Yes, Garden Soon offers garden consulting in Midland — $85–$130 for the initial consultation, which includes walking the yard together, mapping the light, and producing a plan specific to your conditions. Significant topographic relief — Midland has flat riverside sections and steep hillside neighborhoods above the Ohio River. We build every garden plan in Midland around what we actually find on site, not a generic template.
When we show up for a consultation, the first thing we do is walk the whole yard with you. We're looking at sun — specifically how many hours of direct light each potential garden spot actually gets, because that single factor determines almost everything. Six hours or more is what tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers need to produce well; leafy greens and herbs can manage on four to five. We ask what you want to grow, what your family actually eats, how much time you realistically want to put in, and whether you're thinking in-ground or raised beds. From there we sketch a layout on paper right there on site — bed dimensions, orientation, what goes where, spacing. We put together a plant list that fits both your conditions and your goals. We talk through timing: when to direct-sow, when to transplant, what goes in the ground in March versus what has to wait until after last frost. You walk away from a session with a sketch, a list, and a plan you can actually follow.
For Midland specifically: silty clay loam near the Ohio River terrace, transitioning to heavier clay and occasional shale substrate on the elevated hillside sections. The older industrial-era properties often show significant topsoil loss from erosion over the decades. Thin soil over hard substrate is a common challenge on the steeper sections.
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.
An initial garden consultation — site visit, sun assessment, layout sketch, plant list, and timing guide — runs $85 to $130. If you want a full garden plan with a follow-up visit included, that package is $225 to $375 depending on site complexity and plan scope. Remote consultations by phone or video are available at $50 to $75 per hour.
Yes — Garden Soon provides in-person garden consulting in Midland. 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. Significant topographic relief — Midland has flat riverside sections and steep hillside neighborhoods above the Ohio River. 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 Midland.
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.
Our consulting focus is vegetable and food gardens, which is where our depth is — soil prep, crop timing, layout for production, season extension. That said, companion planting questions come up regularly, and we're happy to talk through integrating flowers like nasturtiums near squash or marigolds around the border. If your primary goal is a purely ornamental garden, that's a better fit for a landscape designer.
Customers who invest in getting their garden right tend to look up at some point and notice the lawn around it. It's a natural progression — once you've thought carefully about soil health, sun exposure, and what's actually growing versus what should be, the surrounding turf starts to look like the same conversation. Weed pressure from the lawn migrates into beds. Compacted soil in the yard affects drainage near the garden. The same attention to soil pH and fertility that helps a vegetable garden also applies to the twenty feet of grass around it.
Customers who do a garden consultation in Midland often connect with these other services:
Year-round turf health — fertilization, weed control, grub prevention, and winterizer timed to the growing season.
Weekly or biweekly mowing with edge trimming and blowdown. We cut at the right height for cool-season turf and adjust for growth rate.
One-time reclamation for neglected or jungle properties. We bring equipment rated for heavy material and haul everything out.
Spring and fall cleanup — leaf removal, debris, bed edging, ornamental cutbacks, and disposal.
Family- and pet-safe perimeter spray applied around the home exterior — foundation band, entry points, and window frames.
Garden Soon
Licensed & insured in PA · Rated 4.8★ on Google
Providing Vegetable Garden Design in Midland, PA and surrounding areas.