Garden Guidance LLC
You love plants and trees and you want a fabulous landscape…but you’ve got questions. That’s where a consultant can help you.
Horticulture is an art and a science, and learning the science doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t come from a fertilizer label. And every garden is different.
Let me answer your questions and help with your tree and plant dilemmas. Since 1997, I’ve been working with trees and plants in San Francisco and the Bay area. My diverse experience includes tree care (including young tree care), ornamental and edible landscaping, sidewalk gardening and outdoor/indoor container gardening.
Contact me at 415/846-0190 or ellyn (dot) shea (at) sbcglobal.net
Talks and Tours!
Proud to be affiliated with this beautiful teaching garden in San Francisco –
Garden for the Environment www.gardenfortheenvironment.org!
2026:
- February 4: “Deciduous Trees and Woody Plants” for Marin Master Gardener Pruning Guild.
- March 7, 14, 21: Introduction to Sustainable Garden Series, Garden for the Environment.
- April 18, 25: DIY Irrigation and Planting Calendars, part of the Dig In! Edible Garden Series, Garden for the Environment.
- August 20: “Trees for Life” as part of ReScape California‘s Heat Qualification Training (HQT).
- October 17, 24, 31: Introduction to Sustainable Garden Series, Garden for the Environment.
2025:
- February 17: “Pruning by Prescription” for California Horticultural Society.
- March 1, 8, 15: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- April 5, 19: DIY Drip Irrigation and Planting Your Edible Garden – Dig In! series, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- June 7, 14, 21: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- June 25: City of Concord Tree Contractor Training, in collaboration with ReScape California.
- August 14: Tree talk as part of ReScape‘s Heat Qualification Training
- October 15: (online) Advanced Pruning: Structural Training and Canopy Restoration, Marin Master Gardeners. Open to the public. Registration link
- October 18, 25, November 1: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
2024:
- March – April (8-session series): City of Fremont Community Urban Forester Training, in collaboration with ReScape California and City of Fremont.
- April 21: 10 am-noon: Buena Vista Tree Tour with Friends of the Urban Forest.
- June 8,15,22: 10 am-noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series Garden for the Environment
- June 30, 11 am: Talk at Annie’s Annuals: Hellscape Gardening. See the video here:
-Annie’s website: Annie’s Guest Speaker – Annie’s Annuals and Perennials (anniesannuals.com)
-Vimeo: Hellstrip Gardening on Vimeo - -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUE6JOY8PV8
- July: Employee training for Sonoma County Regional Parks
- September 7, 11 am: Talk at Annie’s Annuals: Gardening on a Slope.
- September 19, 1:15-2:45pm: Tree talk as part of ReScape’s Heat Qualification Training
- October 19,26, Nov 2: 10 am-noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series Garden for the Environment
2023:
- March 11, 18: 10 am-noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- April 8: 10 am-noon: DIY Drip Irrigation, (Part of the Dig In! series) Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- June 10, 17, 24: 10 am-noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- July 9, 11 am: Talk at Annie’s Annuals: Gardening on a Slope.
- July 14, “Root Crown Excavations Start to Finish,” (with Christopher Campbell) WCISA Regional Conference, Cypress Lawn Arboretum.
- July 23, 10 am: Guided Walk: Transforming Public Spaces for Friends of the Urban Forest. Registration required: https://www.friendsoftheurbanforest.org/events/guided-walk-transforming-public-spaces
- September 24, 11 am: Talk at Annie’s Annuals: Pruning
- October 21, 28, Nov 4: 10 am-noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
2022:
- March 2, 10 am – 1:30 pm: Training and Restructuring Woody Trees and Shrubs – ONLINE class for Marin County Master Gardeners and open to the public. Registration link.
- March 5,12,19, 10 am-noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Pre-register
- April 9, 10 am-noon: DIY Drip Irrigation, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Part of the Dig In! workshop series. Pre-register
- May 11, 18, 25, 10 am -noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Sign up at https://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/ to be notified when registration is open.
- August 28, 10 am-noon: FREE Walking Tour – Trees & Sidewalk Gardens of East NOPA https://www.friendsoftheurbanforest.org/events/nopa-tree-tour-with-ellyn-shea
- September 10, 11 am: FREE Pruning talk at Annie’s Annuals! https://blog.anniesannuals.com/2022-talks/
- October 1, 10 am-noon: Introduction to Drip Irrigation, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Part of the Get Up! workshop series. Sign up at https://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/ to be notified when registration is open
- October 15, 22, 29, 10 am-noon: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Sign up at https://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/ to be notified when registration is open.
2021:
- Feb 3: ONLINE Structural Pruning Lecture as part of the Community Forester Training at Friends of the Urban Forest. Pre-registration required.
- March 6,13,20: ONLINE Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco
- June 12, 19, 26: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco
- October 16, 23, 30: IN-PERSON! Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco
2020:
(crossed out events were cancelled due to Shelter-In-place and other COVID-19 restrictions)
- December 8 & 9: City of Fremont Approved Tree Contractor Certification Training. https://www.fremont.gov/3730/Tree-Contractor-Certification
- Feb 5 & 8: Structural Pruning Lecture and Field Session as part of the Community Forester Training at Friends of the Urban Forest. Pre-registration required.
March 7, 14, 21: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Registration link.March 26: Rescape California Maintenance Qualification Training – “Act Local” Principle – Petaluma. Registration link.March 28th and April 11: Dig In! Edible Gardening Series (1): Container Garden Installation, (3): Drip Irrigation, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Registration link.May 9: Palo Verde Tree Walk with Canopy. (Although cancelled, check out the Top 10 tree videos on https://canopy.org/palo-verde/ )June 13, 20, 27: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Registration link.July 11: “Gardening on a Slope,” Annie’s Annuals, Richmond. FREE. https://blog.anniesannuals.com/2020-talks/August 22: “Container Gardening,” Annie’s Annuals, Richmond. FREE. https://blog.anniesannuals.com/2020-talks/September 26: “Fall Pruning,” Annie’s Annuals Fall Planting Party, Richmond. FREE. https://blog.anniesannuals.com/2020-talks/- October 17, 24, 31: ONLINE Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1): Sustainable Garden Design, (2): Water-Wise Gardening, (3): Organic Pest Control, Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Registration link.
2019:
- Structural Pruning Lecture and Field Session as part of the Community Forester Training at Friends of the Urban Forest.
- Training and Restructuring Trees for the Marin Master Gardener’s Pruning Guild
- Spring, Summer and Fall: Introduction to Sustainable Gardening Series (1: Sustainable Garden Design, 2: Water-Wise Gardening, 3: Organic Pest Control), Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- “Drip Irrigation for Home Gardeners,” Part of the Dig In! Six-part workshop series. Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
“Structural Pruning for Young Trees,” for San Francisco Professional Gardeners Association, City College. - All-day training for employees of Marin County Parks and Open Space, curriculum based on the ISA Certified Arborist Study Guide.
- “Soil: Not a Dirty Word!” Annie’s Annuals in Richmond.
- “Edible Gardening” Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
- “Gardening on a Slope” at Annie’s Annuals in Richmond.
- Tree Walk as part of Canopy’s Community Forestry School.
- “Pruning!” Annie’s Annuals in Richmond – Fall Planting Party.
2018
- Structural Pruning Class as part of the Community Forester Series at Friends of the Urban Forest, San Francisco.
- Introduction to Sustainable Gardening series: Part 1: Sustainable Garden Design. Part 2: Water-Wise Gardening. Part 3: Organic Pest Control at Garden for the Environment, 7th Avenue and Lawton, San Francisco.
- “Drip Irrigation for Home Gardeners” at Garden for the Environment, San Francisco. Part of the Dig In! Edible Garden series.
- “Tree Walk: Community Center” for Canopy in Palo Alto.
- “Gardening on a Slope” at Annie’s Annuals in Richmond, CA.
- Pruning Talk at Annie’s Annuals Fall Planting Party
- Sidewalk Landscape Bike Tour in the Mission District for Friends of the Urban Forest.
2017
- “Gardening on a Slope: Using Elevation to Your Advantage” at Garden for the Environment, San Francisco.
Pruning Class as part of the Citizen Forester Series at Friends of the Urban Forest. www.fuf.net
- “Drip Irrigation for Home Gardeners” at Garden for the Environment,
- Landmark Tree Tours (2) by Bicycle sponsored by Friends of the Urban Forest www.fuf.net
- “Urban Composting” at Garden for the Environment,
- “Conifer ID and Landscape Use” at San Francisco Botanical Garden, with Dawn Kooyumjian.
- Baylands Tree Tour, “Bikes and Birds.” for Canopy in Palo Alto. www.canopy.org
- “Water and Irrigation” at Garden for the Environment
- “Organic Pest Control” at Garden for the Environment
Check out the top 10 trees of the Palo Verde Tree Walk – produced by Canopy: https://canopy.org/palo-verde/
Read articles on the Deeproot blog and Canopy blog