The garden is an extension of your home and At The Garden Gate Gardening Services makes it an extension to be proud of. Courtesy Photo

ELMA – When you combine warm weather, lots of sunlight, and plenty of moisture and rich soil, the results can be somewhat predictable: things grow, and they grow well. Unfortunately, under those conditions, everything grows well, and that includes weeds.

Fortunately, Rachel Hewetson, the owner of At The Garden Gate Gardening Services is only a phone call away.

Hewetson is very knowledgeable in helping gardens show their best side to the world. She graduated from the agriculture program at Kemptville College in 1996 and after 15 years in the Ag industry, she turned to her other love, landscaping and gardening. She has extensive perennial beds, annual containers, and a large vegetable garden. In 2023 she added a greenhouse. This is her fourth year as owner of At The Garden Gate Gardening Services, the company she founded, and she says things are going very well.

“I’m pleased with how things are working out,” said Hewetson. “My staff has grown to two experienced workers. Both bring a lot of knowledge and experience to the team.”

The amount of moisture we have had this year, combined (finally) with some warm weather means that everything is growing well, weeds and flowers alike. “This year’s struggle is keeping ahead of the weeds,” said Hewetson. “They just keep coming.”

In some cases, people who initially felt they just needed some help at the start of the season, are finding that they need ongoing help to keep their garden’s weed-free.”

Hewetson says that more people are seeing the wisdom in adding mulch to their gardens, which helps in supressing weed growth.

Hewetson is a member of The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and both the North Dundas and South Dundas Chamber of Commerce and has clients in both these areas as well as in Ottawa. She is located centrally in Elma, near Williamsburg, which allows her to cover a wide area.

One of the busiest times of the year for anyone involved in gardening is in the spring. At The Gate Gardening Services offers a full slate of services, including:

A Spring Cleanup consists of:

  • Cutting down of last year’s plant growth
  • Blowing and raking leaves out of beds
  • Removing fallen debris, and branches
  • Fluffing of mulch, if applies
  • Weed out any existing weeds
  • Edging of Beds
  • Bagging of compost and removal / disposal (Communities that have green bin/compost weekly pick up, bags will be left at the curb. )

Addition of fresh soil/manure and mulch is available as an extra service.

Other services At The Gate Gardening Services provide are weekly and bi-weekly maintenance, holiday garden maintenance (a lot can happen in a week or two, and who wants to come home to have to deal with it), and fall cleanups, which serve double duty by putting you one step ahead next spring.

There is no disguising that gardening can be hard work, especially when the sun is beating down, but that hasn’t decreased the pleasure Hewetson gets from what she does and what she like best about it.

“It’s nice to be able to, I shouldn’t say, make my own schedule, because I’m working harder than I did for another company, but it’s different, it’s busy, but it’s different.”

There is also the joy of working with people who really love their gardens, and appreciate it when they are made to look their best.

You can reach Rachel Hewetson and At the Garden Gate Gardening Services by phone at 613-619-4041 or by email at rhewetson75@gmail.com. You can find out more about what they can offer by visiting their website (atthegardengate.ca) and on Facebook and Instagram.

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