Meet Darbi
“A thoughtfully designed space evolves over time for years of enjoyment, season after season.”
Darbi Davis has practiced in the private and public arena of landscape architecture for the past eighteen years. Her landscape designs can be seen at residential, commercial and institutional locations throughout the desert southwest, primarily in the greater Tucson area.
Born and raised along the Gulf coast of Sarasota, Florida, and nearly native to Tucson, Arizona, Darbi is passionate about the natural environment. Her awareness of the seemingly tranquil coast and the coarse beauty of the desert give her a unique perspective on regional context, ecology, water, and the relationship between us and our environment. Her designs create spaces that respect the environment, encourage social interaction, consider history, and sustain the ephemerality of time.
Darbi’s studies are grounded in fine arts and anthropology, which allows her to recognize opportunities, constraints, and patterns between people and nature. She believes that patterns in nature often reveal the most suitable landscape design solutions. Darbi’s landscape design services center on Commercial and Residential Design, Native Plant Preservation, Water Harvesting, Circulation and Wayfinding Plans, as well as the associated project management and construction coordination.
Her passion for sustainability form the backbone of such advocacy efforts as event coordination with Living Streets Alliance (Bike Fest, Cyclovia, Walk and Roll to School Day, Bike to Work Week) and as a contributing columnist to 3 Story Magazine on environmental and art topics. In 2016, she was appointed Southern Section Chair Elect for the Arizona Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Prior to launching Red Bark Design in 2006, Darbi was a Senior Planner for Pima County, where she reviewed, revised, and accepted countless development projects including subdivisions, commercial development plans, and residential mitigation plans. She presented projects to the Design Review Committee, contributed to the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, and assisted in proposed statute revisions that impact native plants.
She holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture from The University of Arizona and a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History and Anthropology. She is also a longtime member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Where might you have seen some of Darbi’s designs? Her more well-known landscape design projects include work in Tucson, Arizona, as well as California and Florida:
- Mountain View Neighborhood
- Barrio Viejo
- El Montevideo
- Sam Hughes
- Menlo Park
- Old Fort Lowell Historic District
- Starr Pass
- University Heights, San Diego, CA
- Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL
- Indian Beach-Sapphire Shores, Sarasota, Florida
Connect with Darbi Davis on LinkedIn.

