By Meghan Siegler
BELMONT — If the rapidly melting snow has unearthed a brown, barren landscape in your backyard, Garden Artisans of Belmont is ready to help you design a luscious ecological garden that will thrive through all four of New Hampshire's extreme seasons.
With the assumption that winter weather has subsided for the time being, founder Ginger Wells-Kay has already started the pruning process for some of her clients. As the temperatures continue to rise, she and her employees will soon be knee-deep in soil, planning, planting and maintaining gardens of all varieties.
"There are so many ways you can use your landscape," Wells-Kay said.
While some clients prefer viewing gardens or gardens that encourage wildlife, others request vegetable gardens or gardens filled with flowers ripe for cutting.
"Their wishes are always tended to," Wells-Kay said.
Regardless, all of Garden Artisans' landscapes are created with an ecological design that supports the environment.
"I have an organic business," Wells-Kay said. "We don't use chemicals or pesticides … We use homemade fertilizers and organically approved products."
But, Wells-Kay added, if a garden is designed properly in the first place, it shouldn't need chemicals anyway. By adhering to "the web of life," a garden can be filled with plants that promote wildlife and insects that will help the garden continue to flourish.
Wells-Kay is a University of New Hampshire master gardener and is accredited as an organic land care professional by the Northeast Organic Farmers Association. She started Garden Artisans seven years ago, and the company has jumped from 15 clients and two employees in the first year to approximately 50 clients and seven employees.
The master gardener hasn't always pruned and planted for a living. Wells-Kay has degrees in fine arts, art therapy and clinical social work and worked in human services for more than 24 years before opening a mural painting business called Paint Artisans in the Lakes Region. Even then, though, Wells-Kay had other aspirations in the back of her mind.
"What I really wanted to do was garden," she said.
She began studying horticulture and in 2000 closed Paint Artisans and opened Garden Artisans.
"Gardening is an excellent fit right now for where I am in my life," Wells-Kay said. "I use the fine art principles to design the gardens."
Her staff of seven does much of the actual planting and maintenance, and while Wells-Kay has no problem digging in herself, most of her time is spent planning.
When a potential client calls, Wells-Kay heads over to the home and spends a good amount of time talking about what the client is looking for as far as functionality and aesthetic qualities. She also takes pictures and measurements and does a soil test. Another important factor, Wells-Kay said, is knowing how the garden will look from inside the home, so she always heads inside for that perspective.
Wells-Kay said it takes her at least a month to create an image for her clients, because she visits the site at least twice and consults with each client several times.
All of her designs incorporate elements that will beautify the landscape in the spring, summer, fall and winter. She primarily uses plant life to create a garden (annuals, perennials, bulbs, shrubs and trees), but sculptures, benches, trellises, birdhouses and other garden elements can be part of the plan as well.
Depending on a client's budget, Wells-Kay will either draw and hand-color several drawings from various perspectives, or she can produce a simple bubble diagram.
Once the plan is drawn up, Wells-Kay presents it to the client.
"They always say they don’t like something" Wells-Kay laughed, but that’s fine with her, because a garden should be very personal. "I like it when my clients have input."
Garden Artisans offers several levels of services. Once the design is drawn, the company will install and maintain it, if the client so requests. If the contract ends after the planting because the clients wants to maintain the garden themselves, that’s fine too, Wells-Kay said. Also, if someone already has a garden but is looking for a pro to maintain it, Garden Artisans will cater to those customers.
Wells-Kay said she also does consultations, where she meets with a landowner and walks around the property, giving suggestions, answering questions, identifying problems, and creating a cost estimate if the landowner wants to do the work himself.
As for her own garden, Wells-Kay said she doesn't have a lot of time to spend tending to it, though last year she did clean it up for the Lakes Region Garden Club tour.
"I worked it into wonderful shape, and that's the first time it's ever been good," she said.
Her personal garden is often host to plant experiments, so any unusual plant that goes into a customer's garden has been pre-tested, she said.
Some of Garden Artisans' work can be seen at local landmarks, as the company is dedicated to community service, Wells-Kay said. She personally works with the Belknap County Teen Restorative Justice Program, helping kids stay out of trouble by teaching them gardening techniques. Together, they have worked on the landscape at Rotary Riverside Park in Laconia.
Garden Artisans' work is also featured at the Belmont Mill in Belmont, New Beginnings Domestic Violence Shelter in Laconia, St. James Episcopal Church in Laconia, and Smith Meetinghouse Garden in Gilmanton.
The company can be reached at (603) 524-8607.
Garden Artisans LLC, Belmont, NH 03220