[7][26][3][27] Gardner's compositions often combine acoustic instrumentation and electronic music created from organic sound sources and field recordings;[16][1][11] reviews frequently note a seamless blending of these elements in her work, described by The New Yorker as an "alchemy of craft, whimsy and sensual appeal.
[7][33] The composition "Marblehead" (1992)—commissioned for a dance whose props included a chair and a large bowl of marbles—was created entirely from sampled sounds of marbles clicking and rolling; in a review of the work's later performance, Cleveland's The Plain Dealer described it as "amusing taped study in rhythm and percussive sonorities.
[32][35][23] She wrote "Light Chimney" (1995, for flute, trumpet, horn and percussion) for a Smithsonian Institution-commissioned dance performance in the National Building Museum, creating a hushed response to the site's cavernous size, structure and textures.
[1][5][39] Reviews describe its music as exhibiting clear compositional structures and accessible rhythms, expressivity in both solo lines and electroacoustic textures, and a fluid dynamic between those two modes, ranging from often indistinguishable samplings, expansions and variations on the soloist sounds to open, confrontational dialogues.
"[4] Other compositions include "Luminoso" (2003), whose flamenco strumming and processed sounds critic Alex Ross described as evoking "a lone guitarist wandering around a sun-baked ruin";[12] "Tourmaline" (2004), described in performance reviews as a taut, engaging mix of soprano saxophone, bustling counterpoints and ghostly echoes;[40][41] "New Skin" (2004), a meditative, slightly improvisatory work contrasting alto flute and processed percussion sounds;[4][5] and "Ónice" (2003), written for bass clarinetist Harry Sparnaay.
[8][46] Washington Post and San Francisco Classical Voice reviews of the piece's performance describe the work as balanced in its "bracing effects and textures" and both highly lyrical and "provocative of thought," respectively.
[31][8] "Crows" (1998), a five-vignette work commissioned by the San Antonio-based SOLI Chamber Ensemble, was inspired by texts about earth and nature by Native American poet Joy Harjo.
[49][50] Inspired by a line in Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass about how thoughts become reality, the work has been described as both well-structured and open to random ideas, with a succession of linked, cheerful instrumental motifs with an undercurrent of melancholy.
[28][50][49][9] In 2016, Gardner was commissioned by the Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble to write a work inspired by Yellowstone for a tour commemorating the 100th anniversary of the National Park system.
Reviewers noted the piece's sensitive melodies, open harmonies, restless progression and lively rhythms, connecting it to the works of American composers Charles Ives and Aaron Copland.
The result was her score, "Stay Elevated," which was based on workshop improvisations, snippets and rhythms created or suggested by the participants and performed by symphony musicians in the lobby of the Seattle Art Museum.