Residential consultations
Let’s walk your yard.
If you’re a human with a yard and a busy life, you’re probably dreaming of a world with less maintenance. Chances are you also want less lawn, more habitat for wildlife, and better stormwater management. Maybe you’re keen on growing native plants as a food crop, so there’s something to eat after the impending economic collapse.
I can help you imagine the possibilities, decide what to keep and what to edit out, and set priorities to turn your space into an ecological refuge. If you want hands-on guidance, I run “work buddy” sessions to build your own skills and confidence. If you’d rather have professional installers bring your vision to life, I can help that happen too.
Book a site visit (opens in a new tab)Site visit options
How deep do you want to go?
Three depths of consultation, from an hour of ideas to a phased plan for the whole place. A Walk & Talk credits toward either of the other two if you decide to keep going.
Walk & Talk
$100
A focused on-site consultation for ideas and direction.
Up to 1 hour
Let’s take a look at your space, brainstorm possibilities, and answer your questions: what to keep, what to edit out, what to prioritize, and how to get it done. Ideal for a specific problem area or question, or if you just need a few ideas to get going. At the end of the visit, you get my somewhat organized and mostly legible handwritten notes.
The fee is creditable toward a Deeper Dive or a Wholesome Habitat Plan if you want to go deeper.
Deeper Dive
$450
A longer consultation, plus a report.
Up to 2 hours on site
A longer visit gives us more time to see what’s already growing (helpful and otherwise) and to scan for ecological improvements, stewardship practices, and rainscaping opportunities. Afterward, I’ll take a few hours to put together a report with prioritized recommendations, a native plant palette suited to your site conditions, and connections to resources.
Wholesome Habitat Plan
$900
A detailed, phased plan for your whole dang place.
Extensive assessment, plus a follow-up visit
An extensive assessment and an in-depth, phased design for your site, with naturescaping, rainscaping, and stewardship recommendations. Includes guidance for clearing invasive plants (if you’ve got ’em), site preparation, specific plants suited to each condition, plant sourcing, and installation instructions, or I hook you up with a qualified installer. Then a follow-up visit for follow-up questions, or just to show off.
Best for homeowners planning a fuller, multi-year ecological transformation.
Guided practice · Work Buddy
Do-It-Yourself: but with me.
For the do-it-yourself type who just needs a bit of guidance to get things going on the right track. We work side by side at your place and build the skills you want: assessing site conditions, plant identification, invasive removal techniques, site preparation, plant selection, installation, and maintenance. You leave each session with the skills and confidence to keep going on your own.
Can follow a consultation, or stand on its own.
Hourly
per hour
$80
Half day
up to 4 hours
$300
Full day
up to 7 hours
$600
Overwhelmed by options?
Reach out and we’ll figure out together what would be most helpful for you.
Get in touch (opens in a new tab)Particulars
Travel
The first 30 miles are included. Beyond that, a travel fee of $0.70 per mile, round trip from South City St. Louis, applies.
Sliding scale
Prices above are standard. Reduced rates are available for those who need them. Just ask.
Payment
Check or cash at the end of the visit is preferred. Credit cards are tolerated. Crypto is a big nope.
What we can cover
Bring me your worst corner.
Low-maintenance, climate-resilient native landscaping
Plantings chosen for the conditions you have, so they get tougher and cheaper every year instead of needier.
Native plant food gardens
Pawpaws, persimmons, elderberries, hazelnuts. Food for you, and for everything else.
Rainscaping
Rain gardens, bioswales, rain barrels and cisterns, and erosion control. Putting the water that falls on your roof to work instead of watching it leave.
Invasive plant identification & removal planning
Finding out what’s actually taking over, then a realistic order for getting it out without scorching the whole yard.
Lawn reduction & conversion
Turn some of that grass into something that holds water and feeds wildlife. Mow less.
Wildlife stewardship
Wildlife-friendly lighting, nest boxes, bird-collision prevention, hibernacula for the things that overwinter. Small structural stuff, mostly, and it’s what turns a yard from somewhere animals pass through into somewhere they can live.
How it works
Three steps, no mystery.
01
Tell me about your space
Send a note through the contact form, or just call. Photos help. So does a rough sense of what’s bugging you: the soggy corner, the dead strip by the driveway, the bush that ate the porch.
02
I come look
We walk the whole thing together. I identify what you’ve got, read the sun and the slope and where the water goes, and ask what you want out of this yard. “Less work” is a perfectly good answer.
03
You get a real plan
Prioritized and phased, so you know what to do this fall and what can wait. If you want the work installed, I’ll connect you with trusted local pros, or provide design and oversight for whoever you choose.
Where I work
St. Louis City and County and the surrounding region. Not sure whether you’re in range? Ask. The answer is usually yes.
Let’s go look at your yard.
Show me what you’re working with, imagine the possibilities, and develop a plan to make it happen.