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There are life coaches and love coaches, career coaches and retirement coaches. Now you can hire a coach to help you cultivate a plan for your home's landscape. Along with lawn reductions, edible gardens, outdoor rooms, and sustainable practices, garden coaching is one of the trends covered in Consumer Reports' latest feature on lawn and yard care.
Garden coaches are particularly popular with new homeowners. "Besides identifying plants and suggesting new ones, I'll also give clients permission to remove plants that aren't working," says Jennifer Horn, a landscape architect and owner of Garden Gurus in Washington, D.C. Like most garden coaches, Horn charges $150 for a 90-minute session.
Depending on your needs, a single session could be enough to tell you all you need to know. But you can always pay for another session, perhaps to help with the plantings. Garden coaches are also helpful with maintenance, maybe showing you the proper way to prune a rose bush or train a climbing vine.
Find a garden coach in your area using the online Garden Coach Directory. To get the best advice, make sure the coach is accredited by an industry group, such as the American Society of Landscape Architects or the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, or has training from a local botanic garden or cooperative extension.
—Daniel DiClerico
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