Some Arlington-local people who help with gardens

Need help in designing a garden, clearing out a mess, or the physical effort of starting or maintaining a veggie garden or ornamental garden? Several local people do this sort of work. I haven’t worked directly with most of these folks, so I can’t speak from personal experience, but they all have good reputations locally and are, I believe, worth talking with if you are looking for assistance in your garden.

Garden Designers …

Risa Edelstein Designs. Risa specializes in native plants, rain gardens, and otherwise supporting biodiversity while creating beauty. She is president of the Ecological Landscaping Association and very knowledgeable, and her website contains a wealth of information.

Light and Shade Gardens. Sally Naish creates practical, sustainable designs for four-season beauty. See her website for more information.

Garden Installation & Maintenance …

Gerzon Gardening. Eli Gerzon mows, weeds, mulches, trims hedges, prunes rhododendrons, plants new purchases, transplants existing plants to better locations, and specializes in dealing with great big garden messes. He has a “no job too big or too small” philosophy and I can vouch from experience that he is both competent and pleasant to work with. Contact him at 339-223-3185 or eli@eligerzon.com.

Home Harvest. Ben Barkan designs and builds organic veggie gardens and provides guidance on how to maintain them, and offers special programs for parents and teachers on planting gardens for/with children. He has a permaculture design certification and can situate and plant berries, fruit trees, and mushrooms. He also does raised bed construction, compost tea applications, and general landscaping. I haven’t worked with him personally but people who have frequently rave about the results. Contact him at 339-927-6764 or Bennyb73@gmail.com.

Rad Urban Farmers. Charlie Radoslovich runs an unusual CSA by using back yards in Arlington and Lexington to create a urban farm patchwork. Charlie designs, installs, and maintains food gardens for several households, all of which receive a share of the resulting produce. For more details, check out his website.

Community Garden …

The garden in Robbins Farm Park is a community garden and learning resource. Check out their website.