Garden Soon provides garden consulting in Crafton, Allegheny County — $85–$130 for an initial site visit that includes sun assessment, a layout sketch, a plant list, and timing guidance for your growing zone. Compact older borough with moderate to significant grade changes. Those site conditions are what we assess first when planning any garden in Crafton.
Most people who call us for garden consulting fall into one of three groups. The first tried a raised bed last year — bought the soil, built the box, planted six tomato plants — and ended up with leggy, yellowed plants that gave them maybe a dozen tomatoes by October. The second is a new homeowner who finally has a yard and wants to grow food but genuinely doesn't know where to start: which direction does the sun move, where should the beds go, what can actually grow here? The third grew up with a huge family garden, helped pick tomatoes every summer as a kid, and now wants to start their own but realizes they were never the one making the decisions. All three situations share the same core problem: a lot of enthusiasm and a real gap in the site-specific, practical knowledge that turns a patch of dirt into something productive. That gap is exactly what we help close — without making anyone feel like they should have already known this.
For Crafton specifically: clay loam to silt loam; older established properties have reasonable organic matter. Hillside lots have erosion-thinned topsoil in places. Chartiers Creek proximity adds some alluvial influence in the lower sections of the borough.
You keep everything we produce during the session. That means the layout sketch — drawn on site, with bed dimensions and plant placement — the written plant list with varieties and quantities, timing notes for your specific region, and our soil recommendations in writing. This isn't advice that evaporates when we leave. What you walk away with is a physical document you can refer back to all season, bring to a nursery, or hand off to someone helping you build the beds.
Step one is a short call before we ever come out — we want to know roughly what you're hoping to grow, whether you have existing beds or are starting from scratch, and what your site looks like. Step two is the site visit itself, which runs about an hour and a half to two hours. We walk the yard together, map the sun across different spots, look at the soil, assess drainage, talk through layout options. Step three is where it comes together: we sketch a garden plan on paper right there on site, including bed dimensions, paths, and what grows where. We build out a plant list specific to your conditions — varieties that perform in zone 6, quantities that fit your space. We go through timing in detail: what to start in March, what to wait on until after last frost, how to succession plant lettuce so you're not drowning in it one week and out of it the next. Step four is optional: a follow-up visit two to three weeks in, when you have questions that didn't exist until you started digging.
The initial consultation ($85–$130) covers a full site visit of one and a half to two hours, sun and drainage assessment, a hand-drawn layout sketch, a written plant list with region-appropriate varieties, timing guidance for your last frost zone, and soil amendment recommendations. You walk away with documents in hand. The full garden plan with follow-up ($225–$375) includes everything in the initial consultation plus a more detailed written design plan and a second site visit two to three weeks later, when questions have had time to develop. If you've already had a consultation and just need us back for a specific issue or a season check-in, a standalone follow-up visit is $65 to $95 for an hour on site. Remote consultations — phone or video, useful for off-season planning or customers outside our regular service area — are $50 to $75 per hour. All pricing is honest and upfront; we discuss scope on the initial call before anything is scheduled.
Yes — Garden Soon provides in-person garden consulting in Crafton. We come to your property, walk the site together, and produce a plan specific to your conditions. Call (724) 201-9484 or use the contact form to schedule.
We start by walking the yard together and mapping where direct sun actually falls through the day — that determines where beds can go and what will produce well. Compact older borough with moderate to significant grade changes. From there we sketch a layout on paper during the visit and put together a written plant list matched to your conditions and what you want to grow in Crafton.
You don't need to prepare much — just have the space accessible so we can walk it together. It helps to think ahead of time about what you'd most like to grow and roughly how much time per week you want to put into the garden. If you know where your water source is and whether you've had any drainage issues in that area, mention it when we talk. Everything else we figure out when we get there.
Yes, and honestly a first-time grower is one of the best candidates for a consultation, because we can help you avoid the mistakes that cause a lot of first gardens to fail. Starting with a plan that fits your actual site — right sun, right crops, right timing — gives you a much better first season than winging it with general advice. We're not here to quiz you on what you already know; we're here to fill in the gaps.
We do both — the consultation produces an actual hand-drawn layout sketch of your garden, with bed placement, dimensions, paths, and what goes where, not just verbal recommendations. You also walk away with a written plant list and timing guide. It's advice grounded in a real plan you can execute, not general guidance you have to translate into action yourself.
Customers who do a garden consultation in Crafton often connect with these other services:
Garden Soon
Licensed & insured in PA · Rated 4.8★ on Google
Providing Vegetable Garden Design in Crafton, PA and surrounding areas.