“The report said our beds were low in organic matter and had plenty of phosphorus. Judit told us to stop feeding them and start with compost. Nobody had ever looked at what the soil needed before.”
Merle P.Monona
Soil-first garden care in Madison
Start with the soil, and the garden follows
Your first visit is a soil report. We sample your beds, send them to a lab and read the results with you before we plant, feed or prune anything. Then one of us comes back every month.
- Soil report before any work
- Visits April to October
- OMRI Listed fertilizer where needed
The first visit
We read the soil before we touch the garden
Every garden starts the same way, so you know what the beds need before you pay for anything else.
- 01
Step 1: We walk the beds with you
Sun and shade, where water sits, what is thriving and what keeps struggling. You tell us what you want from the garden.
- 02
Step 2: We pull the samples
Small cores from each bed, mixed and bagged by bed, and sent to a soil-testing lab. We note where each one came from.
- 03
Step 3: The report comes back
It gives acidity, organic matter, phosphorus, potassium and texture for each bed. We call you when it arrives.
- 04
Step 4: We read it with you
A plain-words plan: what each bed needs, what to leave alone, and what a monthly visit would cover. Then you decide.
What goes on the soil
Compost first, then only what the report asks for
We top-dress beds with screened compost. Where a report calls for more, we use OMRI Listed fertilizer, and we use no synthetic fertilizers or herbicides.
On every bed
Compost and OMRI Listed amendments, chosen from the soil report
Wood-chip or leaf mulch, kept back from plant stems
Weeds pulled by hand
A card after each visit with what went on and the label's re-entry time
Reading the report
Four readings that decide what we do
Each bed gets its own page in the report. These are the lines we look at first.
- Reading 1
Acidity (pH)
It sets which nutrients plants can use. Hydrangeas and tomatoes want different numbers, so we don't treat the yard as one bed.
- Reading 2
Organic matter
The soil's pantry and sponge. A low reading means compost. A high one means we leave the bed alone.
- Reading 3
Phosphorus and potassium
Often plenty in a bed that has been fed for years, and extra does no good. We add only what the report asks for.
- Reading 4
Texture and drainage
Clay holds water and sand lets it go. It tells us how often to water and how deep to mulch.
The monthly visit
A visit every month, April to October
Frost and thaw change by year, so the dates move with the weather. What we do in each month stays the same.
April
Cut back last year's stalks and pull mulch off the crowns. First soil samples once the ground has thawed.
May
Top-dress beds with compost, divide perennials and edge. Tomatoes go out once frost is past.
June
Weed, stake and deadhead. Check how the beds drain after a hard rain.
July
Water checks, weeding, and pruning spring shrubs after they bloom.
August
Deadhead and cut back what has gone over. A second look at any bed that struggled.
September
Divide and plant perennials, and take fall samples. Spent vegetables come out.
October
Clean-up. Leaf mulch on the beds, and we tuck in whatever needs it.
Winter
No visits. We send each garden's notes and the plan for next spring.
From garden owners
What people wrote after the first season
“George comes in the first week of each month and leaves a card with what he did and what to watch. The hostas and the tomatoes both came through July without any drama.”
Channary S.Fitchburg
“I had been mulching with dyed wood chips for years. They showed me the lab sheet and explained the switch to compost on the beds. The plan fit on one page.”
Casey L.Verona
Sample reviews.
How garden care is priced
We don't price a garden from a photo. You get a number in writing after the soil report, and it lists what is in it.
What decides the price
The size and number of beds matter most, then what the soil needs and how often you want us.
Bed count and size
How much weeding and pruning
Compost and mulch the report calls for
Visits a month
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
It covers the soil report, the written plan, the visit schedule and a list of materials. It leaves out new plants, hardscape, tree work and lawns, which we quote separately.
What happens at the first visit
An hour or so with you in the garden, and soil samples bed by bed. We tell you the visit fee when you book, and credit it toward your first month if you sign up for monthly care.
How and when you pay
Monthly visits are billed after each visit. Materials are listed on the invoice, not folded into the price of the visit. We take checks and cards.
If the job changes
If a bed needs more than the plan says, we tell you first and write the new amount down before we do the work.
Materials and who buys them
We buy the compost and mulch and list each one. Plants you choose are bought at a nursery and added to the invoice at what we paid.
The crew
Who comes to your garden
Judit Duda
Owner and soil lead
Judit reads every soil report and writes the plan for every garden. She started the company because most garden advice starts with plants, and she wanted to start with what's under them.
George Carter
Garden lead
George runs the monthly visits and writes the card you find after each one: what went on the beds, what to watch, and what we'll do next time.
Jacob Bennett
Crew, pruning and clean-ups
Jacob does the pruning and the spring and fall clean-ups, and tells the rest of us when a shrub needs a closer look.
Service area
Madison and the towns around it
From Fitchburg to McFarland, and out to Sun Prairie, Waunakee and Stoughton.
Madison area
- Madison
- Monona
- Fitchburg
- Shorewood Hills
- Verona
- McFarland
Dane County towns
- Mount Horeb
- Sun Prairie
- Waunakee
- DeForest
- Cottage Grove
- Oregon
- Stoughton
- Cross Plains
We don't take gardens outside Dane County, so Janesville, Milwaukee and the Fox Valley are out of our range.
Questions
Before you book
How much does garden care cost?
It depends on how many beds you have, how big they are, what the soil report asks for and how often you want us. The pricing section lists what moves the number, and we write it down before we start.
How soon can you start, and how long does a visit take?
We book the soil-report visit first. The monthly visits begin once you've read the plan and said yes, in the next month we're open. A monthly visit is a few hours for a typical yard, and the plan says how many.
Are you licensed and insured?
Wisconsin doesn't issue a state license for garden care, so there's no license number to show. The footer lists our liability insurance, and we'll send the certificate if you ask.
What happens at the first visit?
We walk the beds with you, ask what you're growing and what's struggling, and take small soil samples bed by bed for a lab. A few days after the lab report arrives we go through it with you and write the plan.
How do I pay?
The soil-report visit is billed when it happens. Monthly visits are billed after each visit, with compost, mulch and plants listed on the invoice. We take checks and cards.
What if it rains or freezes?
We reschedule a visit when the beds are too wet to work, because walking on wet soil packs it down. We tell you the new day, and we don't visit frozen ground.
What should I do before you come?
Mark anything you want kept, even if it looks dead. Tell us where the hose bibs are. You don't need to be home, but it helps for the first visit.
What do you put on my beds, and is it fine around kids and dogs?
We top-dress with screened compost and use OMRI Listed fertilizer only where the soil report asks for it. We use no synthetic fertilizers or herbicides. Every product has a label with re-entry times, and we leave a card with the times after each visit.
Do you mow lawns or run a lawn program?
No. We care for beds, borders, shrubs, roses and vegetable gardens. If you want a lawn program we'll say so, and you'll be better served by a lawn company.
Where do you work?
Madison and the towns around it in Dane County. The service area page lists them and says where we don't go.
Book the first visit
Tell us about your beds
A few lines are enough. We write back to set up the soil-report visit.
Phone(608) 555-0100
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- By appointment, April – October
- SundayToday
- Closed