Garden Coach Susan Harris

About Me

I started garden coaching in 2004, and have since been featured in the New York Times, (photo right), Newsweek, the Associated Press, on “CBS Sunday Morning,” and lots more media outlets.
I founded a garden coach directory and the Garden Coaching Blog, and have mentored new coaches across the U.S.
I’m a founder and writer of the award-winning team blog GardenRant.
My individual blog, Sustainable and Urban Gardening Blog, was voted Best Organic Gardening Blog in ‘08.
And the large how-to-garden site that I edit and contribute to is called Sustainable and Gardening – you’re on it!
I’m also a Master Gardener, garden writer and activist for urban gardening. Here’s lots more about me.
I serve the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Some people want gardens, so I visit and assess the whole lot, find out their tastes and practical needs, then offer design suggestions, draw borders, and suggest plants for the site, including tips about where to find plants, tools and mulch. I often come back as the garden progresses, any time they need help planning the next improvement in their garden.
Some people need to know what’s in their just-purchased yard, so I tell them what to keep, what to yank, and how to take care of it all. This usually involves teaching them how to prune their shrubs.
Many have overgrown shrubs and need to be shown how to get them under control and make them much more beautiful and healthy.
Experienced gardeners sometimes need a new pair of eyes on their garden, or permission to remove a plant they hate. (“But it’s been there forever.” Exactly.)
Month-by-month maintenance schedules are just what some people need — because I gear them to the exact collection of plants in their garden.

Naturalistic, full, lush, beautiful, earth-friendly. I call it Sustainable Gardening and it’s inspired by Mother Nature.
Low-Maintenance, and the maintenance I teach is the high-pleasure, low-drudgery kind. Your garden is there for your enjoyment, not your enslavement.

I charge $80 per hour, and most clients need just an hour or two. Minimum of one hour; travel time extra for more than 30-minute drive from Takoma Park, Maryland.
A quick email will get the ball rolling (email works best). If email doesn’t work for you, call 301/270-5481.