How to Find a Gardener for a Hawaii Garden in Kona

A Monarch butterfly flies over my Hawaii garden in Kailua Kona.

Since I don’t take care of my garden at home in Sacramento, I most certainly don’t have time to tend to my Hawaii garden when I’m in Kona. For one thing, I’m too busy half the mornings and early afternoons working on Sacramento real estate. The best time to work in a Hawaii garden is morning, before it gets too humid. However I ended up spending almost the entire weekend cutting down branches, trimming palms and raking dead leaves.

Row of palms are about 15 feet in the front yard.

Then it dawned on me, this is something our gardener should be doing. He comes once a month. His guys buzz in with their chainsaws and leaf blowers, but they can’t trim our coleus straight to save their lives. They leave all of the dead tree tops in the trees to whither, which is a ghastly sight. Within 15 minute they’re done and gone.

Hibiscus and coleus line my neighbor’s house on one side

Our fig tree was growing on top of the neighbor’s house. An avocado in the front seems to be dying. Definitely, I need a new gardener. It’s been only 2 months since I was last here at the house, and our Hawaii garden is a disaster.

Freshly planted annuals in the volcanic soil below more varied vegetation.

Funny story. As I hauled 8 large trash bags from the yard, stuffed with green waste, I met a woman walking her dog. Turns out Linda is from Roseville, California, and just moved here in January. I invited her to tour my Hawaii garden.

Anthurium, left, and annuals in planter on side patio.

We have avocados, I said with great pride. I’ve been watching them since last June and they seem ready to pick. They are really big now. I’m not sure what kind of avocado they are but I’m thinking Reed. I plucked the biggest avocado, about the size of a small grapefruit, and handed it to Linda. I will share my avocados because that’s what neighbors do.

Linda’s eyes grew big. She stretched out her hand eagerly to grasp the avocado. She smelled it. With a slight grin, she replied very matter-of-factly: “That’s a lime.”

What I thought was an avocado was not.

Boy, did I feel like an idiot. I laughed and laughed. All this time. I obviously cannot tell the difference between an avocado and a lime. But at least I know how to grow a pineapple in Hawaii.

Today I made progress. I thought to myself, who would know a good gardener? I know! A Realtor. Because Realtors are Referral Central. I know that since I am a Sacramento Realtor. I called the agent who listed this house originally and sure enough scored a gardener who is coming over tomorrow to tend to my Hawaii garden.