone else.
What does Holon actually do for me?
Three things. We help you plan your yard's transition with the right plants for your soil and climate. We can install and maintain the work, or we can hand you the tools and knowledge to do it yourself. And we connect you to a local network of stewards, plant sources, and events.
What does it cost?
A free Holon account costs nothing. Sapling membership is $3/month, Grove is $30/month, Habitat is $300/month (with 20% off when paid annually). One-time projects (Site Conversation, Design, Transition, Irrigation) are quoted based on your yard. The full breakdown is in the Compare table above.
How does the process work, step by step?
1) Free Site Conversation: we visit, listen, and leave you with a clear next step. 2) Plan: you choose your approach (Natural Transition over 2 to 3 seasons, or Accelerated Transition over months). 3) Build: we install, or you DIY with our support. 4) Steward: ongoing care, either by you, by us, or both.
How does this compare to a conventional lawn?
Conventional sod-and-irrigation runs $4,500–$12,000 to install plus $1,500–$3,500 a year forever. A Holon vitality yard is a one-time investment with much lower ongoing cost, and it pays back in cleaner air (PM2.5 capture), cooler microclimate, songbirds, and property value.
Who does the design and Transition work?
Holon's small in-house team plus a network of local artisans, ecologists, and landscape professionals we have vetted. We work in multi-disciplinary pairs so no single person is the bottleneck.
How long does a transition take?
Natural Transition: 2 to 3 seasons of patient succession. Accelerated Transition: a few months from install to a finished look, with full ecosystem maturity over 1 to 2 years.
What if I want to cancel or pause?
Membership is annual but can be paused, changed, or ended at any time without fees. Project work is invoiced per project, with milestone payments and no long-term lock-in.
Can I save money by doing it myself?
Yes. Sapling membership gives you the Distributed Nursery (peer-to-peer plant sourcing), the Plant Library, and Garden Card tools. Many stewards plan and plant on their own with our support. The tradeoffs are time, expertise, and survival rate; we are honest about all three.
What about commercial, multi-acre, or school projects?
Yes. We work with HOAs, schools, religious campuses, and commercial properties. The base process is the same; the scope and timeline scale up. Start with a Site Conversation, we will tell you honestly whether your project fits our model.
What these words mean
Holon uses some specific language. Here are plain definitions for the terms used above. Tap any underlined word in the table to see the same definition right where it appears.
- Custode
- Your dedicated steward. A small Holon team that knows your yard's history and visits on a schedule you set.
- Stewardship
- The ongoing care of a garden across seasons. Tending, editing, protecting the ecological balance you have built.
- Distributed Nursery
- A peer-to-peer way to source, trade, and share native plants outside the conventional supply chain.
- Garden Card
- Your garden's profile in the Portal. Species list, ecological data, seasonal notes.
- Garden Report
- An exportable PDF summarising your garden's plants and their ecosystem benefits, written for non-technical readers.
- Self-Verify
- Check your own progress against the commitments you set for your stewardship practice.
- Community Verification
- Trusted neighbours and other stewards verify your work, opening access to benefits that depend on community trust.
- Site Conversation
- A focused visit to your garden where we listen, look, and leave you with one clear next step. Replaces the pricier 'site assessment' framing some of our peers use.
- Irrigation as a Service
- A non-permanent irrigation system, paid as a monthly service instead of a capital install. No freeze-damage replacement bills.
- Assisted Stewardship
- We do some or all of the stewardship work for you. Your Custode coordinates with you on what stays in your hands and what goes to ours. Always scoped to your specific yard and goals; included in Habitat membership at the agreed scope, available as a project line on any tier.
- VibeScaping
- Collaborative, improvised garden design. A faster and more creative alternative to traditional landscape architecture, without skipping the safety and regulatory steps.
- Natural Transition
- A garden transformation paced over 2 to 3 seasons through patient succession. The yard becomes beautiful gradually, on the garden's timeline rather than ours. Lower cost, slower visible change. The end result is fully gorgeous, identical to an Accelerated Transition garden, just reached at a different pace.
- Accelerated Transition
- A garden transformation that uses mature plants and active soil-building so the yard looks beautiful within months. The underlying ecosystem still matures for another 1 to 2 years. Higher cost, faster visible change. The end destination is the same as a Natural Transition; you are paying to skip the wait.
- 3% Companion
- Anyone who accesses the same membership benefits through our 3% Initiative at no cost. Open by application to those for whom paid membership is out of reach.
Ready to start?
A Site Conversation is the simplest way in. We come visit, we listen, and you leave with a clear next step. No charge for the conversation.
One story, three doors
Vitality. Relationships. Solidarity.
What you feel in your front yard is made real by how we see it, and kept honest by how we are structured to deliver it. The three are the same story.
Vitality
What you feel.
A place of wellness, lifestyle, and health for your household.
Cooler mornings. Returned birdsong. Quieter air at the front door. A yard the children come back to and the block begins to recognise. The felt experience Holon is composing for your family.
You are here.
Relationships
How we see.
A garden of sciences. Many disciplines held in relationship.
Nutrition, neuro-aesthetics, ecology, mycology, horticulture, sociology, hydrology, economy. Every yard is a relationship between disciplines. Systems engineering is how we hold them together.
The Science →
Solidarity
How we sustain.
A 501(c)(3) Foundation, because the money has to flow the other way.
The for-profit landscaping industry is structured to produce repeat maintenance revenue. A vitality yard requires the opposite logic. A Foundation is the only delivery structure whose financial obligation points at the household and the block, not the service contract.
The Foundation →