Book a visit and learn what to expect and how to prepare for your yard consultation here.
What to Expect
How it works / Planning your yard visit
PRE-VISIT
Check out the plants in your yard! Note ones that you aren't familiar with. Write down any questions that you might have. Find some notepaper, a clipboard, or notebook, and think about drawing a quick base map of your building and yard so it can be labelled (kids may enjoy helping with this!). It would be helpful to gather old plant labels or popsicle sticks if you want to re-use them to label plants as we go.
You do not have to tidy up, besides scooping pet waste.
Please note any hazards so you can point them out to me.
Let us know if you are disabled or have a preferred learning style and how we can best accommodate your needs.
YOUR APPOINTMENT
Be ready to take notes! Let's have fun geeking out on plants!
Have non-service dogs inside or secured, block any gates open, and please silence your phone.
If you have them, have garden or disposable gloves ready to handle certain plants.
We will have you show us around your yard with a quick tour.
We will discuss your plants, which ones might be considered invasive and priorities for removal, which are local, useful, or hazardous plants, etc. You can take notes, draw a map, pick leaves or whole plants to examine further or press and dry, and we can label some plants as we go. We can give you some pointers about how to start identifying unknown plants, such as what traits we are using to make these determinations. We could even go over a couple botanical terms if you or your kids are interested. Be prepared to look some things up later and learn along with me - and we would love to learn from you! We do not use phone apps for identification but may take photos for later identification, or may want to look up the common name for a plant or the spelling of a genus or species. We will be delighted if you want to learn some scientific names or characteristics for families, genera, and species.
With your permission, we might want to take some photos to post online.
We are developing downloadable ecology-themed bingo sheets to keep kids interested and busy while we are meeting, or for whenever there is time to explore!
POST-VISIT
Remove invasive species, decide how you want to define and treat weeds, encourage or discourage your plant neighbors, plant seeds, transplant, compost, fertilize, cultivate, notice and interact with more botanical wonders, conserve and create habitat, contemplate water use, pay attention to pollinators, eat fresh food, dig the earth, feel and feed and smell and build the soil, pass your knowledge on to others!
Consider following us on social media and telling your friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc.
Tips or donations are not expected but graciously accepted if you are able.
Please send us your feedback!
Appointment Lengths
An hour appointment is our standard. This will give us enough time to assess most of the species in your yard and to give you a more thorough idea about what is living there. It will go quickly!
A half hour appointment is most appropriate for just learning about some main plants found in your yard, especially those that should be prioritized for weeding out or encouraging.
We also offer a more abbreviated half hour visit where we simply identify the most noxious/invasive 'weeds' in your space which should be prioritized and focused upon for removal,
without focusing on teaching individual names and identification characteristics.
While this is an option for a rapid assessment, it is not our main intention to practice identifications this way.
Even weed plants are interesting and they have a lot of stories to tell! We are passionate about native plants and non-native invasive species, and teaching others about them. We hope to imbue a sense of excitement about plants to help kickstart or refresh your botanical inquiries and enjoyment, to improve your own space and the ecosystem around you, to decrease "plant blindness" and increase awareness of your surroundings and earthly co-habitants.
Booking calendar
Appointments are available:
Monday through Sunday
11am to 5:30pm Pacific Time
(we work until 6pm)
We allow half an hour buffer between visits for travel time.
Booking is allowed one day to 30 days in advance.
If you wish to reschedule your visit, we allow this up to 3 days in advance with no penalty.
Please contact us first.
Cancellations are only allowed more than 7 days in advance.
Appointments cancelled within 7 days of the appointment date are non-refundable and your payment will be forfeited.
Sessions are rain or shine.
Please keep the forecast in mind when booking your session.
We cannot work effectively when there is snow on the ground;
heavy downpours, ice, and wind events will also cause cancellations.
Because this is an exercise in memory, recall, and communicating information, please do not book a session when there will be a lot of distractions or competition for your attention, such as nearby construction or other loud noises.
Cascadian Botany
P.O. Box 17656
Portland, OR 97217-0656
USA
Call/text/WhatsApp:
(503) 240-0260
11am to 6pm Pacific Time
Monday through Sunday cascadianbotany (at) gmail.com
