Victoria Gardener
Garden Design / Landscape Maintenance
A Division of Northwest Naturescapes
Gardener, Victoria BC
I’m Molly Reid, owner/operator of Victoria Gardener. I design and install gardens, including natural planting gardens—thoughtful, resilient plant communities that look beautiful year-round in our coastal climate. My work blends horticultural expertise with a calm, reliable approach so your garden thrives without fuss.
What Makes Me Different
Most landscapers shape the hardscape. I specialize in what brings it to life—the living layers. I study sun, soil, wind, and water on your property, then place native and climate-fit plants—perennials, shrubs, small trees, and groundcovers—so they grow into a cohesive, low-maintenance garden.
What makes a great gardener?
There are a number of serious considerations and various factors to address in creating the garden:
- Color – and that will play out throughout the course of the seasons
- Texture – creating an environment that feels like an oasis
- Pest control – from slugs to deer
- Aroma – stimulating our sense of smell
- Timing of blooms - for flower gardening, so there is always something in bloom
- Sun, shade & wind – choosing the best plants to thrive in these various conditions
- Pollinator gardening – attracting bees and hummingbirds
- Attracting song birds – bringing the sounds of nature into the garden
What do I do?
So, am I a gardener or landscaper? I'm a bit of both. I specialize in landscape maintenance, which essentially means that I work in people's gardens cleaning them up in the Spring, maintaining them throughout the garden season and then put them to bed in the Fall, getting them ready for a dormant winter. I enjoy this work a lot. It gives me the opportunity to really get to know the personalities of the gardens I care for.
I love designing new gardens of all shapes and sizes. I also have a passion for re-designing established gardens that need a bit of refreshing.
I am one of the plant people. I am a passionate plant lover. I put as much attention to the soil that I plant in. I am fascinated by the textures, colours and scents of the each and every plant, bush and tree. To see how each species and/or varietal differs is so interesting.
My goal is to design beautiful, inspiring gardens each of my clients. Each design as individual as they are. Growing up in the Victoria region, I also have a passion for designing and installing Natural Planting gardens.
With a background in gardening and the outdoors, I focus on native plant gardens and ecological restoration—providing sustainable, high-quality, personalized landscaping that I find my clients rely on.
My education includes a Red Seal in Landscape Horticulture and a BA in Environmental Studies from UVic. I'm told all the time that my passion for plants and natural systems is clearly evident through my work as a professional landscaper.
My services include:
- Natural Plant Gardens – nurturing nature to establish the plant materials in the garden, such as wild grasses, ferns and other natural local wild species.
- Garden Design / Re-Design - whether staring from scratch or wanting a revamp of an established garden
- Container gardening – make your small spaces like decks and doorways look lush
- Pocket gardening – take a small bit of your yard and transform into a colorful bed
- Shade gardening – using plants that thrive without direct sunlight
- Urban gardening – transforming cold, hard surface areas in green oasis’s
- Flower gardening – bringing colour, texture and scent into your space
- Flower-free gardening – blending varieties of non-flowering plants to create lush, green spaces
- Organic gardening – pesticide and insecticide free, only top-quality products from soil to plant material
- Garden clean up – clearing out old debris and breathing life into a seasonal, old or neglected garden
- Soil restoration – building up the nutrients, health and quality of your gardening soil
- Garden Material Shopping - come with me to nurseries and shop for your next garden. We'll plan it out together.
My Specialties
General Gardening
I keep your garden gorgeous with seasonal planting for fresh colour and proper pruning that guides healthy growth throughout the season and into the winter.
What makes a great garden?
The answer is simpler than the effort it takes… at least in the beginning. There are a number of factors and contributors that need to interact in order to establish and grow a great garden.
On top of my list is to understand that…
Soil is the key!
No matter what types of gardening you want to fill your space with, they all have a key foundational component and that is the gardening soil. It is of utmost importance to start with a healthy foundation. Good soil means strong, beautiful plants and gardens that will be pest free.
If your soil is currently not at the level of quality for your best results, there are ways to improve it quite easily, such as:
- Adding compost
- Adding mulch
- Adding organic fertilizer
- Adding plant material that will eventually decompose
Next, in order to build a great garden, we look at your gardening zone. This is when the amount of sunlight the garden will get has a huge effect on what we can plant. Other environment elements come into play here. Wind and the water table under the garden are also a couple more factors that need to be considered. Certain challenges have easier fixes than others, but most are manageable enough to see a garden flourish with the right choices and care.
Plant Choices have to be determined by the above factors. I see too many gardens where plants were chosen for emotional reasons such as colour, smell, maybe a memory. Instead plants and trees need to be chosen by simple logical reasons. We need to ask ourselves questions like:
- Will there be enough sunlight for this particular type of plant or tree?
- Will there be too much sunlight for this particular type of plant or tree?
- Will there be enough water for them to survive and thrive?
- Is the soil at the right PH level for this particular plant?
- What kind of garden pests want to eat this plant?
- How long will this plant live?
These are just a few.
So how much does a gardener cost?
There is a misconception that creating and maintaining a beautiful garden is expensive to have and takes a LOT of time and work.
My approach is to build beautiful, lush low-maintenance gardens through careful plant selection based on the individual needs of each client. Once we establish your garden, because of the choice of plant material, there will be minimal ongoing maintenance required.
We are very lucky to live in this part of Canada. With the mildest winter season, our gardens can be beautiful every month of the year. Seasonal plantings are cost-effective with this approach as well. You can have a green garden in the winter.
My guarantee is that when I’m done, you will LOVE your garden. And if you don’t, I won’t leave until you do.
I begin with a free, friendly consultation once we’ve met and seen your space. From there, if you are happy with our plan, we'll discuss your budget for the season and go from there. The only other costs to you would be the plant material (including soil and compost), and debris removal. The needs of each project are different and we will be more than happy to discuss various options with you.
One of the things I like doing a lot with my clients is involving them in the process of designing or re-designing their garden spaces. This includes deciding on locations of garden beds, as well as the size and shapes of these beds. Then my favorite thing is to take them shopping with me, if they so choose, and together wander through a few plant nurseries, picking and choosing the favorite and best plants for our plan to be successfully executed. From there, we lay out the new plants in their pots onto the specific beds. Once we're happy with color, texture, water and light access, then the plantings begin and a wonderful garden is born.
I would love to have a conversation with you about your garden. Please give me a call or fill in our contact form, and I’ll get right back to you. It would be my pleasure to help you develop a garden you’ll be proud of and be very happy with the outcome.