Our Story

Big Red Sun is a full-service landscape and garden design studio, plant nursery, and lifestyle boutique headquartered in Venice, California. Established in downtown Austin, Texas in 1994, our studio and design center are now located blocks from Venice Beach. We specialize in commercial and residential landscape and garden design services, interior and exterior commissions, special events with floral & plant decor, and boutique ‘gathering’ and event spaces in both Venice, California and Austin, Texas.

From conception, owner and principal designer, Selena Souders, along with her team of designers and construction crew, implement a range of extraordinary landscape, hardscape, and gardening solutions for both residential and commercial spaces. 

We are a union of talents and experiences and we incorporate philosophy, architecture, field botany, welding, floral design and stone carving in our work. Our magical oasis on Rose Avenue in Venice is stocked with a full selection of signature vessels, plantings, succulents, and home/garden accessories.

"It is crucial to the quality and longevity of good design to explore new resources and surround oneself with inspiration and great people. Balancing time between teams in Austin and Los Angeles and exploring their native landscapes is my biggest source of inspiration."

   -Selena Souders, Owner & Principal Designer of Big Red Sun

560 Rose Ave
Venice, CA, 90291
United states

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1102 East Cesar Chavez
Austin, TX, 78702
United states

Big Red Sun is renowned for its distinct ‘Modern-Timeless; Organic-Structured’ use of restorative, native, and naturalized plantings combined with visually striking vessels and tailor-crafted hardscapes. Big Red Sun’s commercial clients include Google, the W Hotel, GK Films, Final Cut, Stubb’s BBQ, the Hotel San Jose, UCHI, Anthony Nad, Fred Segal Santa Monica, and so many more!

Big Red Sun's Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives consistently hit triple bottom line goals in collaboration with community-minded organizations like the Surf Rider Foundation, Ocean Friendly Gardens, Whole Foods, Venice Family Clinic, Venice Neighborhood Association, the Rose Avenue Collective, UpLift Austin, Coo de Tot Design Coalition, Safe Place, HOPE Farmers Market, Community Sustainable Agriculture, the Audubon Society, and more. We are highly engaged in collaborating with community for the greater good!

"Big Red Sun: Probably my favorite garden store on the westside. Big Red Sun serves up nursery plants, interior design, cool plantings, soy candles, vintage furniture and artwork. They've got a great attitude and a fun aesthetic. Plus they often have parties and events for the community."

- Apartment Therapy, Top 10 Venice Destinations

“It doesn’t get much grander than this. With meticulous attention to detail, Big Red Sun turns a blank canvas into a handsome, multi-level setting almost indistinguishable from the indigenous vegetation beyond the property line. Carefully chosen materials cool and soften the hardscape. By planting natives to follow the contours of the land, they’ve put the garden in pleasing the proper context.”

- Emily Young, GARDEN DESIGN

“Big Red Sun offers the most stunning, rustic, unique, vibrant setting in Venice for any event you could be hoping to execute successfully in an atmosphere of utter enchantment.”

- VT, YELP 2011

 

“For busy homeowners who want style without substantial maintenance, those benefits are appealing. So too are Big Red Sun’s fashionable steel vessels, which meld the modern with the classical. The containers can be power coated into metallic greens and oranges, finished in chrome or, if left unfinished, allowed to evolve into a burnt orange or muted black shine.”

- Janet Eastman, LA TIMES

 

"Among the most eye-popping designs is a round steel dish that looks like a flying saucer in sizes from 18 to 90 inches in diameter. The piece is used as a container garden, water feature, fire pit, sculpture or lighting element."

- Stef McDonald, Editor, Lucky

 

"On behalf of all the JP Selects team and John Paul, I would like to thank you so much for your support to our launch and for the beautiful display and living logo. So many guests commented to me on how impressed they were by your beautiful display. We really appreciated your contribution and look forward to seeing you again, Thanks again."

- Paolo Fidanza, J.P. Selects

 

"Design of the garden, workday oversight, discounted plant price and use of tools and truck were generously provided by Selena Souders, an active member of the West LA / Malibu Surfrider Ocean Friendly Gardens Group and owner of Big Red Sun Nursery"

- Venice Family Clinic and Surfrider Foundation

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