About the owner:

Colleen Dieter’s first encounter with the earth came as a child when she dumped a bucket of sand on her brother’s head. Since then, Colleen has spent her time and energy cultivating an appreciation of the soil’s fertility, a practical understanding of the internal processes of plants, and a respect for the earth grounded in using organic methods to enhance plants’ natural productivity.

In 2003, Colleen founded Red Wheelbarrow Plant Care to provide personalized, professional, and organic landscape and plant maintenance to residents of Austin and surrounding communities. A passionate and pragmatic horticulturalist, Colleen enjoys sharing her expertise with her clients while addressing each project’s specific needs. Her primary goals for every job are to establish a comfortable rapport with clients where they feel their voices are heard, and to deliver consistent quality service. She believes that our yards are an extension of our homes, financially and emotionally, and takes to heart her role to help increase each property’s value as well as enhance the client’s peace of mind.

Colleen received her B.A. from Ohio State University, where she majored in philosophy and minored in horticulture. During summers, she interned at the Chadwick Arboretum, OSU’s learning and research laboratory in urban Columbus. Colleen moved from Ohio to Texas in 2001, and quickly immersed herself in Austin’s thriving organic gardening community. She served as an Americorp Volunteer In Service To America, working as public relations and media specialist for Sustainable Food Center, the nonprofit organization responsible for the Austin Farmers’ Market and several community gardens. Following her time as an Americorps volunteer, she offered organic gardening advice to customers at John Dromgoole’s Natural Gardener in southwest Austin prior to founding Red Wheelbarrow.

Colleen is a member of the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, Texas Organic Farmer and Gardener Association, and FLORA – an Austin-based female landscapers group. She periodically writes informational articles for novice gardeners for the Austin American-Statesman and has appeared on KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener.  She is a frequent speaker for area gardening organizations and at community gardening events around Central Texas.  She is a proud member of the Board of Directors for TreeFolks and a regular speaker at the organization’s Citizen Forester class.  She is also a Garden Maven, writing articles and keeping a blog for the online gardening club at www.growingpleasures.com.

Colleen can be contacted by phone at 512.217.6955, and by email at info@redwheelbarrowplants.com