Local Business Spotlight: Marni Saves the Day

Hello Everyone! I must introduce a friend of mine, Marni, owner of Marni Saves the Day. I was lucky enough to meet this wonderful lady a few months ago when out-of-state clients decided to sell their Seattle house. These clients were not only living in Portland, but was also taking care of an ailing parent. Preparing your home to sell is a lot of work, and lucky for them, Marni was there to help. 

She was so fantastic to work with, I decided to hire Marni to help me get my home and office in order. Between my business doubling and having a brand new baby, my house was in a state of chaos. Marni has helped me clear out boxes of “stuff” that I don’t need, move offices, prepare for a basement remodel and throw a HUGE holiday event (You may have met “Jingles the Elf” at the Holiday Social). She has boundless energy and an ability to keep me focused when I am frazzled and overwhelmed.

I think my favorite part about working with Marni, is that she makes sure that the things that I don’t need either goes to someone who does need them or is disposed of correctly. For example, I had too much food for the Holiday Social. She suggested that we hand it out to the homeless. Her passion is contagious.

If you need help organizing, moving, preparing for a remodel, hosting an event, decluttering, or filing, you should contact: 

Marni Jacobsen | 206-372-9968 | marni@marnisavestheday.com | MarniSavestheDay.com

Local Business Spotlight: Garden Coaching Solutions

The Benefits of Hiring a Garden Coach

Here is a great article written by my Garden Coach, Jenny Mandt.

by Jenny Mandt, Owner, Garden Coaching Solutions

Jane Goodall, renowned anthropologist has said “It's been proven that plants are good for our psychological development. If you green an area, the rate of crime goes down. So we need them, in some deep psychological sense…” I am inspired by that statement. Taking time out from our busy lives and connect with nature is good for our souls. Getting dirty- getting back to the land and making our gardens grow builds wealth on two levels. The first is financial as the garden adds to the curb appeal of our homes. The second level is what Jane Goodall refers to is that gardening can be a healthy stress reliever especially when we are so busy with our daily lives.

Sometimes we have a yearning to transform our yards, deck, or patio in to an attractive space where we want to spend time with family and friends (or a personal sanctuary). Not everyone has the time, knowledge or vision to make this happen so Garden Coaching can help. Walking around the garden or patio with a person with experience can help get a different perspective, generate ideas of what’s involved, and how to make your dreams a reality.

Here are two clients’ short stories: “Alice” is someone who entertains a lot and loves to cook. Her house has a wonderful deck looking out towards the Olympic Mountains but only has a few tables and chairs and no plants on it. She wanted to make her deck appealing for parties. She wanted to make sure that whatever was done was easy to maintain, look colorful and at a reasonable cost. She had forgotten to plant tulip and daffodil bulb in the fall and it was late winter when she received Garden Coaching. It was recommended she buy some larger, colorful pots, potting soil, chicken wire (to keep the squirrels from digging up the bulbs), and bulb fertilizer. Once she got everything together, she was shown how to plant the pots. It is not normally the time of year to plant bulbs but believe it or not, come spring, she was ecstatic with the incredible array of cheerful flowers she had that lasted well into summer (see her photo below). Once the bulbs died, the plan was to plant herbs, a few summer flowering perennials and tomatoes to get her through fall. She plans on repeating the process this coming year.

Another client, “Denis” and his wife had just purchased a new home and he wanted to do the work himself but didn’t know where to begin. 

With Garden Coaching, after walking around the different parts of the yard, he wanted less grass, a stone patio in the front yard, adding trees to create some shade on the Western side of the house and giving the house more curb appeal. He wanted to do this project in stages to keep it affordable so a priority list and notes were generated so he had a starting point. Part of the plan was to provide him referrals on where to get the stone and to rent tools to get rid of some sod and to regrade his back yard. He got different tree and flowering shrubs suggestions for the front yard that could shade the patio from the hot, summer afternoon sun. When he got through with the first phase, a new plan was drawn up that figured out which plants and shrubs to keep, what to get rid of and which plants would replace them. He was advised on how to improve the soil, prune overgrown shrubs and trees and how to maintain everything, especially the watering needs during the summer months. When he was ready to plant, Garden Coaching took him plant and tree shopping, gave him suggestions as to what to buy, and where to place it once everything got delivered to his home. Denis was pleased with his experience and that he could do most of the work himself over time as his budget and time allowed.

Getting your garden or yard the way you want it takes time and some vision on how to get there. Garden Coaching offers support, knowledge and encouragement for the novice to the passionate gardeners; the DIYers to those who would rather contract someone else do it. Gardening allows you to unplug from your busy life for a little while, grow your wealth and relieve some stress all at the same time. Sometimes we need others who can help steer us where we want to go – the result can be good for the soul.

Jenny Mandt has over 10 years of experience in plant retail work and garden coaching.   Spring will be upon us before you know it so start the planning process now.  Pruning trees, roses and shrubs and deadhead perennials will be coming up in March, so make sure those cutting tools are sharp and well oiled.  If Garden Coaching sounds like it might help you with your next project you can contact Jenny at gardencoachingsolutions@gmail.com, or (206) 915-0585 or check out some of her clients before and after garden photos on Facebook @gardencoachjenny.