Here's a fascinating story about kitchen garden coaches in the Seattle area. Great idea. Now I wonder if they'd just stick around to coach me in cooking.
October 2007
Help Grow Some Gardeners - Start Coaching Now
by Susan Harris, originally posted July 7, 2007
Here's a quiz: The June 15 New York Times story about Gardening Coaches and the story's aftermath are examples of 1) the reporting of new career, 2) the creation of a new career, or 3) pack journalism in action. Answer below.
Norma Gladden, a Master Gardener and retiree in Michigan, was sent the Times article by a friend, who encouraged her to become a coach herself. Because Norma had enjoyed helping friends and neighbors get started in gardening over the years, she promptly posted her availability as a gardening coach on Detroit's Craig's List and created a flyer to post around town. (How's that for ease of entry into a new career?!) And a quick Googling for gardening coaches reveals Normas popping up all over the country to offer their services via Craig's excellent Lists. And I suspect there are lots more just using the flyer technique and not popping up on the Internet - yet.
But not everyone calling themselves a gardening coach just sprang into action three weeks ago. The coach at GardenMentors.com was featured in the article, and the domain name TheGardenCoach.co.uk takes you to the site of a landscaper in England. There's also GardenCoach.com, and if you can find the coach's name anywhere on that site, let me know. All sorts of qualifications are revealed, however, including her employment by DavesGarden.com (not surprisingly listed as her favorite gardening site).
And since writing about coaching myself I've learned that Pam Penick in Austin and Billy Goodnick in Santa Barbara do a bit of garden coaching on the side. Billy calls these one-time consults a "brain dump." Stuart Robinson in Australia - same deal.
So here's something new on the coaching front: I've contacted everyone I could find working as a gardening coach or mentor and offered to list them on my site's new Worldwide Directory of Gardening Coaches. Not because I'm all that eager to give free web advertising to total strangers but because I'd really like to see this coaching thing take off. It's SO NEEDED.
- Take the first-time homebuyers who've acquired a yard with their new house and doesn't know a weed from a keeper or anything at all about taking care of all that alien green stuff out their back door.
- Take the vast majority of homeowners who have no idea how to prune their shrubs and small trees. Evidence of this is rampant.
- Take the actual case of a nongardener who ventured out to the local nursery, bought 50 or so assorted plants (and I do mean assorted), and called me two months later because he had no idea where to plant them. Or how to plant them. Or how to water them (and it was now mid-summer, of course.)
Gardeners, how long did it take YOU to produce a garden you're proud of? It took years of actually gardening, right? We know that gardening isn't learned by reading or sitting in classrooms. We know that HGTV is no help at all. We know that Master Gardener training just scratches the surface, despite the misleading name. We know that nurseries don't offer much help, certainly not enough help for the newbies who wake up one Saturday in June and decide to go buy themselves a garden.
So experienced gardeners of the world, help them out! Offer your services, create not just gardens but gardeners, and make some extra money while you're at it. YOU ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED. I'm not kidding. Use Craig's List. Get included on my Directory. If you're not sure your services are worth anything, start out cheap (I started at $35 an hour) and raise your rates as you gain experience and confidence. I think you'll be surprised how valuable your guidance and hands-on instruction really are to the clueless public.
And why aren't nurseries offering these services, or at least publicizing the availability of independent coaches to help turn homeowners into regular customers? I'm going to go right over to Open Register, the blog of the retail nursery industry, and suggest they do just that. Nurseries are INTIMIDATING places for beginners. Imagine if there were someone to lead them through the process of not just choosing plants but going home with them to show these poor folks where and how to plant them. Then tell them the part they're always shocked to hear - that they have to water the damn things or they'll up and die. After which, the customer returns to the nursery for their guaranteed replacement plant, of course. (Man, that's gotta gall nurserypeople!)
Now it's time for the Answer. 1 and 2 are correct because the handful of garden coaches in the world were reported on, and the story created more of them. But how about number 3, pack journalism? For this gardening coach the Times story has led to an upcoming feature on "CBS Sunday Morning" and a story by the wire service Agence France-Presse, and I bet the other coaches in the original story have experienced similar journalistic pilings-on. And for a story like this it's a good thing. (When covering people in power, not so much.)
So unless you'd be competing with me in the Washington, D.C. area, drop me a line and get listed - quick, before the next wave of garden-coaching publicity. Let's ride this wave as far as it'll take us. Email me.
Photo: Taken just this morning of Kirra Jarratt - an outstanding garden coachee - singing the praises of garden coaching to Agence France-Presse reporter Virginie Montet (who hired me to consult at her own garden tomorrow morning.) I'll tell the story of Kirra's garden soon. Hint: A gardener was born!
The Making of a Gardener
by Susan Harris, originally published July 14, 2007
Last we
ek I canvassed the world for new gardening coaches, and showed you a coaching client being interviewed by a reporter for Agence France-Presse. Here's the story - in English - and here, as promised, is the story behind the story. Susan
When Kirra Jarratt moved into her DC home last summer, the back and side yards were nothing but mulch. The previous owners had had large dogs, and you can just imagine the realtor coming up with the mulch idea to cover up the ground, quick. And it looked fine til the following spring, when the mulch was all gone and there was nothing but mud. Something had to be done. A quick call to a nursery brought some shocking news - that it would take a huge and surprisingly expensive amount of mulch to return the yard to its condition on move-in day, which mulch would again break down and return to mud. The nursery offered this helpful advice, though: if she just bought some plants for the space, there'd be less bare ground to be covered in mulch. As Kirra described it to me: "LIGHTBULB!" So, where does a total gardening newbie turn?
To a gardening coach, naturally, and I received an urgent email with the desperate mention of a
housewarming party scheduled in just two weeks. So I visited and found, as promised, not a single plant in the side and rear yards except a few weeds. Not even a path through the mud. But she was eager - and in a big hurry. A visit to my own garden 5 minutes away helped us choose her new plant, and I left her with these assignments:
- To do: Take those stones that were piled up under her deck and arrange them in a nice curvey path along the length of the side yard, after doing a bit of regrading of the whole area.
- To buy: Bags of mulch (there was no time to schedule a bulk delivery), nandinas, pieris japonica, acubas, an oakleaf hydrangea, pulmonarias, heucheras, and any other perennial for shade that might catch her eye (which a nice blue hosta did).
When she'd accomplished both lists I returned with my tools and about 30 plain hostas from my own garden, and Kirra's mom had donated some humongous clumps of the lovely variegated liriope- excellent! Here's what we accomplished in two hours:
- Deciding where everything would be planted, actually planting a few of plants to demonstrate.
- Instruction in laying the stone path.
- Instruction in watering.
- Some pruning and instruction for more.
- In the front, lifting and dividing a large hosta, instruction in dividing and siting more of them.
- Also in the front, redrawing the border edge and instruction in sod removal and the creation of a new edge.
- Plant suggestions for the front garden, for action at another time (we prioritized).
VOILA - A GARDEN AND A GARDENER
Two weeks later the whole place looked lovely and festive - inside and out - and the party was a good 
one. I was there, introduced as her garden coach and handing out my card left and right. Friends expressed amazement that Kirra had laid that path herself, that she'd created this garden herself, that she actually has a garden coach. She tells me that neighbors are exclaiming, "Oh, you're a gardener!" and she doesn't know what to say. "Say yes, you are one." And I know that not just by looking at her new garden. I know she's a gardener because she already says things like: "Knowing how to prune is so liberating," and "Gardening is meditative - and addicting!" And because she has lots of plans for the fall - and knows to wait til then to add more plants. So even a big-city lawyer can catch the gardening bug.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
Remember the huge amount of money that Kirra decided NOT to spend just to replace her mulch-only yard? Her next financial decision came after spending $748 for plants and 20 bags of mulch. Because she was in such a hurry, she contacted a garden maintenance company and was given a bid to:
- Lay the stone path level with the grade, put her new plants in the ground and spread the mulch in the side and back yards.
- Plant a flat of vinca, prune one crapemyrtle, and spread the mulch in the front yard.
For the sweet sum of $2,820! - and that's for labor only, no plants. (No lie; Kirra has it in writing.) What's up with that? Are these guys getting rich? I really don't get it, and this isn't the first time I've been amazed by the high cost of maintenance.
Compare that to paying $300 for four hours of coaching (half of which covered design and plant recommendations), and doing the work herself. "AND I would have had no idea how to maintain what they did! Granted, my path would have been better graded, but I'm happy. And everyone thinks that a professional landscaper did my yard!" Looks like a happy coachee. And she instructed me: "Don't forget to mention that the other advantage/benefit of going with you was you guided me to the local nurseries and gardening resources." Going shopping with a coach can be a great learning experience, too.
The garden you see here isn't a finished product, we all know that. It and its gardener will be evolving over the years. But already, people are giving Kirra their extra plants, continuing the wonderful tradition of passalong plants.
Photos: Top, coaching in progress, photo by Nicholas Kamm for AFP. (I've decided the Frank Zappa T-shirt doesn't show up well, so it's back to Hawaiian shirts for me.) Next, the side yard, with a path and the beginnings of a garden. The acuba will cover lots of wall eventually, and a few more large plants will be added. Next, the back yard as seen from the deck shows an oakleaf hydrangea anchoring the corner, surrounded by pieris, nandina, and lots of perennials. On the right, Kirra in her side garden.
Garden Coaching in the New York Times
by Susan Harris, originally published June 15, 2007.
Check out this story about us in today's Times, on page 1 of their Escapes section. I like that, the notion of escaping to the garden.
Two months afte
r I was first interviewed and long after I'd thought the editor had nixed the whole idea, the article appears and I get to meet some of my competition - coaches in New York and Seattle. I'm hoping the publicity will turn others on to the idea of garden coaching, either to become one or hire one because MAN, is it ever needed.
On page 2 of the story I'm quoted as saying this about an old grape holly: "You don't like it. It doesn't look good there. Take it out." Tough love, folks. That's what coaches are for.
Now for a few behind-the-scenes thoughts.
- The status of that particular paper is such that the mere mention of being interviewed or photographed by the Times seems to fill people with awe and predictions of great things to come. (We'll see about that.)
- The client with whom I was photographed and who is also quoted in the story is the charming Kay Meek of Silver Spring, MD. I'd been asked to recommend a few "advanced gardeners" among my clients, and she totally fit the bill. I'm only sorry the photo chosen doesn't show more of her fabulous garden, which I showed in this post.
- The very nice photographer got us to do the damnest things - some very cheesy, almost cheek-to-cheek shots, some weird arms-folded shots - and I'm just glad the editor chose a photo that needs no 'splaining. And if you mouse over it you'll see it's titled "Gardenwomen" which has a nice sisterhood feel to it.
- My brazen attempt to get my coaching site's URL used resulted in a big no-show - and after I'd added a Coach Near You page and everything. But I like the page; I like spreading the coaching thing because I'm seeing how much people can be helped by hiring an experienced gardener for even an hour or two.
Photo by the very nice, very persuasive Jamie Rose for the New York Times.
The Gift of a Garden for Mom
by Susan Harris - originally published Mother's Day 2006, republished a year later
Say your mom, in need of some new interests at this point in her life, tells you she just might like gardening if she only knew where to start. You'd like to help but you live 200 miles away. Most of us, myself included, would let it go at that but not the son who called me last month from NYC looking for someone to teach his mom to garden. His search had started with calls to garden designers here in the D.C. area, where he grew up and his mom still lives. Well, the notion of teaching a client to garden is apparently so alien they reacted as if the very notion were nutty. But with a combination of persistence and chutzpa that surprises the Southerner in me but is essential for hailing cabs in Manhattan, he researched and found the D.C. area's one local gardening magazine and called its editor. Now would you do that, even for dear old Mom? Me, neither. And luckily, the friendly editor of Washington Gardener Magazine is my buddy Kathy, who was more than happy to refer him to me.
So we talked and at first I didn't quite know what to make of this guy but after meeting his sweetheart of a mother, I was sold on the endeavor, whatever the hell it might turn out to be. See, the goal here would be to teach and excite and create a gardener far more than to create a beautiful garden or add value to a piece of real estate. In fact, don't create too much garden and overburden the student; just a little something to tend to and enjoy. Okay.
So where to
start? The backyard, with its old patio overlooking blank walls and a large AC, was the obvious place, the kind of fresh start that makes for great before-and-after pictures. And after our first three afternoons together, I'm happy to present a colorful but manageable little garden of spireas, both 'Anthony Waterer' and 'Little Princess,' Hypericum shrubs, dianthus, scabiosa, and coreopsis, all chosen by Mrs. R. Turns out this 70-something gardening newbie has a terrific sense of color and an eye for foliage, too. As lovely as this is, imagine those shrubs blooming, not to mention a year or two older - Sweet! We've since moved on to the front, so stay tuned.
And before leaving this aaah-inspiring Mother's Day Story, let's ponder the question raised in my last post, namely how DO you create a gardener?
In this situation I could have hired workers to install borders all in one visit, then left instructions for care and been done with it, but how much learning and inspiration would that have accomplished? So we made several trips to the nursery together, an essential gardening activity that can be intimidating to the uninitiated. And after drawing borders with my handy spray paint, I broke my own rules and removed the sod myself, amended the soil and planted Mrs. R's new garden, all under her watchful eye and chatting away about what I was doing and a million other topics. And I'm hoping to arrange an educational outing together, like a garden tour or a visit to a public garden or even my own. So, Readers, any other ideas?
Oh, and funny thing about this story. Turns out Mrs. R's son has done lots more with his persistence and chutzpa than find a gardening teacher for his mom. He's an entertainer, seen and heard all over TV, radio and even on Broadway. Too bad he's too modest to let me name him.
Happy Mother's Day, Mrs. R!
2007 UPDATE
This story was originally posted on Mother's Day of 2006, so an update is in order. Mrs. R's garden is looking good and being added to gradually - recently some Flower Carpet roses, with 2 large weigelas coming soon. And more importantly, she's become a friend.
Rolling out The Gardening Coach.Com
by Susan Harris - This was my blog post announcing my coaching site.
Finally, there's a place to go for information about what a "gardening coach" could possibly be or do - or charge, for that matter. And for a little background, it all started in the fall of 2004 when a Hort Club member asked me if I knew anyone she could pay to teach her to garden, at which I immodestly offered my own services. We accomplished a lot in her garden, she recommended me to others, and a little business was started - well, business cards were printed and an ad placed in the local paper.
With the ad came 19 new clients in 2005, people who needed help with tasks like determining weeds from keepers, learning to prune, creating borders, deciding what project to start with, and making their gardens easier to maintain, to name a few. Considering that the work is seasonal and almost always on weekends (in order to work with the clients while they're home), I've concluded that coaching will never be a primary source of income, but it offers other rewards besides monetary ones, like increased credibility, opportunities for my own learning, and the immense satisfaction of helping to create gardeners. But then again, with my new website, who knows how many more calls I'll get. It takes a lot more, I think, for people to see an ad and place that first phone call - what the heck do you do? - than simply reading a website.
So what's new this year? Some new clients, including Kay and Kelsey, the owners of the garden pictured here. Now you're thinking, why on earth would the people who created that vision of loveliness need a coach? Which was exactly my thought when I arrived to discover one of the most beautiful gardens I'd ever seen. But in fact, it was so close to perfect that its few trouble spots and marginal plants were driving them crazy, so they decided to get input from someone else. (They'd seen my garden on a tour, so knew that my tastes were similar to their own.) And besides some pruning advice, the most important thing I think I did was to give them permission - actually, more of a declarative "do it" - to get rid of those marginal plants. You know the type - they've been there so long or they're so large, we let them struggle on for years as we stiffle our displeasure over their very wrongness in the garden. But the next thing I heard from Kay, they were positively giddy about getting rid of their problems, being freed from their doubts and guilt, and researching some wonderful new replacements.
Finally, friends, check out the site and give me your feedback. But if you ever need to create a site of your own, don't do what I did and use one of Register.com's templates. Imagine this example of truly horrible programming: you can't bold, italicize or underline a word or two; the entire paragraph has to look the same. Other examples abound. The two other static sites I've created use templates found on Tripod, part of the portal Lycos, and are a pleasure to use. (See Takoma Garden and Takoma Hort.) Too bad most of their designs are circa 1965, which is why I went looking for another website vendor for the coaching site. And by the way, anybody can afford a website nowadays; these all cost about $95/year each, including domain name, server space, the program itself and human support. But can anybody recommend sources of other templates?
