Garden Consultant Specialties

As gardeners advance through the courses inside of the Gardenary Consultant Certification and learn how to build their own profitable garden consulting business, I encourage them to choose a niche. What is the main thing they want to teach clients through their coaching? Which products will be of primary importance to their business?

This niche will determine more than just the type of products they produce and the services they provide. It will tie into the mission of their business. It will help them be purposeful and more intentional in their messaging. It will elevate their business beyond something that makes money (which is, obviously, an important goal) to something that drives them, something that makes an impact in their communities.

Many of the gardeners I train through GCC follow the same model that I do, with raised beds and kitchen gardens. Their mission, like mine, is to bring back the kitchen garden, to help people feel more connected to the food that they're eating.

Other consultants have found specialties in other aspects of garden consulting, from permaculture to container gardens. Here are 12 inspiring specialties that have emerged from the program.

Native Plants

Juliellen Sarver of Plantae Gardens

Plantae Gardens wants to bring native gardens to every outdoor space in Richmond, Virginia.

Native gardens are not only low-maintenance because the plants and their growing requirements are already adapted to your area, they're also better for the environment all around. They require less watering, help with water runoff management, and keep the soil healthy. Non-native plants, on the other hand, don't support wildlife as well as native plants do, and can even become invasive plants that destroy natural habitats.

Juliellen is a Gardenary-certified garden consultant and a certified landscape professional specializing in conservation landscaping and native plants (that's on top of her Masters degrees in urban planning and landscape architecture).

I love seeing the beautiful design illustrations and installations that Plantae Gardens showcases on Instagram. If their page doesn't inspire you to turn your yard into a native garden, or even a native meadow, I don't know what will.

Container Gardens

Anju Neilju of Bhumi Designs

Bhumi Designs believes that there's room for containers bursting with color and beauty no matter how much outdoor space you have. Garden coach Anju designs the most incredible edible and ornamental gardens, some even multiple tiered, in beautiful pots, containers, and raised beds for her clients in Seattle, Washington.

Garden stylist Anju is a certified professional horticulturist in addition to being a Gardenary-trained coach. "With proper planning, you will be surprised to see how many plants you can grow in a small dedicated space," she says.

Whether mixed into the existing landscape or framing an entryway, her designs really make an impact. Follow Bhumi Designs for all the container garden inspiration.

Permaculture & Foodscapes

Brandi Bechard of Ground Culture Gardens

Ground Culture Gardens was founded with the dream of helping others grow their own food at home, while caring for the planet in positive and regenerative ways.

Permaculture is all about managing your landscape in a way that mimics flourishing ecosystems found in nature. In other words, you're nourishing the land while growing food that nourishes you. Brandi and her team are ecological and edible garden specialists helping to bring sustainable foodscapes to Windsor, Canada.

Before joining the Garden Coach Society and founding Ground Culture Gardens, Brandi studied ecosystem management. She worked across Canada in the fields of forest regeneration, wildlife conservation, organic farming, and garden education to gain a better understanding of the natural world.

Follow Ground Culture Gardens to learn more about permaculture and ecological gardening.

Compost

Katrina Wolff of Blue Borage

New Zealand garden coach Katrina hopes to transform the public perception of composting. The Blue Borage gardening method places the compost pile at the heart of the garden and teaches clients to make "soil with soul" to use in their edible kitchen gardens. "I'm on a mission to help more people learn about biodynamic composting as a means to heal our soil and grow healthy food," Katrina says.

In the picture above (taken by David Bremek), Katrina aerates her compost.  

(Photo credit: Charles Buenconsejo)

Before joining GCC, Katrina wrote a proposal to turn her own space into a community garden where others could come and learn about biodynamics, but it was turned down. That didn't stop this "soilpreneur". She created Blue Borage and works every day to make our food system more circular, seasonal, and sustainable through ditching single-use plastic.

Residential Kitchen Gardens

Annie Chubbuck of Seed and Vine

Seed and Vine designs and builds beautiful and custom residential kitchen gardens, relying on locally sourced products, plants, and professionals as much as possible, in Columbus, Ohio. “I always say everyone can and should have a garden,” Annie, the founder of Seed and Vine, says, “and I truly believe that with the right setup and the right plan and a little support along the way, that it's possible.”

After moving to New York, Annie learned to garden from fellow community gardeners in an East Village community garden on her block. They taught her everything from planting seeds to composting, and it was having that positive experience learning from other gardeners that inspired her to teach others as a garden coach.

Check out Seed and Vine for all the beautiful before-and-after pics of kitchen gardens you could ever want.

Virtual Design

Stacey Messina of Seed & Trellis

The design above, from the Seed & Trellis portfolio, is just one of many meticulously crafted gardens from Stacey Messina, owner of Seed & Trellis. Located in San Diego, California, Seed & Trellis designs kitchen gardens with an artistic eye aimed at incorporating the most beautiful elements of your existing space.

Good design comes naturally to Gardenary-trained designer Stacey. She has a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of San Diego and loves to paint flowers and draw things she discovers in nature. Explore Seed & Trellis for more of her designs and pictures of her visions come to life.

Commercial Kitchen Gardens

Ashley Irene of Heirloom Potager

Heirloom Potager designs culinary gardens that specialize in heirloom varieties for chefs, home cooks, and foodies in Orange County, California. The company recently installed the garden pictured above for Poppy and Seed in the OC.

Ashley believes that fresh food from the culinary garden is inextricably connected to the long-term success and sustainability of restaurants; a kitchen garden, whether it's a potager or a couple of containers, promotes higher quality food and more creativity (not to mention adding beauty to the restaurant's outdoor space).

Ashley completed an MBA before finding success as a garden coach committed to creating long-lasting spaces that improve the environment, promote healthier food options, and benefit the community.

Follow Heirloom Potager for some pictures that might just tickle your taste buds.

Pollinator and Wildlife Habitats

Sheridan Boyle of Dweller's Place

Dweller's Place is empowering clients in Tampa Bay to transform their properties into lush, authentic habitats that better support Florida's wildlife. "We have amazing native plants and animals that need our help," Sheridan says. "By teaching folks about native plant species and ecological gardening practices, I aim to bring back natural Florida to our urban spaces. Even if it's just a little pocket."

By making each client's home a habitat, Sheridan is creating beautiful refuges for birds, bees, and butterflies one yard at a time.

A Florida-native, Sheridan was dismayed by the way urban sprawl was rapidly commoditizing the natural landscapes around her childhood home. She completed a Masters in Humane Education to teach people how to better care for each other, plus the plants and animals we share our neighborhoods with.

Watch Dweller's Place work to bring authentic wild habitats back to all of Florida's creatures great and small.

Community Gardens & Farmers' Markets

NaTasha Lax of 31 Eden

31 Eden doesn't just install kitchen gardens; it's tackling food insecurity in lower-income communities around Fayetteville, North Carolina, by encouraging adults to make healthier decisions and teaching younger generations the joy of watching their food grow from seedling to something nutritious they can eat. The picture above shows a colorful school garden designed by 31 Eden.

NaTasha first realized she wanted to teach people how to grow their own nutritional food when she was promoting the health benefits of veganism and vegetarianism. She joined Garden Coach Society to become a certified garden consultant who could guide her community in planting and growing their own organic food, all while addressing food disparities.

Follow 31 Eden to see the difference NaTasha and her team are making.  

Flowers & Cut Flower Gardens

Sarah Landers of Brick Street Flowers

On top of garden installations, Brick Street Flowers offers subscriptions and floral designs. Their floral studio in Allen, Texas, utilizes homegrown blooms between the months of March to October, and then functions as a traditional flower shop in the off season. The photograph above depicts just one of her many incredible arrangements (honestly, it was hard to select just one).

Sarah, the owner and founder of Brick Street Flowers, grows her cut flowers in a micro farm she built in their suburban backyard. "I'm passionate about growing and designing floral arrangements for real people to really enjoy," she says.

Follow Brick Street Flowers to see more gorgeous creations from her floral design studio.

Water-Wise Gardens

Josh Cleveland of Spokane Garden Coach

Spokane Garden Coach creates perennial landscapes and edible gardens that follow water-wise and sustainable practices. Josh promotes local and budget-friendly resources to get everyone in his Spokane, Washington, community growing. He even shares some tips and tricks for keeping chickens in your backyard.

Follow Spokane Garden Coach on Instagram, where Josh educates followers about the benefits of ornamental grasses, getting creative with the weird spaces in your landscape, and so much more.

Restorative Gardens

Jade Luu of Ellume

The rewilding gardens designed by Ellume promote inner and outer wellness and a sense of peace. Restorative gardens, also called healing gardens, are harmonious spaces that engage all of your senses for an immersive experience that has an overall calming effect. Jade's Los Angeles gardens aim to re-connect visitors with themselves, with one another, and with nature.

Above, Jade (wearing a blue kimono) leads a garden meditation. "My work is focused on the mindfulness and restorative aspects of gardening," Jade says. She's also in the midst of creating a harmonious garden space for her nonprofit organization, which educates on the benefits of nature for overall wellness. Follow Jade's Path on Instagram to learn more about gardening as a way of mindfulness.

Despite their differing specialties, what these coaches all have in common is their love of sharing their garden knowledge and experience with others.

They enrolled in Gardenary's Consultant Certification program to help them build their successful businesses and learn the frameworks they use now to help clients grow their own food and their selves. They developed missions that are bigger than each of their businesses—doing good in the world, making the garden an ordinary part of life, and helping the planet.

I hope their specialties have inspired you today.

Seeing their success and the differences they're making has spurred my own mission to train more and more coaches so that every community has someone to help them grow their own food and do their small part to help the planet.

That's where you could come in.

If you're interested in following in the footsteps of these inspirational garden coaches, we'd love to help you grow your self and your business in GCC!