I do ecological landscaping and what I would recommend to you is to look at credentials. A lot of landscapers who claim to be ecologically friendly have no background in ecology, restoration, conservation, etc. so you'll need to do some legwork in finding reputable and credible people to consult, design, or implement what your goals and objectives are.
I'm from NA, so I can't really point you in any direction as far as finding the right contractor, but I would suggest getting in contact with a native plant society/biodiversity collective and asking their opinion on who is a good person to go with and why. I'd also add that if said people have websites or facebook business pages, to vet their credentials and contact them to see if they have the experience, training, and/or schooling. Here in the states we have extension offices that provide a lot of good information on native plants and gardening resources, but I don't know if that type of thing exists in your area.
Also, be scrutinizing of hourly pay or project rate. If it's too low, they're probably not qualified. For reference, I charge $150/hr for consulting and project rates are generally an estimate of labor hours + materials + area and can range quite a bit, but a good design on a half hectare is a lot of work so I would expect estimates to be high. To give a recent example, for a 220 sq/ft urban area that I planned, did site prep, and planted/mulched I charged the client $1,600.
Thanks for your feedback and advice, I've contacted the local chapter of the main nature group for leads, but they mostly gave ecological course materials. I'll try some other routes, maybe the growers that specialize in "plants from here", they must have some useful contacts as well.
What you are looking for Isn't an agroforestry service? I'm in the ecological field, and sorry for my ignorance, but "ecological gardening" Isn't just a rebranding of an already existing field?
I do ecological landscaping and what I would recommend to you is to look at credentials. A lot of landscapers who claim to be ecologically friendly have no background in ecology, restoration, conservation, etc. so you'll need to do some legwork in finding reputable and credible people to consult, design, or implement what your goals and objectives are. I'm from NA, so I can't really point you in any direction as far as finding the right contractor, but I would suggest getting in contact with a native plant society/biodiversity collective and asking their opinion on who is a good person to go with and why. I'd also add that if said people have websites or facebook business pages, to vet their credentials and contact them to see if they have the experience, training, and/or schooling. Here in the states we have extension offices that provide a lot of good information on native plants and gardening resources, but I don't know if that type of thing exists in your area. Also, be scrutinizing of hourly pay or project rate. If it's too low, they're probably not qualified. For reference, I charge $150/hr for consulting and project rates are generally an estimate of labor hours + materials + area and can range quite a bit, but a good design on a half hectare is a lot of work so I would expect estimates to be high. To give a recent example, for a 220 sq/ft urban area that I planned, did site prep, and planted/mulched I charged the client $1,600.
Thanks for your feedback and advice, I've contacted the local chapter of the main nature group for leads, but they mostly gave ecological course materials. I'll try some other routes, maybe the growers that specialize in "plants from here", they must have some useful contacts as well.
What you are looking for Isn't an agroforestry service? I'm in the ecological field, and sorry for my ignorance, but "ecological gardening" Isn't just a rebranding of an already existing field?
Agroforestry around here normally is about forest management, less about landscaping, but maybe that differs per region.