Garden Coaching

A lot of visitors to the garden want help creating a garden they will love at home. Some of the questions I get asked most are “What do I do in shade?”, “How do I make my small garden interesting?”, and the big one is “Where do I start?” Whether you have a postage stamp yard or a sprawling suburban lawn, I would love to help anyone start to answer these questions. I am especially keen to work with those with a DIY mindset.

Coaching can take a couple of forms:

1. New homeowner or new gardener general garden walk. I’ll walk around your property with you, helping you understand its garden potential — do you have lots of sun or shade? What are the established plants in your yard, and are they worth building around? What high impact changes can you consider to increase privacy, enjoyment of your deck or patio, or whatever design/usage goals you might have? And are those high impact changes things you can do yourself, or should you hire someone? And how long does everything take?

2. Project specific solutioning. You might have a slope you don’t know how to tackle, or a hot sunny front lawn, or one of many other garden challenges. I’d love to help you assess your situation and make recommendations for plants and hardscaping to solve problems.

3. Specific jobs. I’ve learned a lot about garden installation and hardscaping by building my own garden. I’m not a landscape installer (nor do I have time for large jobs), but I’m available to help you with specific jobs if you feel unsure how to proceed. This might range from helping you plant a new Japanese maple (planting trees can feel intimidating!) to prepping for a paver pathway.

4. Seasonal checkins. There are lots of annual routines in a garden or best times to do various tasks. I can come out to your garden to check on progress and also provide feedback of what you might prioritize to do “now”, “next season” or “next year”.

I am not a garden designer, and do not provide a comprehensive plan; my goal on any project will be to steer you in a good direction. My belief is that when the owner is engaged in the process, especially if willing to do at least some of the work, they’ll start to answer ongoing garden questions more confidently on their own.

My general fee is $50 an hour. An introductory garden walk starts at $250, and includes a written recap of suggestions with plenty of links to resources and plants. Trip charges for properties outside of NE Seattle start at $20 and go up depending on time/distance of travel.

Please fill out the form below to give me a sense of your project, and let’s get started!

If you are the kind of person who benefits from going ahead and paying for something to feel committed before you get psyched out, you can go straight to the coaching payment page and we can arrange the particulars later.