Our desire for a defined, manageable perennial garden alongside the woods surrounding our home on White Iron Lake was delightfully brought to reality through
Kathy's planning and oversight, Todd's expertise with the "not-so-heavy" equipment, and the hard, careful work of their ground crew.
The multiple rock-surrounded areas include beautiful flowers, native small plants and trees in exquisite design and proportion, surrounded by well laid out patio stones and pathways.
We have been impressed and remain grateful for the expeditious work of the Gracie's team-capable, good folks and hard workers providing excellent value.
Dave and Jane

“We chose Gracie’s from Ely to do the landscaping at our new lake home on Vermilion. Kathy, Todd and their crew were wonderful and easy to work with on this project. They listened to our wants and needs but Kathy also presented great ideas for the use of the terrain of our property. We are so pleased with the outcome of their hard work. It was a positive experience. We would recommend Gracie’s to anyone in need of landscaping.”

Linda and Gary

“We remain thrilled with the way Kathy and her crew from Gracie's Plant Works transformed the entranceway to our Dance and Performing Arts Studio! The crushed rock was not only a naturally beautiful addition, it means way less maintenance and a clean look! And, the native perennials continue to thrive. Kathy designed and installed a new stairway to our Sauna down by the lake which is beautiful, sturdy, and safe. Our guests at Tofte Lake Center join me in appreciation of Kathy and company's great work. And, on top of all that, Kathy is a dream human to work with. I’m excited for more!”

Liz Engelman, Executive Director, Tofte Lake Center, Ely, MN

Kathy gave me excellent recommendations for plantings for our cabin in the woods, and flowers for our pollinator garden. She has a great, hard-working and knowledgable crew. The rock garden has been a lot of fun to nurture and is a lovely design feature separating us from the woods.

Linda and Dave

Gracie’s Plant Works designed and built a beautiful fire pit and flagstone patio for us at our lake home. We could not be happier with the final result! Kathy is a pleasure to work with and her crew is professional and experienced. Highly recommended!

Kim and Kimberly

With an eye for detail and design, Kathy and the Gracie’s team created outdoor spaces for our business that relax and inspire.

Steve Piragis, Piragis Northwoods Company

In 2020 Kathy Cyriacks and the talented crew from Gracie’s Plant Works set up the organic garden within a deer/rabbit-proof enclosure at our Echo Trail cabin. It was not an easy task since our cabin is located on an island with only water access. Now we harvest garden-fresh produce from about ten varieties of plants. Kathy’s expert gardening skills got us started. She continues to keep our garden green and thriving with her friendly advice about plant and seed selections and rotation, organic fertilizers, natural pest control, more frost-resistant crops, and harvesting tips.

Steve

I have hired Kathy and her team for several landscape and repair projects around my cabin in Ely. Each time, they took the time to investigate the project and provide an estimate which I always found reasonable. They started work immediately, finished promptly, and ensured I was satisfied before leaving. They are my go-to team for all things landscaping. They are responsive, competent and a joy to work with!

Terry

We were very pleased with the quality and execution of our project. All elements blend well with the natural surroundings.

Shannon & Wendy

We loved the in person design process where you threw out ideas for our paths, gardens, around the garage, boardwalk, patios, and covering up the ugly yellow foam on the cabin. Very reasonably priced and a solution for every “problem” or “challenge”. You started and finished on time and the crew worked hard and was fun to be around. We love the resulting landscaping, which complements our home and provides nice pathways around the property. We also value our ongoing relationship with Gracie’s and enjoy shopping for annuals and perennials each summer! Excellent service!

Kristi & Mike

Gracie’s Plant Works encouraged us to believe we could create anything imaginable and that we could cultivate our resources, goals, ambitions, and passions into our landscaping. Their guidance helped us combine the poetic and the bold with a feeling of serenity and joy.

Joan Beans - The Jasper Company

We hired Kathy and her fabulous crew to create an attractive entrance to our new home “in the woods.” The house is surrounded by forest and the previous owners had let the forest creep right up to the entryway. We were careful to let Kathy know that we were not looking for a suburban look - we just needed to be able to drive up the driveway and see the front of the house, NOT scrubby underbrush. The crew got to work uncovering a beautiful piece of ledge rock, that became one of the focal points of the design. The finished project includes perennials and evergreens with a base of Ely greenstone rocks. They also created a wonderful pollinator garden around an unsightly electric pole in the center of our circle driveway. Tell Kathy what you want in your landscape design and she will deliver more that you could even hope for!! And don’t miss Kathy’s Shop, Gracie’s, on Sheridan St. in Ely for the BEST garden and houseplants and unique gift items!!

Linda and Les

Kathy Cyriacks and her crew have helped us several times with landscaping questions and projects at our cabin. We’re now watching the growth of several beautiful red pines that replaced aging balsam trees. Kathy found and ordered our trees, and had them carefully planted under the watchful eyes of our excited grandson!

Jeff and Patsy

Many thanks for a job well done!

Marietta

Kevin and I want to say Thank You to Kathy, the owner of Gracie’s Plant Works in Ely, MN, for providing such great advice, plants, and landscaping for our lakefront property. I have come to depend on Kathy for advice on how to enhance our outside cabin space. She has never disappointed me. Not only do we buy numerous flowering plants and small trees from Gracie’s, but we recently had her design and build the most beautiful flagstone patio in front of our new sauna. She designed it to fit around a boulder, and we now have a beautiful space to relax and entertain guests after a sauna. I depend on Kathy for all my gardening/landscaping needs! Thank you so much for helping us all these years.

Louise and Kevin

Hi Kathy. We really appreciate you and your people. Our cabin location was a resort with grass and a beach. We loved the location, but the setting did not have a Northwoods feel. Thank you for helping change a suburban lawn to something resembling a beautiful park, and a great representation of Northern Minnesota wilderness.

Brett and Jennifer

Hi, Kathy,

Just wanted to drop you a line or two to thank you and your crew for doing such a great job for us. We are getting compliments left and right. It was above and beyond to come out yesterday in the rain with a gazillion mosquitoes buzzing about.

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend.

Mary and Rick

Thank you so much for the beautiful landscaping you and your fantastic crew did on my front yard. I've wanted this done for a long time, but was never able to do it on my own. I hated the way it looked, but now I have a big grin on my face every time I drive down my driveway and see what you did. Thank you again,

Sandy

Dear Kathy,

My new gardens are beautiful! They’ve totally changed the front of the house: “softer”, more depth, and more “inviting”. Many thanks to you and the young men who did the garden installation!

Pam

When I look out the window in the morning I have to remind myself that the berm and new driveway are really real because it’s all so amazingly beautiful!!!

Kathy took her time to understand our vision and combined with her ideas and her experience was able to provide a result that far exceeded our expectations.
Todd and the crew masterfully crafted boulders, sand, soil, native trees and scrubs to create our end goal of a natural looking berm and relocation of our driveway entrance.
We were amazed at how quickly they were able to start and finish our project in such a timely manner. They were easy and fun to work with. An all around joyful experience!!!
Tony and Kim
Snowbank Lake

The conditions during those two weeks were brutal and everyone worked their butts off pushing through it all!! Anyone besides Gracie’s on the project would have probably abandoned the job and left us hanging. The extra attention to detail was appreciated, and the landscaping rocks by the garage look great!

Thank-you!!
Troy and Kristen

I dreamed of converting a weedy hill in front of my house into a terraced garden. Kathy listened carefully to ideas and added her expertise. Gracie’s team showed up and were polite and hard working until the project was completed. The results are beyond my expectations and I am super happy with the results.

Kari

Working with Kathy and her team is a great experience. Kathy listened well and developed plans that were right in line with the preferences and desires we communicated. Everyone on the team is attentive and they bring a great deal of knowledge and experience to the process. They’re able to make adjustments as needed when new information arises or minds change. Finally, they’re fun to have on site! We will have them back as we continue to evolve our vision for the property.

John and Liz

I arrived at our cabin on Burntside a few days ago and was delighted to see how beautifully the plants had grown around the stairs your crew designed and set last summer. As you remember, because we have a very significant slope from the cabin to the lake, the stair concept was a bit challenging. Not only is the design of the stairs perfect for our property, but the plant selection is also very natural and blends well with our property. I’m happy to say it looks as if the stairs have been in place for generations (except your stairs are safe and very sound!).

Here are a few photos.

Thank you again and please give a warm hello and thank you to your wonderful crew!
Carrie and Tom

Your crew of women did a great job! I especially appreciated their efforts to dig out roots and to haul away old plant material and trash! They also had fun with redoing the stone turtle (kame) and rock stream bed.

Beth

Kathy and landscape team—My flagstone patio is everything I wanted and it truly surpasses what I envisioned!! It embraces the serenity of it’s green surroundings so perfectly landscaped. Please accept my gratitude.

Barb