Plant Recommending Best Practices for Gardeners
Being able to recommend the right kind of plants to use in a landscaping project is one of the crucial skills you have to master if you're planning to start a career as a professional gardener. That's because plant recommending is a task that involves being able to strike a careful balance between what your client wants, their budget, the landscape area, and maintenance ease.
In this blog post, I will be sharing with you some of the standard best practices that will help you develop your plant recommending skills.
1.Discuss the project with your client.
Before you start bombarding your client with recommendations and suggestions on how to beautify their garden, take some time to talk with them to tell you what they want. Chances are they already have some ideas of their own on how they want their garden to look like. They may even show you some pictures they've collected to give you a better idea of what they want. All these will provide you with a better idea of what landscape design will appeal to them.
At the same time, talking with your client about the project will give you other pieces of information like their budget and their plant maintenance skills. All these will be extremely helpful for you to come up with a landscape design with the right plants that will suit their budget and lifestyle.
2.Do your research.
In-depth research is one of the secrets to hone your plant recommending skills. Only by doing this will you be in the position to choose the right plants to suggest to your client that will best match their needs.
For example, many people love the idea of having vines growing in their garden because they look spectacular especially when they cover arches and the walls of their homes.
Source:Wikimedia Commons
However, many types of vines grow quite vigorously that they end up becoming a nightmare for them to maintain.
3.Inspect the area.
Visiting your client's garden or landscape before you provide your plant recommendations is another essential step.
This is because if your client wants to include trees or big shrubs in their overall landscape design. Aside from making sure that they have space where to plant them without overcrowding the place, you need to make sure that the trees and shrubs won't pose a safety threat to your clients or their neighbors when they're full grown.
You'll also need to check if there are any particular animal pest problems like deer and rabbits in the area. Although they may look cute and adorable, your clients won't start thinking that once they begin munching on the plants in their garden.
4.Offer explanations and alternatives.
There will be instances when your client would insist on having certain plants in their garden that won't be able to grow in their yard without help.
In situations like this, you’ll need to be able to explain to them the pros and cons without losing your temper. At the same time, you'll need to be ready to offer them with other plants that would give them a look that they want but won't be difficult to maintain.
