How to Maximize Your Green Thumb Potential with a Garden Coach

Springtime in the garden is a glorious moment of the year for the seasoned gardener. They may be dreaming of endless plant color combinations for a new flower bed or possibilities for a bountiful vegetable garden come summer. But springtime can also be a real pain in the butt for anyone that's new to gardening or just doesn't have a clue where to start.

If you're part of the latter group, maybe you've noticed a bunch of green plants growing in your garden beds--but you KNOW you didn't plant anything there. What plants could they be? Or maybe you noticed that your grassy lawn is just about up to your knees--but you have no clue how it grew so fast! Panic may be setting in. You know you need to do something before all this green stuff takes over your yard, but where do you begin?

The simplest place to start is Google and the myriad of other social media sites that boast tips and tricks for just about everything and anything. But if you Google "how to garden" you may be extremely underwhelmed by the search results. "Choosing your garden" and "picking your garden spot" are all well and necessary--but Google has failed again and you're none the wiser on how to take care of YOUR garden problem. Not to mention you don't even know what "testing your soil" and "amending your soil" means! How do you give soil a test!!!?

Ok, so now you're on Reddit because the millions of people on there must have some good pointers. And they do, but the most compelling advice that Redditor doublestitch wrote in R/Frugal titled "How to Learn to Garden" was: "gardening best practices are extremely localized" and "much online information is unreliable." And now you may be thinking to yourself that gardening is a complex subject and you'll probably need a PhD in Lawn Care 101 before you even attempt to weed your garden beds and mow the lawn.

I know what you mean. Learning how to garden when you've never gardened before seems pretty difficult to get started. But you don't have to do gardening alone.

Here are a few resources you can look into before your garden gives you a headache:

• Volunteer at your local community garden (just search for Community Garden in your city, town, or county and you're sure to find a couple nearby)

• Drop in at a local Master Gardener question and answer session

• Check out free workshops at your local library

• Join a local gardening group

• Read a book! Here are some of my favorite references:

  • The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman

  • Gardening in the Northwest by Sunset Magazine

  • Pruning Handbook by Sunset Magazine

  • A Gardener's Guide to Container Gardening edited by Valerie Duncan

  • Northwest Home Landscaping by Roger Holmes and Don Marshall

  • The Essential Garden Design Workbook by Rosemary Alexander

• Hire a Garden Coach

Hiring a Garden Coach may be the best route for you to fast-track your garden learning experience. Garden coaches are professionals who are familiar with your growing climate (think: temperature, average rainfall, growing seasons, etc.), what plants may grow well in your yard, what plants definitely won't grow well, and common pests and diseases. Garden coaching can vary from coach to coach, but generally, you should expect the coach to be welcoming, understanding of your needs, transparent about their skills and abilities, and able to develop a plan that will build your gardening confidence.

Here at Dockton Creek Fine Gardening, Garden Coaching is designed to meet the needs of the individual, but in the initial 2-hour coaching session, you can expect:

• Detailed consultation and site walk-through of your garden

  • Identification of the common plants in your garden

  • Identification of the common weeds in your garden

  • Suggested maintenance needs

  • Suggested amendments (fertilizer, soil, compost)

• Introduction to common fine gardening hand tools and how to use them

• Introduction to common garden maintenance practices

  • Weeding

  • Watering

  • Planting

  • How to "tidy up" the garden

• Introduction to plant-specific maintenance needs (dependent on the plant and time of year)
  

Coaching is followed up with a 15-minute check-in one week after the first garden coaching session to go over any follow-up questions, or concerns, or to book another session. Like any pursuit, learning to garden is best learned by practicing! This means getting your hands dirty, becoming more familiar with using common tools, and learning how to identify plants in your garden.

Some people are naturally DIYers and like practicing on their own after the initial coaching session. While others need a little extra guidance and accountability with more scheduled sessions. If you're interested in garden coaching and you're located in Gig Harbor, Tacoma, or Vashon, feel free to reach out and schedule a session!