Find Your Green Thumb in the Concrete Jungle

The small projects comprise about 80% of Jardiniere's current workload. Most of these customers opt for maintenance contracts, which generally involve one to three monthly visits for sprucing, pruning or dealing with a struggling plant, as well as separate seasonal displays.

Combs prefers "zeroscaping," a landscaping philosophy that requires minimal maintenance or water thanks to native (zone 7 for New York City) drought-tolerant plants.

"Tropical plants can add some flair, but they're not going to come back next year," says Combs, who works mostly with individual owners or tenants rather than co-ops and condos, since the latter often require arduous logistic work to achieve the needed go-ahead. "I'm lucky in that my clients are generally practical people and trust my judgment not to do anything over the top."

That said, Combs has had demanding clients. A few have insisted she work with their interior designers so that the plants matched their homes' decor. Another told her that she felt a blue vibe in the back yard and insisted on plants only in that color.

For larger jobs, Combs works with dLandstudio, an interdisciplinary design firm a few blocks from her office and founded by a friend, Susannah Drake. On these assignments, Combs focuses on the plants while dLand handles, er, dRest. "The folks who have architects deal with their homes probably want landscape architects for the outside," Combs points out. "Susannah does beautiful design work, and it's great to have her for the large-scale projects that would overwhelm me."

City Limits

Wonderful as it is, the city can complicate things, and gardening is no exception. As noted, the climate can (or at least should) limit the plant palette; more surprising is that climate will often differ from building to building.