Seeking very experienced gardener for help!

We moved into our house last August and we now have a pretty good sized yard with lots of mature perennials to take care of. I'm only a beginning gardener and I'm worried about ruining everything. Does anyone know of a master gardener who might be willing to come over for a couple of hours to walk me through the yard (paid, of course! )? We are on the border of Evanston and Skokie.I'd like to make sure I know what everything is and the best way to care for them through the season. Thanks!

LauraS wrote:We moved into our house last August and we now have a pretty good sized yard with lots of mature perennials to take care of. I'm only a beginning gardener and I'm worried about ruining everything. Does anyone know of a master gardener who might be willing to come over for a couple of hours to walk me through the yard (paid, of course! )? We are on the border of Evanston and Skokie.I'd like to make sure I know what everything is and the best way to care for them through the season. Thanks!

Joan Murray at Gethsemane. Will introduce you.

Good luck! We'll be rooting for this to work out since then maybe we can try the same thing.

We moved to NW Evanston five years ago and have gone through more effort than I care to recount trying to find someone. (In fact, somewhere on this forum may be our post asking somewhat the same question. You may want to try the search function and see if you can find it. I recall a number of responses.) It has been extremely difficult--and my wife even works at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We'll be very eager to see what you dig up (pun intended).

Just saw this posting today so it may be too late to help you for this year, but there's always 2018...

A couple of years ago I did some social media work for a guy who does exactly what you're looking for. He will do as much or as little as you want, from basic consulting to actually doing all the work for you, while you just enjoy the harvest. As I recall, he also teaches cheese-making classes.

His business is called Green Thumb at Your Service, website: http://www.greenthumbatyourservice.com/

Jasubar wrote:Just saw this posting today so it may be too late to help you for this year, but there's always 2018...

A couple of years ago I did some social media work for a guy who does exactly what you're looking for. He will do as much or as little as you want, from basic consulting to actually doing all the work for you, while you just enjoy the harvest. As I recall, he also teaches cheese-making classes.

His business is called Green Thumb at Your Service, website: http://www.greenthumbatyourservice.com/

Thank you! I didn't end up finding someone yet, but I still need help knowing how to take care of everything at the end of the growing season, including dividing some massive hostas. I will check out his business!

Hello,

I am a professional horticulturist living on the NW side of Chicago. Did you ever find anyone? I can definitely help you out his season.

Note: I just joined this forum, which explains the late resonpose. I'm looking forward to browsing this forum and taking about gardening!

Katsura - Welcome, I am sorry you did not receive a warmer reception, I missed your posting the first time. Please come back and post, many of us would enjoy the discourse about planting.

I'm in the same boat -- my husband and I bought a home in Rogers Park, and it's beautifully landscaped, and I'm worried I'll screw it all up come spring and summer. In addition, the prior homeowner didn't seem to grow much in the way of vegetables aside from a very small plot of herbs and peppers. I'd love to expand the herb garden and grow some tomatoes, lettuces/spinaches, cucumbers, and maybe some beets or radishes. I suspect that vertical container gardening may be the way to go, but I'd love some advice on the optimal spots given a limited amount of southern exposure sun. (That said, my kitchen windowsill rosemary seems to be thriving with its northern exposure.) Any recent recommendations?

chgoeditor wrote:I'm in the same boat -- my husband and I bought a home in Rogers Park, and it's beautifully landscaped, and I'm worried I'll screw it all up come spring and summer. In addition, the prior homeowner didn't seem to grow much in the way of vegetables aside from a very small plot of herbs and peppers. I'd love to expand the herb garden and grow some tomatoes, lettuces/spinaches, cucumbers, and maybe some beets or radishes. I suspect that vertical container gardening may be the way to go, but I'd love some advice on the optimal spots given a limited amount of southern exposure sun. (That said, my kitchen windowsill rosemary seems to be thriving with its northern exposure.) Any recent recommendations?

I highly recommend City Grange for everything from garden layout advice, to what plants to grow where (and how to keep them alive). They sell everything from flowers to really interesting veg seedlings, as well as the soil, compost, fertilizer, etc. And most, if not all, plants and supplies are organic. They are open year round at the original location (though I think I read that they may be temporarily closed for the next few weeks to do some building repairs) and they are opening another location in Evanston.

https://citygrange.com/

I stopped in City Grange this fall to see about some bulbs. They really did not have any available and had no idea when or what would come in. One clerk said that the manager had quit recently. I signed up for the e-mail newsletter but have never seen one.

Hi. Friends have offered to let me use their backyard in Evanston for vegetable gardening, but I am a total novice. I contacted Mark. If anyone has additional advice, please let me know. The soil is apparently clay and that makes the job a bit more difficult. Thanks!