Garden Coaching Blog

Congrats to Garden Mentor Robin Haglund

Posted by Susan Harris

Here's what the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association said about Garden Mentor and Certified Professional Horticulturist Robin Haglund when they named her Young Member of the Year:

Garden Mentors is dedicated to furthering the integrity and development of the international horticultural industry. Because of Robin's dedicated service to the industry and WSNLA, and because of her exemplary work illustrating the values of WSNLA's Certified Professional Horticulturist designation during the 2007 year, Robin was nominated by WSNLA peers and voted WSNLA's Young Member of the Year. She was presented with her award in January of 2008.

Visit Robin at her site GardenMentors.com

In more news about Robin, she'll be speaking to the Maymont Flower and Garden Show in Richmond, VA month about garden mentoring and I hope to be there!  Photos and stories would surely follow right here and maybe elsewhere, too!  Here's the link to the show's site.

Welcome to the World of Garden Coaching

Veteran journalist Dean Fosdick, who covers nature and gardening for the Associated Press, wrote this wonderful story about garden mentors of all types.  He generously included a link to right here, so we welcome our new readers (and declare Dean our New Best Friend).  This blog is the place for stories about coaches, about working with clients (mostly beginner gardeners but not always) and even marketing ideas for coaches.  We launched this blog just 3 months ago, with three writers so far - Shirley Bovshow and Billy Goodnick in California, and yours truly in Maryland. 

• Coach Websites are listed in the column on the right for your browsing enjoyment.
• The Worldwide Directory of Gardening Coaches lists 40-some coaches around the world, a compilation that I started last summer after the New York Times wrote about us.  The listing is free to everyone who thinks garden coaching may be what they do.
• Garden Coaching in the News is a compilation of all the stories we know about on this subject.

Posted by Susan Harris

Our Newest Coach is "In Da Gahden"

Posted by Susan Harris

A new business just opened in Bangor, Maine, with the announcement that Margaret Clark is offering her garden coaching services.  And from the looks of her bio below, she's probably worth waaay more than $25 an hour for her decades of gardening experience and formal training to boot.  Now let's see if we can get a photo of Margaret for our readers.  And do they really talk like that up there?

BANGOR, ME:  Margaret Clark's In Da Gahden    

I'm the garden coach for the common folk who are looking for answers to their gardening questions.  My coaching is tailored to your needs and gardening goals, from composting to inproving your soil to identifying plants and weeds already in your yard. For a reasonable fee of $25 per hour I can tailor my sessions to your abilities and help you with your questions, regardless of your gardening experience. I am a Certified Master Gardener working toward a horticulture degree and have been gardening for over 30 years. I have a passion for sharing my knowledge and resources with others and garden coaching provides that opportunity. Call 207/990-2210.

Let's welcome a new coach - and drool over her website

by Susan Harris

I recently heard from Victoria Secunda, a gardening writer and Gardening Tutor in Connecticut, who told me she was intrigued to learn she'd been coaching for years now.  I urged her to join our Worldwide Directory of Gardening Coaches (done!) and when I saw her site I said damn, that's good.  So check out that link, especially her "About" and "Gallery".  The site not only looks great; it uses Homestead.com, which I use myself and know to be super-easy and cheap, so there are NO excuses, y'all!

What I'm Carrying These Days

By Billy Goodnick

Now that I'm coaching a bit more regularly and sometimes unsure whether I'm going to be working in design mode or hands on, I've started shopping for a few extra goodies.

If I had to claim one area of expertise, it would be on the design end of coaching. I used to carry a typical shoulder bag that began with a clip board, a pad of 8.5 x 11 grid paper and a couple of pens and pencils. I'd also bring along my trusty Sunset Western Garden Book (lots of plants and lists) as well as a few other good list books. This got me through a typical scenario where I'd interview a client regarding their needs and desires, use paper to help illustrate simple concepts, suggest some plants, and rely on the client to take notes and put my ideas into practice. But I often felt like this type of advice ended up being somewhat ephemeral and not enough would come of it.

In these cases, I'd offer to return to the office and spend a few hours "on the boards" sending back a more or less scaled drawing of the concepts. To draw this type of plan requires measuring more accurately than just pacing off the general features and hoping to remember the other critical details. So I got a bigger bag. Into the bag went a range of measuring tools (100' tape and a screwdriver to hold down the "dumb end" of the tape, plus assorted smaller tapes), and a digital camera for capturing the details. This way I could more accurately measure the areasand be able to draft a reasonable base sheet on which to draw my design back at the office.

Next thing I knew, I was throwing an oversized clip board in the trunk and a few sheets of 18" x 24" paper, a T-square, drafting scale and a couple of drafting triangles. A few weeks later a bought an Alvin portable drafting board complete with an attached gliding drafting bar. It has fold-out rubber feet that I can either hold on my lap or set up on a patio table. I've also purchased a rolling measuring wheel so I can just walk the yard and read the dial--pretty slick, but close to $100.

I've been carrying this current kit for about three months and had occasion to use it three times. In each case, based on phone conversations prior to the visit, I had the sense that the design requests were relatively simple and could be knocked out on the spot. All three of these jobs followed the same track - an hour to walk the property and get to the gist of the problem areas, 30 minutes to measure and draw a base sheet, then a quick drawing on a sketch paper overlay to leave with the client. The drawing indicates categories of plants--large shade tree, background shrubs, medium perennials, ground cover, etc. On the side of the page would be a list of 3-5 plants that fit each category.

The whole shebang runs about 2-3 hours, I get a check on the spot and offer to expand the list from my office, sending the results via e-mail. I get paid in advance for the office work.

My most recent job has been a quick turn around "performance piece" with a few hours of consultation, shopping for plants, guiding the gardener in removals and pruning, then spotting the plants for him to install. So now the tool kit includes two pairs of gloves (one heavy and one light duty), a pair of loppers, a folding tree saw and my trusty pair of Felcos. Just to be on the safe side as our Southern California winter approaches, I've just purchased a rain-proof parka and rubber boots.

My most recent purchase is a digital video camera. This allows me to get the entire garden from many vantage points while narrating my design ideas and noting special features as I walk the site (I do this AFTER the interview and without the client in tow). I download the video to my Mac with iMovie, allowing me to "rewalk" the site as often as I need to. It will pay for itself in saved time, retention of my brilliant braindrizzles, and improving my accuracy in responding to site features.

I think I'm ready for just about anything now. If more develops, I'll let you know. As far as I can tell, profits still exceed my expenses and word of mouth is sending a lot of work my way. I think people appreciate the ability to take on any type of work without having to schedule separate apppointments. They also seem to like watching someone else get dirty.

Nuff for now...

Blogging at www.gardenwiseguy.blogspot.com
Website: www.billygoodnick.com

Guerrilla Marketing

Craigslist Is 3 for 3

by Billy Goodnick

Since this seems to be working, I thought I'd share.

I started posting my services at Craigslist a few months ago and left myself a monthly tickler on my calendar to update the posting. I use the Creative Services category and so far I've had three calls, each of which has generated a paying visit and one has lead to an additional word-of-mouth referral. At least two of the three connections will be long-term projects.

The Craigslist "blurb" starts with a pithy intro...

1) Billy Goodnick has been enhancing Santa Barbara....demystifying ... his philosophy is simple...

[There, I've set the hook, time to start reeling them in!]

2) Services include analysis, design diagrams, construction material selection, plant palettes, custom services for do-it-yourselfers, chimney sweeping (no, not really, just seeing if you're paying attention).

[WOW! Can't resist THAT!]

3) Resume: Billy landscape career spans...

[Ah, but can he fold towels and whistle at the same time?]

4) If they need more information, I have a link to my blog and to my web site.

Just enough to entice people to delve a bit deeper. I don't have a counter at my web site (yet) but will be adding that to figure out how many inquiries I get for how many site visitations.

As for the web site, it looks like a million bucks, but is the result of me spending about four hours using iWeb on my iMac and subscribing to .Mac services for about $100 per year. That gets me web hosting, a photo gallery I can send clients to, back-up storage and a bunch of other stuff. You don't have to have a Mac to use it, but why would you own a PC if you could have a Mac? (just a bit of Mac arrogance).

Hope this helps some. If you want more info, contact me via e-mail at billygoodnick@yahoo.com. To view the full Craigslist blurb, click here and find your way to Services > Creative.

Visit Billy's website at www.billygoodnick.com

"Only" experienced in vegetable gardening...

by Billy Goodnick
Yesterday, thanks to a connection to Gardenerd via this great new blog, I passed along some encouraging words to Christy Welhemi (Gardenerd). She was explaining that she'd like to eventually offer garden design services, but for now could "only" offer advice about growing food. My response was "what higher calling is there?"

Then I got to thinking about a fabulous project that a colleague of mine (Owen Dell) has undertaken here in Santa Barbara, CA and how it could grow into a marketing opportunity for coaches. (Owen and I cohost a local TV show called "Garden Wise Guys" about sustainable landscaping. Lots of good info buried in blatant silliness.)

Owen's brainchild is the Neighborhood Foodshare Project, and it's catching on locally. In a nutshell, neighbors within a reasonable walking distance, form a food sharing group for all the produce, eggs, herbs, etc. that they grow, then have a bi-weekly or monthly "mini farmers market" in a member's driveway to distribute they're goods. I accompanied him this weekend and was touched by the fabulous bond and sense of community that came from this gathering. Moms and dads and kids on their bikes bringing everything from end of summer giant zucchinis, to rare fruits, dried figs and prickly pear cactus fruits. Snacks and fresh lemonade abounded and new friendships were popping up. There's a PDF file at his site on how to create a Neighborhood Foodshed.

So what does this have to do with coaching opportunities? Well, I'm figuring that if one of you coaches out there with strong skills in growing food helps to nurture a few foodsheds in your area, you then have a command audience to assist them in expanding their gardening skills while learning even more from the free exchange of knowledge!

I'm tapped. Hope this gets your creative juices flowing.

Visit Billy's website at http://www.billygoodnick.com

Money-making advice from Michelle Derviss

by Susan Harris
San Francisco-area garden designer Michelle Derviss saw my announcement of this blog on GardenRant and wrote a comment SO chockful of helpful info, I'm repeating it here:

I just went to one of your links and read Jack"s home page . In it he describes what he will do for you as a garden coach. I never thought of myself as a garden coach but from his descriptive outline of what a garden coach will do for you , I have just learned that I have been a garden coach for the past 25 plus years. My term for that type of service has been 'horticultural consultant'.

To address some of your questions above, based on my past experience :

• What's the ultimate income-earning potential of coaching ? - - - In a good year and in a good affluent community it can be 55 to 65 K a year . I also offer landscape design services so I am guesstimating out design services and including only horticultural consultation.
• Time commitment ? - - - full time all the time if you really want it. I have always found as much work as I wanted and more than I needed in this field.
• "How about talking to those local nurseries about distributing your business cards or posting your flyer?" - - - err, umm, .. in my experience any good nursery that has half a buisness brain already offers garden consultation services so this may be a loss leader.  That 'may' be one market area to tap but I think one would do better by putting yourself out front and center in your community by offering short hort classes thru your local garden clubs and community centers, writing hort advice for the local paper, doing a high profile pro bono project and then market the crap out of it and encouraging your growing clientele to spread the word via personal referrals.
• A web presence is somewhat important in this day and age especially if you have taken the route to use the local print media to spread the word.

AND MORE GOOD IDEAS FROM MICHELLE
In an expansive mood on the subject, she then blogged about it herself right here on her own blog, provocatively entitled Garden Porn.

Garden Coach Shirley Bovshow on Martha Stewart's "Morning Living" Radio Show

by Shirley Bovshow
It's my pleasure to represent our profession as garden coaches on the Martha Stewart, "Morning Living" Radio Show, this Friday morning, October 12 at 8:45 AM (ET). The show airs on the SIrius Satellite Radio station, "Martha Stewart Living."  I'll be interviewed about my work as a garden designer and coach by hosts Cindy Dole and Betsy Karetnick - what a garden coach does, how much we charge and where you can find us.

Thanks to the leadership of Susan Harris, we now have a blog of our own and you can be sure I will be plugging it. Get ready for the calls! I'm excited about the Garden Coaching Blog and will be making it a daily internet destination. Susan tells me she will be having guest bloggers share their marketing ideas and gardening savvy and we will all have the opportunity to network with each other. Works for me!

Look for my upcoming post here about "Custom Gardening Manuals," laminated for outdoor wear and tear.  I've been providing maintenance manuals for my clients for a fee. I also tutor them, as well as their gardening crews, on the proper care and feeding of the gardens I design for them. There is much to learn from each other, I look forward to  our visits together. If you are interested in getting to know me better, please visit my web site and my blog.

Coaches can tap into the real estate world...

by Billy Goodnick, blogging at GardenWiseGuy.

I can't yet claim success, but I'm aggressively pursuing using the world of real estate to promote my coaching business. Here in Santa Barbara, CA the real estate market is still pretty lively, but mostly in the stratospheric realm of multimillion dollar homes.

Here's my thinking - there is a service called "staging" where a professional with interior design background takes an empty home that's going on the market and furnishes it to appeal to the targeted profile of potential buyers. It's about setting a mood and helping the buyer's imagination.

But there are very few stagers savvy enough to help create a facelift for the exterior - that's where landscape architects and designers can tap in. I've discussed this with a number of realtors and they indicate that I'm onto something. So, I've joined the local board of realtors as an affiliate member. That lets me market to the other members, attend mixers, receive their e-mail listings, etc. I also had some very slick tri-fold brochures printed up to help with the image and explain my general services.

The strategy is about creating curb appeal from the time the prospective buy stops their car, to coordinating the work of arborists, landscapers and gardeners to make the place presentable, appealing and expand the imagination to make the yard looks like a place you'd like to live.

I'll be tapping into my connections with garden centers to procure temporary fountains and patio furnishings, potted planting arrangements, create great focal point views that sparkle from inside the house, and dressing up the beds with fresh mulch. A few landscapers I've worked with are eager to jump in with me.

A less ambitious service will just include a visit and written recommendations for what the agent or owner can do to put a happier face on the landscape.

The other side of the coin is to develop a strong, trusting relationship with a few agents who will feel comfortable recommending me when a sale closes. My services could include an assessment and orientation for the new owner, especially if they're new to the area and don't know much about gardening in a new locale. I will link them to local services, classes, stores (and seek finders fees). I will also offer sustainability assessments to help them design and manage their new home in the greenest manner. I expect that some will also be seeking design ideas that can lead to a long-term coaching relationship.

I'm kinda running out of steam after taking a local realtor on a tour of a few of my projects this afternoon. She's very excited about using me on a consulting basis to help buyers realize the full potential of their intended purchase.

More to come...nighty night.

Big thanks to Susan Harris for creating this great forum!