A Time to Reflect and Plan Your Landscape

Being a Garden Coach can be a bit dull during the winter. Why, you ask? It seems the majority of people who want to hire a professional landscape designer put it off until the spring. Yes, that time of year when there is this sense of urgency. People tend to be in a panic, like if they don’t hurry they are going to miss something. In the horticulture industry it’s called the Spring Rush. Just like the word rush, it does seem to be a drug people are on—they are intoxicated with spring.

I’m going throw out a new concept: that now is the perfect time to plan ahead for the coming growing season. Of course, the holidays are a major priority for people, but once New Year's is over and we are looking at January and February, be thinking of how to use that time to get involved with upcoming landscape needs.

Design plan I did for a front yard landscape. The client was ready to remove all existing plant material (it had been installed by previous owner, and was not working well) and start over with a clean slate.

In March, the cell phones begin to sing happily with callls from a barrage of people in need of landscape help. Every landscape company and nursery in town begins to feel the excitement. By April, the mad scramble is on for when the work can be done. Of course, this is when it starts to rain and doesn’t stop for a month. So projects on the waiting list continually get bumped back farther into May and then into June/July—especially large-scale installations.

This new home already had a clean slate. The client wanted a pool, outdoor rooms and a lush landscape around it. It was a lot of fun to collaborate on the design of the pool with the client.

Why not be FIRST on the list!? Have all your plans and specifications done in the winter. You can then put the design plan out for bid with contractors, give your plant list to nurseries, and be sure to secure plant material coming in from the growers.

Certainly not everyone is able to create large formal gardens and keep them maintained, but with lots of planning and do-re-me, anything is possible.

Reflection

Winter forces us to stop moving so fast and rest, just as nature is doing—taking a long nap to gear up for another growing season. Take this time to look back on the past year and ask yourself some questions. What plants worked? What plants did I love? Which ones continue to struggle or die? Do I want to try and put in more containers? How can I get my yard to feel more like functional outdoor living spaces? How do I acquire more privacy without building a fence—or if I want immediate screening, what fence do I install? If I want to put in a vegetable garden, but don’t know the first thing about it, where do I start? These are just a small sampling of questions that can help you develop a direction on what you want to focus on for the coming year.

Besides being a horticulturist—which is certainly a passion of mine—I look forward to the projects that allow me to problem-solve as I create functional outdoor living spaces.

Planning

Many people without formal education in horticulture or design do a fine job in establishing functional and beautiful landscapes/gardens. But a professional with a trained eye and extensive education often has suggestions for things the homeowner does not even realize are possible. That’s what someone like myself loves to do, and have worked very hard to understand. Seeing the potential, and creating transformation. Seriously consider hiring a landscape designer or architect to create your plans in the future, or to help you with enhancements or gardening tweaks.

Here is the Garden Coach back in 2005 (fully protected from the sun!) working with a contactor to lay out a pond for a client who wanted to use as many natives as possible in her back yard. I created a master plan for her that was installed over a period of three years. 

As you can see by the photo, my client won a Landscape Award.

2012

As we go into the new year, I want to especially thank Molly Rockamann who got me this blog-writing gig, and who works tirelessly to turn enthusiastic folks into urban food farmers. Also my encouraging editor, Stefene Russell, who somehow makes me sound like a writer. Plus, I can never forget my loving family and friends who continue to nourish me like Master Gardeners. My immediate plans for this year include creating a website, which is in the works. As far as my own yard and garden is concerned, my goals include installing a paver driveway, a flagstone/cobblestone path near the house, putting in tons of Zinnia seeds, and installing fruit trees and raspberry bushes at my parents' house. To all of my blogging readers out there: a big thanks to you! I wish you much gardening success for 2012. Namaste.

Beth Gellman is an EarthDance Farm Alumn and a landscape designer specializing in edible food gardens and community gardens. To contact The Garden Coach, please email Beth at gellmandesign@yahoo.com.