Permaculture Consultations and Design

Let us help you make your landscape and garden be what you want them to be.

Looking to incorporate  permaculture designs in your yard, but are not sure where and how to begin?  I can help.  Want  to know what kind of plants are already growing on your property so that you can read your land?  Know what plants to pull and what to leave, and what to eat? Miranda Kennedy can help.

We are experienced consultants, having helped hundreds of homeowners, business people and schools with money- and water-saving designs.  We understand that everyone’s needs are different, and budgets are important, so we give you the most in the least amount of time.

Our consultations are Site Evaluations: 

  • We set up an appointment time via email, at finchfrolicgarden@gmail.com.
  • I send a questionnaire that you’ll fill out, and we’ll review it when I arrive. This focuses your needs and allows me the information to make the appropriate suggestions for your site.
  • We walk the areas your property for which you would like advice, preferably starting at top of watershed.
  • I give you answers to questions, provide suggestions, design ideas, problem-solving and recommendations. You are responsible for taking detailed notes or recording (as long as recording is personal use only). I give a lot of information, prepared! If I don’t have an answer, I’ll research it later and email the information to you.
  • You are in control of the time I spend at your property. Most consultations run between one and three hours, depending upon your needs. I don’t ‘pad’ the time with idle chit-chat, but I take my cues from you.
  • If you would like a written report, that will of course be extra to pay for my additional time, and that fee will be based on how extensive the report is. 
  • Site Evaluations are $75 per hour, and the time begins at your door. If mileage between my home (Fallbrook) and yours is over fifty miles, I ask a $20 additional travel fee, and $10 for each additional 10 miles beyond that. That fee can be shared if I visit more than one property during the trip. I have clients South near the border, East to desert areas and the mountains, North to Burbank and the area and South to the coast. I don’t mind traveling.

Landscape Designs:

While I encourage homeowners to design their own gardens, I have designed many permaculture gardens for clients these San Diego. Most designs are hand-drawn; some are created on Sketchup. All are accompanied by extensive document listing the plants, the planting and irrigation techniques, a watering schedule, fertilization through permaculture, and the reasons behind the design choices. Designs begin at $600, depending upon the size of property and extensiveness of project.

Our success is when you begin to see the possibilities and solutions in your property, not just the problems.

I have resources listed on this blog and am always happy to answer questions from my clients about what we discussed via email for no additional cost.

I want to educate and help people garden naturally; I think it is one of the most important things we as homeowners can do for ourselves and our Earth.  Therefore I keep my fees very low.  

I have been the project manager on several large-scale and backyard plantings. If you have workers to install the garden who need guidance, I can give an on-site workshop for them at my usual rate of $50/hour to  show them how to dig a swale, how to hugelkultur, and any other instruction they may need.  I can assist further with the garden installation if desired.

Miranda can tell you all about your plants and wildlife; if she doesn’t know it on site, then she photographs it and researches it afterwards, and can send you a detailed report.  Miranda graduated from Oregon State University’s Fisheries and Wildlife Department in  2013.  She studied Wildlife Conservation, with a concentration on wild birds. She has been on the Board of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy, and a volunteer with their Native Plant Restoration Team. She is active on the top bird, insect and plant identification sites, both posting answers and searching for identifications. She has participated in local bird counts, and has written wildlife inventories. Her collection of data and photographs on flora and fauna is extensive.  Miranda lectures, writes the Finch Frolic Facebook page posts on insects and animals, and loves to find out what roles they play in the balance of nature.  She charges $50/hour consultation fee, and will send you a detailed identification list of species on your site for an additional fee.

I have my Permaculture Design Certificate, an AA degree in Landscape Architecture, a certificate in Irrigation Technology from Mira Costa College, and have studied Nursery and Landscape Design at Mesa College, as well as having been an organic gardener for most of my life and a permaculturalist since 2010. My daughter and I maintain Finch Frolic Garden ourselves, so we have lots of hands-on experience.  I have advised many happy clients on how to make the garden they desire on a small budget, using permaculture techniques. Please see our Testimonials page.

The following photos are of some of our projects. Depending upon the size of the project, either we install plants ourselves, work with landscape professionals we trust, guide our client’s gardeners, or leave the design for our clients to install themselves. As permaculture is the underlying factor in all of our designs, the style of what we do changes with our clients. Much of our work is consulting, and empowering our clients to create their own landscapes with guidance. 

Please contact either of us at finchfrolicgarden@gmail.com to set up a consultation.  We will do our very best to make you thrilled and excited about your property! Thank, Diane Kennedy

 

 

Driveway flowerbed before

 

Driveway flowerbed during

 

Driveway flowerbed after.

 

Native garden

 

Old rose garden before

 

Old rose garden after

 

Raised veggie bed before

 

Raised veggie bed during (hugelkultur)

 

Raised veggie bed after.

 

Backyard redesigned for food production and wildlife. Water formally channeled toward drains by the patio resulted in flooding, so area was re-graded to send water to a water-harvesting swale by the back fence, watering the fruit trees. Raised beds were built to make gardening more accessible and to save space.

 

A lined wildlife pond installed in a native garden that had once been abandoned lawn.

 

A Succulent Garden lawn replacement.

Native erosion control and firescape.

Colorful additions to small backyard.

afford rado diastar watch replica under 193 dollar big watch fake welder watches under 149 dollar buy watches breitling gold fake under 139 dollar luxury fake omega speedmaster 24 hours online more fake chase durer watches under 58 dollar on our website nomos the fake under 210 dollar

10 Comments

  • Kathleen Delancey

    Good Morning, I would like to bring a small group of ladies, from my garden club (10 or 12) to your garden
    I understand about the headcount & money for a tour. When would be a good time for us to come? When
    meet on the third Tuesday of the month. Would this be a bad time of week or could you give me some
    guidelines as to when we could visit, it could be within the next 8 months. Could you let me know.
    Thank you, Kathleen Delancey

  • Diane

    Hi Brooke,
    there is a ‘subscribe’button on the web page now. You should receive an email when there is a new blogpost. I haven’t found a reliable way to have the full post appear in your email though, due to photo size. I’m continuing with the research.

  • Diane

    Hi Brooke. Thank you for commenting. I’m looking into this and I’ll get back with you. Networked Blogs should be emailing notifications, but not the full blogpost. Good for you for doing what is so much more important! Diane

  • Brooke

    Having trouble finding where to subscribe your blog. Can you help me out? I’d like to get your posts via email. I try not to spend much time on websites…if much rather be in my garden, my grove, or with my kids. 🙂

  • Diane

    Paula, I’ve also answered via email. Yes we are doing consultations and can have time Thurs. – Mon. of this week. Please email me a good day and time. Thanks! Great time to do it after rainfall, too.

  • Paula Colby

    How far out are you and Miranda scheduling consultations? Do you have time to come to Vista in December? Maybe even before Christmas?

  • Diane

    Hi Susan,
    We’ll come to San Diego, and our time starts at your home. It sounds as if you are doing a lot of good things, but just need some tweaking. It is a good time now to do any earthworks, big or small, to harvest what rain we’ll be receiving. If you are interested in a site evaluation, please email me at dianeckennedy@prodigy.net. Good luck with all you do!

  • Susan Taylor

    We live in the city of San Diego, have a NWF certification, 3 chickens now since April 2013, They have been free range and eating up plants, grasses, bugs. Getting more challenging! looks like we will have to keep them in their pen. Would love to have some guidance! My sages, etc are drying up. We are in clairemont/kearny mesa area. And on a budget, love what you are doing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *