FINE GARDEN DESIGN, MAINTENANCE, COACHING AND CONSULTATION
DOG BOARDING
-licensed landscaping contractor-
lic. # ISLANHS891MO
bonded and insured
-licensed nursery retailer
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HORTICULTURAL AND BOTANICAL SERVICES
- Garden and small landscape design and installation
- Redesign, renovation and troubleshooting
- Right plant/right place consultation
- Pruning of ornamental shrubs and small trees
- General garden maintenance
- Less-common plant choices for distinctive, low-maintenance gardens
- Native and/or nonnative plants
- Deer resistant landscaping
- Gardening to attract birds and butterflies
- Nontoxic pest management, organic vegetable gardening
- Pet-safe gardening
- Contract propagation and/or instruction in DIY propagation
- Houseplant and outdoor container gardening services
- NEW: FREE EMAIL Q&A (see Plant Notes page)
UP TO ONE HOUR FREE ON-SITE CONSULTATION, INCLUDING WRITTEN REPORT
All services available at least five days a week in the Bainbridge Island / North Kitsap area (including Silverdale, Kingston, Poulsbo and environs), one to two days a week in the Port Townsend area (including Chimacum, Port Hadlock, Port Ludlow, and occasionally Sequim).
Providing professional design, installation, maintenance and consulting for fine gardens and small landscapes. Emphasis on correct plant choices for a healthy, beautiful, distinctive and low-maintenance garden.
Got a lot of shade? Got a lot of deer? No problem: there are plenty of plant choices that work for these situations. I offer a no-munch guarantee: if something I plant gets eaten by deer, I'll come back and remove it for credit or exchange it for a plant that's less yummy.
We also offer one-time landscape cleanup/renovation and/or regular maintenance contracts, including all the usual stuff, plus expertise in artful pruning of ornamental shrubs and small trees.
As a graduate-trained botanist, I also offer consulting on native plants and noxious weeds on your property.
for tips on many of the topics listed above.
Fees: $25-30/hr.
SEE BELOW: FREE PET SITTING HOME VISITS OFFERED WITH CONCURRENT GARDENING CONTRACTS.
Currently offering some partial barter arrangements- see bottom of "about me" page.
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*CONTAINER GARDENS SERVICE
Container plantings for home or business, indoor or outdoor. One-time plantings or ongoing container maintenance. Focus on colorful perennials that keep their leaves through the winter. Also: hummingbird garden-in-a-pot for your porch.
Rental contract available for businesses: rotating plant arrangements and regular maintenance provided. Ask for more information, price schedule, photos or appointment to view samples.
Pictured: containers donated to the 2010 PAWS benefit auction on Bainbridge Island.
Upper left: evergreen tender perennials arrangement for filtered sun outdoors in summer, sunny window indoors in winter. Lower left: full sun outdoors arrangement; all plants hardy perennial and evergreen. Right: shade to part shade, outdoors. All plants hardy perennials, evergreen.
Small container: full sun, drought-tolerant, mostly evergreen plants.
3 planters:
Evergreen to mostly-evergreen,
perennial plantings for shade.
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PET SITTING
I no longer offer home-visit pet sitting as a rule, except when combined with a landscaping contract-- then, pet sitting services are offered free or at greatly reduced rates. In other words: if I visit your home during your absence to work on your landscaping, I will be happy to check in on your critters, at least once daily for free.
(See my Pet Resources page for tips on pet care and pet sitting in general.)
DOG BOARDING
Some spaces available for dog boarding in my home, long- or short-term, at $25 per 24 hrs for one dog, $35 for two (you supply food). Frequent flier discount: one free day for every 7 days boarding; some larger discounts for long-term boarding.
I have two dogs; maximum boarders= 1-3, depending on size and relationship. Dogs 35 lb+ preferred.
Doggie day care arrangements also available- priced lower than overnight boarding; discounts for ongoing arrangements. Pickup and drop off also available.
Your dog will enjoy constant human and canine companionship, and daily opportunities for play and exercise on five acres. Property is located on a dead-end gravel road in a semirural neighborhood, surrounded by trees. Your dog will sleep or hang out in my one-room house with the rest of us. Crates used only for separation at mealtimes, for dogs that are not fully housetrained, and for protecting dogs that are prone to hazardous "Canine Dietary Indiscretion" when not under direct supervision.
The property is 3/4 fenced with a natural barrier of pond and marsh across the back; there is a fully-fenced 150 ft x 50 ft exercise field.
Dogs are NEVER left unsupervised outdoors, even for a minute, and are ALWAYS supervised when in company of other dogs. Each dog receives several walks around the property daily, and once during the night if needed for active bladders. All dogs requiring more exercise will spend at least one hour daily (usually more, weather permitting) playing in the exercise field.
October through mid-Februrary, I work entirely from home. During the gardening season, I work short shifts on a flexible schedule, and usually take the dogs with me.
I can accommodate dogs with separation anxiety if not expressed in dramatic destructiveness. I have only two steps to the deck of my one-story house, and have ramping for the deck and car- so I can accommodate dogs with arthritis, hip/back problems, or other mobility issues.
Regular communication and check-ins welcome during your absence.
Qualifying dogs MUST be free of infectious ailments and parasites (including fleas), fixed, vaccinated, house trained, dog- and cat-friendly, responsive to basic commands, and not escape artists.
I will ask for documentation of vaccination against parvovirus, distemper, and bordetella ("kennel cough"). There seems to be a bit of a kennel cough epidemic in our region-- dogs can catch this disease very easily in boarding, doggie day care, dog parks, and even in a brief visit to a vet's office.
I highly recommend vaccination for leptospirosis, a quickly-fatal disease of concern in our region, contracted from ponds, lakes, puddles, and the feces of several wildlife vectors, including rats, mice and raccoons.
Vets in our area generally recommend this vaccine, although it is not perfect. (There are several strains of the organism responsible, and immunizations against different strains are not necessarily cross-effective. A few dogs have negative reactions, usually mild.)
DISCOUNTS
Currently offering some partial barter arrangements for all services- see bottom of "about me" page.
I will extend discounted boarding rates for all dogs in the household (rates and terms to be arranged on a case by case basis) to anyone in the North Kitsap/Bainbridge region who signs on for fostering or adopting a pet from any shelter or legitimate rescue group or who has adopted in the past three months.
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See my blog for tips on pet health and safety, more affordable vet care, and other pet-related topics.
Sorry- no pet sitting for people who have mutilated their pets (declawing, debarking, etc.) or who keep dogs in crates for extended periods for any reason other than life-threatening behavior. (For important information about declawing and alternatives, see my blog. For a discussion of benign vs inappropriate use of crating, see my Pet Info page.) Cats and dogs are living beings, not bric-a-brac.
