Gardening woes solved by qualified professional

Overwhelmed with overhauling the yard and gardens? Want instant satisfaction of a completed landscape without all the headaches? It may be time to rest the spade in the tool shed and call a landscape professional onto the scene.

Dreams of lovely landscape won’t turn ugly if you carefully seeks out a well-qualified landscape professional. In most parts of Maine, homeowners are fortunate to have a wide base of professional gardeners from which quality landscape services may be derived. If you’re feeling overwhelmed – or if you just don’t know where to begin taming an unruly landscape – it may be helpful to locate a seasoned landscaper to help rein in your yard.

According to the American Nursery and Landscape Association, the horticultural services industry is made up of mostly small family businesses that grow, sell, install, and care for plants and landscapes. Overall, the industry, which includes hundreds of thousands of professional gardeners and landscapers across the United States, represents a growing economic and employment sector. Nurseries that propagate woody and herbaceous plant material and workers that install that plant material into home landscapes represent “new” agriculture.

According to the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the nursery and greenhouse industry makes up the fastest growing segment of U.S. agriculture. While the number of farms in the United States has declined steadily since the late 1980s, the number of nursery and greenhouse farms has increased dramatically. Greenhouse and landscape industry sales have grown steadily over this period of time, increasing at about $500 million per year.

The nursery and landscape industry employs more than 1 million seasonal and year-round workers annually, according to the ANLA. Greenhouses and nurseries employ at least 45,000 workers year-round and 105,000 during peak seasons. The USDA reports that net farm income of plant propagators is the highest of any production specialty in U.S. agriculture.

These numbers provide indication as to why in parts of Maine there is no shortage of qualified professional gardeners and landscapers. With such an extensive resource of professionals, what should you look for when inquiring about landscape services?

First, professionalism. The Maine Landscape and Nursery Association promotes a standard of professionalism in the horticulture industry. Homeowners can find a listing of the group’s certified professionals at http://www.melna.org/CertifiedPros.asp.

You can assess professionalism for yourself, too. When a prospective landscaper arrives in your yard, does he take notes and pictures and ask questions? Does he readily offer referrals? Does he have insurance coverage? Does he offer photos of landscapes he’s installed?

Second, your questions should be answered. Find out how many years the professional has been in business. Ask for references and follow up by making calls. If you’re interviewing the owner of a larger-sized firm, they may not be the one working on the installation of the new landscape. In this case, it’s extremely important to ask who will be supervising the work. If appropriate, ask for itemized estimates before work begins. Make sure just one person is held accountable for the work, from estimating the cost of the job to the end product.

Finally, make sure the professional has a commitment to caring for landscape problems in the years to come. Of all the tools available to the landscape professional, communication with the consumer may be the most valuable. Establishing a working relationship at the outset of a landscaping project goes a long way toward turning your landscape dreams into a reality.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941 or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.