Garden Care Program
The design keeps working because someone knowledgeable keeps working it. Organic, hand-managed, and honest — this is how we protect the investment we built together.
Hourly onboarding → predictable monthly flat rate
Weeds are the never-ending issue. Not mowing, not fertilizing — weeds. Take out the turf, and the bare soil wants to grow something. Dense native plantings choke weeds out over time; mulch buys you the first year; someone who knows the difference between a young firebush and a young weed handles the middle.
Broadcast spraying — the default for most lawn crews — is the fastest way to kill a real native or edible landscape. Organic herbicides can burn the plants around them. Synthetic ones drift and persist. We hand-manage instead.
How the program works
Vegetable & kitchen gardens
Approximately twice-monthly visits, entirely hand-managed. Weeding, plant health monitoring, pest scouting, replanting as seasons rotate. No broadcast sprays on food you're going to eat.
Larger native landscapes
Monthly to quarterly visits depending on scope. Mulch refresh, corrective pruning, weed pressure management, seasonal check-ins on establishment.
Fruit trees
Handled under the Edible Fruit-Tree Care program: quarterly granular feeding, 2–4 week foliar sprays in flush season, seasonal pruning, organic pest management.
DIY or generic crew vs. Longleaf Garden Care
| What matters | Generic mow-and-blow / DIY | Longleaf Garden Care |
|---|---|---|
| Weed management | Broadcast herbicide, weekly | Hand-managed, plant-aware, targeted |
| Plant knowledge | Anything green stays; anything else sprayed | Knows every plant in the design |
| Pest control | Broad-spectrum, calendar-based | Targeted, organic, monitored |
| Fertilization | Synthetic broadcast | Organic granular + targeted foliar |
| Visit rhythm | 20 minutes, weekly | Longer visits, less often, better outcome |
| Result at year 5 | Plants replaced, soil degraded | Landscape improving year over year |
Plant establishment & replacement
[CONFIRM POLICY — Cam to finalize wording. Draft: healthy nursery stock, correct install, and ongoing care from us means we lose very few plants. When establishment fails within the first season on a plant we installed and cared for, we replace within the scope of our agreement. Specific terms depend on species and site conditions.]
Common questions
How is the Garden Care Program priced?
First few months are billed hourly while we learn the scope of your specific garden. Once we understand the rhythm, we convert to a predictable monthly flat rate. It's an honest onboarding — no fixed-price surprises later.
How often do you visit?
Vegetable and kitchen gardens: roughly twice per month, hand-managed. Larger native landscapes: monthly to quarterly, depending on scope. Everything is scoped case-by-case.
Do you spray?
Only when necessary, and only with targeted organic controls. We never broadcast-spray herbicides — organic sprays can burn the surrounding plants, and they don't get the roots anyway. Weeds are hand-managed.
What if a plant dies?
[CONFIRM POLICY — Cam to finalize establishment / replacement wording. The honest answer is that with proper install and care, we lose very few. When we do, we replace within the scope of our agreement.]
Can I do this maintenance myself?
You can — and many clients handle portions of it. The Care Program exists for people who want the design to keep working without having to become a horticulturist themselves. Self-managing without knowing the plants is how designs fail.
See if your garden qualifies for a Care Plan.
Every plan starts with an on-site scoping visit.