Consultations
A houseplant expert, in your home, looking at your actual plants
Care advice from the internet is written for someone else's plant in someone else's house. In one visit I look at your plants, your light, and your routine, and leave you a plan built for exactly what you have.
Flat $185 house call from Sarasota to Port Charlotte. Two hours, written plan included. Virtual consults from $65.
What you get
- Every plant identified, including the mystery ones, with honest notes on which are thriving and which are quietly struggling.
- A room-by-room review of light, AC drafts, and humidity, and which plant belongs where.
- A written care plan: how much water, how often, what food, and what to watch for, plant by plant.
- Straight answers to everything you have wondered about your plants but never had anyone to ask.
Where the two hours actually go
Two hours sounds like a lot until you watch it happen. Here is the shape of a normal visit, and which parts of it need you in the room.
| Time | What I am doing | You? |
|---|---|---|
| First 15 min | We walk the house together, including the lanai. You tell me what is worrying you, what you have already tried, which plants matter to you and which came with the house. I get the shape of the collection and the shape of your week. | Yes, please |
| Next 60 min | The plant-by-plant work. Identification, a light reading where each plant actually stands rather than at the window, soil moisture, a look at the roots on anything struggling, pot and drainage check, undersides of leaves for pests, and a note on anything that is a risk to a pet. | Not needed |
| Next 25 min | Moving things. Plants that are in the wrong room get carried to the right one, anything against a vent comes away from it, and we try placements out rather than guessing. Quick fixes happen here: a saucer emptied, a cachepot drilled or dropped, a badly rootbound plant flagged for repotting. | Only if you want |
| Last 20 min | We sit down. I go through what I found, what to do this week, what to stop doing, and what I would leave alone. This is the part people say they got the most from, so it is worth being there for. Bring every question you have. | Yes, please |
| Within 48 hrs | The written plan arrives: plant by plant, in plain language, yours to keep. A follow-up call a week later checks it is working. | Nothing to do |
So the honest answer to "do I have to be home for two hours" is no. Budget about thirty-five minutes of your attention, at the start and the end. The rest is mine.
Consultation or health diagnosis?
They are the same length and the same flat price, and people ask this constantly, so here is the plain version. A consultation is about the whole collection and points forward: every plant identified, placed, and put on a routine that suits your house and your week. A health diagnosis is about the plant that is in trouble and points backward: what went wrong, whether it can recover, and what the treatment is.
One plant failing while the rest look fine? Book the diagnosis. Nothing dying, but nothing really thriving either? Book the consultation. Not sure? Call and describe it, and I will tell you which one your house needs. Booking the wrong one is not a disaster either: if I arrive for a consultation and one plant is clearly in crisis, we deal with that first.
Why Florida homes are their own puzzle
Houseplants here live in air conditioning most of the year, then meet real humidity every time the lanai door opens. Bright Gulf Coast sun through a west window can scorch a plant that would be fine anywhere else, while a north room stays darker than plant tags assume. A consultation sorts out what your home actually offers and matches each plant to it.
Good times to book one
Moving into a new home, inheriting plants, coming home to a struggling collection after a season away, or any time your plants have outgrown the advice that came on the tag. Start with a consultation and every other service has a plan behind it.
How this works, start to finish
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Start you are here
Find out what is actually going on
Two ways in, same visit and same price. A consultation is the whole collection: every plant identified, assessed, and put on a routine. A health diagnosis is one plant in trouble: what went wrong, and whether it can come back.
-
Treat
The fix gets done
Every visit ends with a written plan, and most of it you can do yourself. When you would rather not, the treatment is the next booking and I do the work: repotting into the right mix and pot size, or a full pest treatment cycle across the collection.
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Keep
It stays fixed
Routine care is what makes the first two steps hold. Recurring visits handle the watering, feeding, grooming, and a health check every time, whether you are home or away. Canopy adds support between visits; Grove wraps the whole year.
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Grow
You add to it on purpose
Once the collection is healthy, the fun part: new plants chosen for the light a room really gets, and arranged so they look like they were meant to be there.
You can stop after step one. Plenty of people take the written plan and run with it, and that is a good outcome. Nothing here rolls over into anything else on its own.
Common questions
What happens during a consultation?
I walk your home with you and look at every plant: what it is, whether its spot suits it, and what its care should look like. You leave with a written plan covering watering, feeding, light, and anything that needs attention now. There is a full hour-by-hour breakdown on this page. A virtual consult covers the same ground over video for up to 5 plants.
Do I need to be there for the whole two hours?
No, and most people are not. I need you properly for about the first fifteen minutes, while we walk the house and you tell me what you actually want, and for the last twenty, when I go through what I found. The hour in the middle is me working plant by plant, and you are welcome to get on with your day. If you would rather follow me around and ask questions the whole time, that is genuinely fine too. Some of the best visits go that way.
Is two hours longer than my plants need?
For a handful of plants in one room, honestly yes, and a $65 virtual consult is the better buy. Two hours is sized for a whole house: a typical Gulf Coast home has fifteen to thirty plants spread across rooms with completely different light, and going plant by plant with a light reading and a look at the roots is what makes the plan worth keeping. If your collection is small, say so when you book and I will tell you straight which one to buy.
How is this different from a health diagnosis?
Same visit length, same flat price, different two hours. A consultation covers the whole collection and looks forward: every plant identified, placed, and put on a routine. A diagnosis focuses on the plant that is in trouble and looks backward: what went wrong, whether it can recover, and what the treatment is. If one plant is failing while the rest are fine, book the diagnosis. If nothing is dying but nothing is thriving either, book the consultation.
Do I need a problem to book one?
No. Many consultations are simply a fresh start: new home, new plants, an inherited collection, or a houseplant habit that grew faster than the know-how. A consultation gets every plant on the right routine before problems start.
Can you help me pick new plants too?
Yes. Part of most consultations is matching plants to the light and humidity you actually have. If you want a full plan for choosing and arranging new plants, the aesthetic design service goes deeper.
Every review of this business lives on our Google profile, where it is written by the customer, dated, and out of our hands. That is the only kind worth reading.
Worried about a plant? Get an answer this week.
A full 2-hour house call is a flat $185, with diagnosis, treatment plan, and written care guide included. Or start with a $65 virtual consult.
Prefer to talk? (941) 451-7413