We really love plants.
We believe that maintenance is key for all gardens. The best design can fall apart without appropriate maintenance; skilled maintenance can be transformative.
We are passionate about improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, and doing what we can to improve the health of the Bay. We bring the tools, techniques, and ethics of organic farming to our landscaping work.
For all new clients, we begin with an initial consultation to determine your priorities and the scope of work. Based on that, we will tailor a maintenance plan to your preferences and the garden’s needs.
We typically recommend either monthly or quarterly maintenance plans. In some cases we may suggest scheduling as-needed maintenance sessions to tackle specific projects.
Monthly maintenance clients have top scheduling priority and receive 5% off all visits.
(Yes, this is the same space!)
The previous homeowners were very involved gardeners who had set up extensive bed space to maintain. The new homeowners—our clients—reached out after a brief period of focusing on other priorities meant they were totally overwhelmed with the amount of vegetation they found in their yard!
Not all maintenance visits are this dramatic. However, it’s a good example of how skilled maintenance can often be as transformative as a total redesign. It’s not always necessary—or preferable—to rip out functional elements of your garden.
Maintenance activities include:
WEEDING - detailed hand-weeding of perennial beds
PRUNING - skilled pruning of specialty shrubs and small trees
MULCHING - general bed cleanup and application of eco-mulch (typically spring or fall)
WATERING - making sure your garden stays hydrated while you away
Deadheading, cutbacks, and dividing - managing healthy perennial populations for plant health and aesthetics
Edging or adjusting garden bed shapes (typically followed by mulching)
Adding new plants - supplementing existing populations or weaving in new varieties
Removing or reshaping existing plants - pruning anything we can reach from the ground up to a 6’ step ladder
Targeted invasive species removal (particularly English ivy!)
Leaf management - using a combination of raking, mulching/mowing, and composting to manage dense leaf fall on lawns, hardscaping, and garden beds
Organic small lawn care: patch repair and aeration, over-seeding, and limited mowing/trimming (for lawns under 1/4 acre only)
We do not do lawn mowing or significant tree work (over 6’ ladder height); however, we have great referrals!
What can we do through garden maintenance?
Garden Maintenance
We start all new clients with an initial consultation to identify your priorities and assess the scope of work. Please contact us for current rates — or to schedule an initial consult!
Monthly Maintenance: we provide consistent, regular checkups on your garden that you don’t have to think about scheduling! Our “main season” runs from March through November. We also have a dedicated pruning season in January-February (depending on the weather) for hedge renovation and any other specialty dormant season pruning. Monthly maintenance clients receive 5% off all visits.
Quarterly Maintenance: This is a less frequent schedule that still provides regular, consistent care to your garden. Shade gardens in particular often do not require more than quarterly maintenance to stay looking their best.
“As Needed” Maintenance: can be as small as a courtyard tidy-up at the end of the season, or a multi-day intensive clean out project (sometimes described as “rescue missions”). We typically book roughly 4-6 weeks out for full day or multi-day projects.
Watering-Only Visits - need someone to water your garden while you’re away? We can take care of it.