Dinwoodie Landscape Services offers “horticulture gardening” to residential and commercial clients in Alameda County and parts of Contra Costa County. According to owner Sally Jo Dinwoodie, the company’s services go beyond those of “mow and blow” gardening crews that roam the Bay Area. “We do fertilizing, mowing, weeding, irrigation adjustments, dead heading, mulching, aesthetic pruning and trimming, aerating and planting, pest prevention, garden staging, and general garden and landscaping design and consulting.”

Ms. Dinwoodie was trained in horticulture at Merritt College and landscape design at UC Berkeley Extension. She says she’s deeply involved in the day-to-day details of Dinwoodie Landscape Services. “I draw on my background to guide my crew and educate my customers. For example, a current pressing topic is how to mitigate the effects of fungal disease brought on by winter rains.”

Dinwoodie Landscape Services’ garden care operation is highly organized, says Ms. Dinwoodie, with well-trained crews who understand the technical aspects of everything they do. “They work well together and are attuned to the changing needs of our customers’ gardens.” Ms. Dinwoodie says her company only takes on jobs if it’s confident of success. If customers have problems that fall beyond the scope of her expertise, she freely refers them to other gardening professionals whom she believes are better qualified.

Dinwoodie Landscape Services provides “real estate staging,” a process that involves making a property’s yard as attractive as possible to would-be buyers. Ms. Dinwoodie also consults with do-it-yourselfers on plant selection, planting techniques and other issues related to gardening. Condo associations or tenant groups can hire the company to evaluate their own landscaping crews and recommend improvements.

Another of Dinwoodie Landscape Services’ specialties is cleaning up gardens that have been left untended for weeks, months or years. It can cut or remove large weeds, trim and prune overgrown plants, and do “whatever it takes to get gardens back in shape,” says Ms. Dinwoodie.

Before hiring a gardener or horticulturist, determine your reasons for wanting a garden. Will you use the area to have garden parties? Will it be a place of solitude for you and your family? Will your children play in the area? Knowing exactly what purpose your garden will serve helps gardeners work toward a specific end result. Here are some other things to consider before starting a gardening project:

Identify any special considerations. Do you want to use Xeriscaping (a landscaping practice that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation)? Would you like an organic environment that’s free of pesticides? Your gardener needs to understand these specifications before he or she begins work.

Know what part you’ll play in the gardening process. Do you want your garden to be the complete responsibility of your gardener, or do you want it to be a collaboration of ideas? Either way, good communication is important to ensure your garden turns out exactly how you envision.

Your gardener should have extensive general knowledge. Look for expertise on horticulture, pesticides, weed control, fertilizing, sprinkler systems and timer repair. A little questioning beforehand can save big disappointments down the road.

Make sure the gardener carries liability and workers’ compensation insurance. If they don’t, anything that happens on your property is your responsibility. An insured gardener will likely charge a bit more, but it’s worth it in the long run.

“There are certain things every gardener or horticulturist needs to know how to do correctly,” says Sally Jo Dinwoodie, owner of Dinwoodie Landscape Services in Richmond. “There are just so many things that can go wrong.” Ms. Dinwoodie cautions to check the credentials of any landscaper, gardener or horticulturist you hire. “Just because someone calls themselves a gardener doesn’t guarantee they know what they’re doing. And if they don’t, you’re the one who has to pay.”

Q: Will my project have an onsite supervisor?

A: Yes. For every job, there’s a hierarchy. We have a crew boss and several responsible people working under him. They all wear T-shirts with our logo. Our truck displays our name, too.

Q: Do you offer sustainable landscaping practices?

A: Absolutely. I’m a certified sustainable landscape professional, and I understand people have a strong desire to approach landscaping in a more natural and organic way.

Q: Can you help me plant a vegetable garden?

A: Yes. We can give really good advice. Some plants—beefsteak tomato plants, for example—are prone to fail in the East Bay environment. We’ll steer you in the right direction.

Q: How do you charge for your services?

A: We charge by the hour.

Q: Why is my lawn stressed?

A: You might be moving your lawn too tight. It should be a little loose so it can shade itself, which keeps roots cooler and reduces its need for water. Also, consider changing your watering program. We can educate you on how to water your lawn properly. We’ll discuss things such as aeration and top dressing (a very thin layer of organic mulch). California has clay soil that’s very condensed and compacted, and top dressing helps break up that hard soil with different sized particles. We can look at your lawn and help evaluate these things.

Q: I try to prune my plants but they never look good. What am I doing wrong?

A: A lot of pruning isn’t done with the plant’s form in mind. For example, rhododendrons must be pruned in the spring before they set their buds for the next year. You can’t see the buds, but they’re set within two months after they bloom. If someone asks why their rhododendrons don’t bloom, we ask how they’re pruned, whether they’re pruned in the fall and how they’re watered. We look at how much shade they get, and we try to understand the plants’ needs and determine what’s wrong.