Custom Garden Manuals for Your Clients

Submitted by Shirley Bovshow

Babies don't come with instructions and gardens don't either! That's what Gardening Coaches are for! (At least for the gardens, that is.) My clients appreciate the time spent with them tutoring them on the particulars of their plant life, but unless they have photographic memories or take notes, some of the important tips I give them may blow away with the wind.  I offer custom garden maintenance manuals for my landscaping clients and think its a great idea for Gardening Coaches to offer. Think of it as a "pictorial guide" to each garden.

What you will need to get started on authoring a Custom Garden Manual:

1. A digital camera
2. Your computer with a program for creating word documents
3. A fee for your time to create the custom manual.
4. Laminating machine, or better yet,  a neighborhood Kinkos, FedEx or other "office and printing service" shop to bind and laminate your manual

The content of the manual should be custom and include information that is pertinent to your clients garden. Here are 10-Basics to get you started. (Let me know what you would include if you don't see it on this list.)

1. Photo  of the whole yard with date.

2. Plant List

3. Photo Plant Identification and Care Guide: Photos of each tree, major shrub and more permanent perennials with relevant information for its care in its planting zone and micro-climate.

3. Maintenance Photos: Photograph trees, shrubs and perennials after proper pruning, dividing, dead heading, staking, and include notes, (feel free to draw arrows, circles, stars anything for emphasis) and guidelines for the care of each plant.  This is where I make suggestions on how tall the hedges should be maintained and how not to cut strappy leaf plants like phormiums!

4. Soil Information: If you tested the soil, make a note of your findings and include the test date.

5. Plant Feeding Schedule: This is a great opportunity to plug your favorite organic products. Our clients may not be aware of all of the options.

6. Watering Schedule and Guide: If your client has a lawn, include the amount of time it should be watered based on their present irrigation system. Garden beds should also have a watering schedule (if on a separate valve than the lawn- you never know, sometimes they are together!)

7. Pest and Disease Guide: If you want to go the extra mile, you can include photos of the pests and disease signs for their inventory of plants or just the ones experiencing trouble. Include a list of products and instructions for use. Effective homemade remedies are particularly welcome!

8. Tree Pruning Schedule

9. Schedule for Seed-Growing: In case your clients want to cultivate an edible garden or annuals.

10. List of Recommended Products and Vendors: I like to include a list of my favorite nurseries, arborists, landscaping supply stores and products that I recommend.

11. Your Company Name and Contact Information

Upon completion, have the whole manual bound and laminated so that it can be left outdoors in a designated spot. It should be handy, just in case the homeowner is not up to caring for the garden in the future and needs help from someone else.

I charge for the manual and include an hour of my time to review it with my clients at their home.

Hope this gives you another service to add to your menu!

Comments

[robin]

Thanks for sharing. I've done something very similar to this to go with full landscape designs, and I've done everything but the photographic journal for clients learning about exisiting gardens. I like the photo journal/care concept, and I believe it is definitely a service/product that I should begin offering to my clients. They'll love it!

[Lynda Sarb]

Its exciting to know I am not alone in creating personal garden manuals. My clients really look for information specific to their needs and don't want to take the time to hunt through books. Love the idea of a seed page and thank goodness for digital cameras!

[Shirley Bovshow]

Pictures speak volumes so we don't have to repeat ourselves!

[Beth Bandy]

Thank you for this post! I also create customized maintenance guides, and I am always eager to find new ways to make these documents more useful for my clients. There are some great ideas here that I plan to use!

In addition to presenting information by topic, I have also found it helpful to provide a month-by-month summary of maintenance activities. That way, my clients can easily find answers questions such as, "What needs to happen in my garden during the first half of June?" or "What do I need to do before the ground freezes in the fall?" The answer to such questions can be quickly found in the month-by-month summary, with more detailed how-to information located elsewhere in the maintenance guide.

[Shirley Bovshow]

I'll have to add that to my services. Thanks Beth!

[Beth Goodnight]

This was a timely article for me to read. I am a designer and coach and have been contemplating the idea of providing something like this. I just have one question. How much should it cost?

I've had a couple clients expect to get such a maintenance schedule included in the price of their design... though not for extra cost. I'm wondering what others are charging for such a maintenance schedule.

I've seen some very rudimentary schedules provided by installation contractors that are barely more than a listing of the months and what gets pruned in each month. I'd be embarrassed to provide such a thing, but maybe if the clients don't want to pay what a proper schedule is really worth, that is all they will get?

So what is a typical price your clients are willing to pay for a nice maintenance schedule?

[Shirley Bovshow]

Anywhere from $350+ is fair and adequate compensation depending on the size of the yard. Remember, this is a manual that is custom, and will serve them for many years.
Shirley

[Beth Goodnight]

This was a timely article for me to read. I am a designer and coach and have been contemplating the idea of providing something like this. I just have one question. How much should it cost?

I've had a couple clients expect to get such a maintenance schedule included in the price of their design... though not for extra cost. I'm wondering what others are charging for such a maintenance schedule.

I've seen some very rudimentary schedules provided by installation contractors that are barely more than a listing of the months and what gets pruned in each month. I'd be embarrassed to provide such a thing, but maybe if the clients don't want to pay what a proper schedule is really worth, that is all they will get?

So what is a typical price your clients are willing to pay for a nice maintenance schedule?

[Christina]

I enjoyed your idea for the book. But, I am confused. Do you set up this book for every client? Or just the ones who wish to spend the extra $350 for it?
What do you you provide to clients who don't purchase the book?
Thanks much.

[Shirley Bovshow]

Hi Christina,
The maintenance book is extra and a special order. Clients who do not purchase the book are invited to take notes when we walk the property and I give them their tutoring session. They can also take their own photos at this time.
Shirley

[tree pruning]

your post is very interesting and informative...i had fun reading it!

[fahrrad]

Dies ist ein großer Ort. Ich möchte hier noch einmal.