Gardening Expertise

About Me:

I am fascinated by nature. I started camping with my family when I was still in diapers and spent my adolescence on a farm. I’ve enjoyed playing in the dirt ever since. I started on the agricultural side of gardening as a commercial sprout grower in the early 2000’s. After becoming a mother of two, I focused on growing a small organic vegetable garden every year as a hobby.  

When my children entered high school, I began maintaining the condominium corporation's gardens. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to take online courses in garden design, maintenance, biology, soil science, and environmental science.  I applied this knowledge to the design of the condominium gardens as well as the forested area behind my home.

Contributing positively to the environment, while also building something beautiful, is my passion.  I use environmentally friendly pest control methods and compost-based fertilizers.

I would love to assist you in building/maintaining your dream garden.  From the renaturalization of an area to big blooms everywhere and everything in between, let’s make it happen. 

Services:

Garden Maintenance & Design

Spring Clean Up

From May through June

A spring clean-up to spruce up your garden space! I use compost-based fertilizer as well as preventative pest control care to give your plants their best healthy start.  If desired, I can also plant cold-hardy flowers to give your garden a little pop of colour while waiting for the summer blooms to start. 

• Free estimate and consultation

• Removing leaf and other organic litter from your garden

• Trim shrubs

• Cedar spruce-ups

• Weed pulling

• Targeted compost placement

• Mulching, if wanted

• Pest preventative care

• The option to have cold-hardy flowers planted to add a pop of colour to the spring garden, weather permitting

Weekly, Biweekly and Monthly Maintenance

Available May through September

This flexible maintenance service is perfect if you love having a garden but don’t have the time or desire to maintain one.  If you leave for several weeks in the Summer and don’t like coming home to weeds and wilting flowers, a vacation-only package for maintenance visits might be exactly what you need.

• Free estimate and consultation

• Watering

• Weeds pulled

• Deadheading flowering shrubs

• Preventative and active pest control (avoiding chemical pesticides)

• Nutrition added

• Pruning damaged leaves and stems

• Pruning and shaping shrubs (as preferred)

• Planting and replacing previously agreed-upon plants

• Splitting and transplanting previously agreed-upon plants

• Lawn mowing if requested

Winter Prep

Available September through October

For when it’s time to put your garden to bed.  Like us before a deep sleep, a garden needs to be cleaned up, full of good food, and safely tucked in.

• Free estimate and consultation

• Spring bulb planting

• Sow flower seeds that need cold stratification

• Cutback of shrubs if necessary

• Cut back dying plants

• Leaf removal (depending on pests and preference)

• Fall compost fertilizing

• Tying and covering vulnerable shrubs

Sustainable Garden Designs

Available May through October

The goal of this design is to create a garden that helps to take care of itself, with minimal maintenance, with maximum joy! Using the principles of design and colour, a sustainable garden can be dynamic, balanced, flowing, and have beautiful areas of interest.  This garden type is a biodiverse puzzle of complementary plants, placed in the sun and soil where they thrive naturally. A plant that loves the soil moisture and composition type it’s in doesn’t need as much watering or care. If you are the person who forgets to water your plants, we can choose drought-resistant plants that suit your style. Do you have a part of your lawn that seems to stay soggy? It could be a perfect place for a garden filled with the water-hungry Blue Flag Irises, Michigan Lilies, and Monkey Flowers! 

Plants that are pollinator-friendly, pest repulsers, and beneficial insect attractors can create a symphony of colours and textures, all while protecting the garden as a whole. Flowering ground covers crowd out weeds while reducing the need for cedar mulch replacement each year. By avoiding invasive plants, you skip the task of ripping out plants that are taking over your garden, your lawn, or worse, your neighbour’s lawn. A sustainable garden design doesn’t have to look like a meadow, unless you want it to! They can have clean straight lines or flowing round bends.  They can even be modern and minimalistic! Let’s get together and see how I can plant the perfect sustainable sanctuary for you.

• Free estimate and consultation

• A personalized list of the plants (and their benefits) growing in the garden, as well as tips for easy, earth-friendly ways of dealing with pests and weeds

• Removal or transplant of current plants as needed

• Reshaping and removal of grassy lawn areas

• Planting new plants

• Mulching, stone/gravel placement

• Garden edging

• Compost fertilization 

• Can also be applied to food-generating gardens

*This service may not be for you if you are looking to do excavation-style, landscape construction. Though I am happy to design and plant a sustainable garden to suit your current or future landscaped area.

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