Garden Mentoring

Have you ever found yourself staring at your yard, overwhelmed by a space so completely personal yet entirely foreign, wondering what to do to make it more beautiful or functional? Have you come home from a garden center baffled by what to do next with a trunk load of plants that you just had to have? Maybe you’ve been working in the garden all your life but you’ve found the need for a fresh set of eyes and skills to increase your abilities? Perhaps you’re on a limited budget with more time & muscle-power than cash to spend on building out your garden. Or, maybe, you have young children and want to teach them about where food comes from, but you don’t know where to start. If any of these describes you, you are a perfect candidate for hiring a garden mentor (also known as a garden coach).

Garden mentors are experienced, educated, certified horticultural and landscape professionals who provide gardening knowledge, encouragement & empowerment to their clients. In turn, their clients gain personal successes and joy in the garden as they learn, step-by-step. These coaches provide hand-in-hand gardening training to individuals seeking the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully plan, develop, manage and maintain their personal outdoor spaces. Those who hire garden coaches range from individuals and families who have zero experience working with plants to life-long gardeners looking for new ways to learn more. Anyone interested in knowing more about gardening will benefit from a garden mentoring consultation.

Garden coaches offer customized programs to fit the lifestyle, landscape, goals and budgets of their clients. Because garden mentors are consultants, they are providing a service the minute you begin a relationship with them. Set your expectations realistically – garden coaches don’t provide free consultations; consulting is how they earn a living. However, to get you started most gardening coaches will provide you with a free questionnaire to complete ahead of your first scheduled session. These questionnaires will help your new mentor prepare for your first meeting so you can dive right in and use your consultation time most efficiently. These questionnaires also become a great tool to help you stay focused on your wants, needs and goals as you spend more & more time gardening.

What kind of services do garden coaches provide? Pretty much if you ask for it, there is a gardening consultant who can provide you with the service you need. Part of garden mentoring is maintaining a strong network of specialists to ensure each coach can provide you with someone who can assist you in areas that may be outside their area of expertise. Another part is having the experience to evaluate the abilities and commitment of each client. Once your gardening coach knows you, they can put together a realistic schedule of tasks to help you achieve your goals in an efficient and satisfying manner. The array of garden coaching services can be quite broad and may include offerings such as:

• Landscape plant identification
• Weed identification
• Soil care & evaluation
• Pest identification
• Garden tools and tool use
• Proper & corrective pruning
• Proper & efficient watering
• Plant selection guidance
• Plant installation training
• Plant placement guidance
• Lawn care tips & information
• Personal shopping
• Year-round task calendar development
• Goal and priority setting
• And much more….

Garden mentoring is a cost-effective way for people to improve their gardens. Gathering knowledge and gaining skills by working with a trained gardening professional enables you to begin investing your own sweat equity to take ownership of your garden space. Most garden coaches charge an hourly rate anywhere from $50-$100/hour and require a 2-hour minimum for each session. Appointment times less than 2 hours usually don’t provide sufficient time to dig in; more than two hours, particularly in the beginning, can be overwhelming. Also, given the cost of gas these days, don’t be surprised if a travel time surcharge is applied. Most garden coaches will require payment at the end of your initial training session. If you sign on for longer programs, other arrangements are often available.

On a final note, if you do pursue hiring a garden mentor, try to avoid the urge to "clean up" your messy, embarrassing garden to get ready for your new coach. More often than not, you’ll end up wasting effort and doing more damage than good!