Helping Nature Heal Organic Gardening, Landscape Design & Educational Services . . . Restoring the Earth Restoring the Soul . . .

Greg Lohnes is creating a wildflower meadow - photo below, right, shows part of a wildflower meadow HNH designed and planted a few seasons back.

Soil is made up of billions of organisms living together functioning as a complete unit, from micro-organisms, fungi, bacteria, nematodes, worms, beetles, salamanders, frogs, snakes - life's variety is endless! Click below for more! HNH Organic Gardening gardening before & after gardening testimonials To have a thriving bountiful garden, landscape and ecosystem, we must respect the soil. Rosmarie Bradley begins the new garden or landscape by taking soil samples from the site. Assessing the existing soil structure first allows her to prescribe a recipe from which the landscape can be built. "Rarely do we dig into the earth," she notes, "instead we build landscapes up from the existing site. It is reasonable and practical not to disturb any existing structure - even native soil structures are lacking in many nutrients and depth. Natural soil structure is built in layers so we mimic this layering effect with specialized soil mixes, manures of various types, mulches, wood fibre mixes . . . The choice and amounts depend on what the soil structure lacks, and what is needed by the client's favourite plants."

Good Soil + Good Plants + Maintenance = Happy Healthy Environment

Build a healthy soil structure for optimum health, vigour and resilience of the plants. Soil is the most important part of the environment - it is the garden's foundation.

"We can't expect too much," says Rosmarie. "A nursery-grown plant transferred from its nice cushy greenhouse life to a wind-swept oceanside garden, or one that is transplanted from a gentle setting to wild coastal conditions, won't thrive - or even survive - the first winter without good care: proper soil structure specific to that species, balanced nutrients, regular feeding, layers for insulation, mulch for erosion protection, and seasonal preparations, i.e. winterizing... otherwise, plain and simple, the plants won't make it."

Plants, plants, plants!

• We grow by request: vegetable transplants, herbs, perennials, shrubs and trees, native species trees and heritage perennials and shrubs;
  
  
• We utilize local nurseries for best selection and price;
  
  
• We grow from seed, cutting and seedling

From left: Herb garden by Helping Nature Heal, pink-popping roses by HNH, and the transformation of sod into a lovely patch of rich earth by HNH.

We fertilize with Liquid Organic Kelp!

• Helping Nature Heal builds the soil to suit the location, the type of plant we want to live there, and the environmental conditions;
  
  
• We assess the landscape as it exists, noting all areas which have been disturbed during construction or previous use;
  
  
• We establish a Client Wish List based on our design questionnaire;
  
  
• We develop a plan which best reaches both requirements, that of the land and that of the human while respecting the environment, the existing conditions, neighbouring system and the history of the place.

Perpetual Veggie Beds!

HNH ensures your garden is at peak condition so your beds are full and ready to harvest throughout the season

Preparing the ground for planting - the Helping Nature Heal way

From left: the soil is built up for the first 12," next a layer of manure/wood fibre 2 - 12" depending on requirements of plants and existing soil structure, finally a top layer of mulch 2 - 6" is applied.

Now that the ground is carefully prepared, it's time to plant . . . then enjoy

Helping Nature Heal rock gardens