SUMMER BLOOMS

“Fall. That’s my favorite season,” says Crystal Lake’s Soil & Spade owner Heather Moister. “You know why? Because spring is a growing season. When we’re installing our pots in the spring, plants are still small and mostly green. But when we create our pots in the fall, our plants have had all summer to grow—all of that wonderful heat—and that fills them up with the most beautiful colors. So, if I have to pick one season to be my favorite, it’s fall. But all of the others are close behind!”

Spoken like a true plant lover who has spent most of her life working with them. After holding a part-time job in a garden center as a teenager, Moister headed off to Iowa State to study horticulture. But not long into her program, Moister realized she loved working with people as much as the plants and switched gears to pursue a career that would allow her to do both.

“I graduated from college and returned to the garden center and became a perennial buyer for them,” she recalls. “I eventually became the general manager. My experience at the garden center has had a huge impact on what I’m doing today.”

Several years later, Moister combined her creative energies and her plant know-how to begin designing custom floral containers from her garage. Soon, Moister was so busy that she built a team to help with the floral work. Thus, Soil & Spade, part retail space and part custom on-site container installers, was born.

“Our work is obviously very seasonal,” she explains. “We have four, four-week periods that are crazy busy. There are five of us who work at Soil & Spade. Soil & Spade is a woman-owned and operated business. Among the five of us, we do all the installation and staff the retail shop where people can come and shop our collection of indoor plants, indoor and outdoor planters, or anything you might need to care for your plants. The retail shop also allows us to have a space to hold workshops or small events during the time of the year when it’s quieter for us. All of us who work at Soil & Spade have a passion for what we do.”

Moister and her team can work with clients in any way they’re most comfortable—whether it’s delivering indoor trees or installing outdoor planters. When building beautiful containers, Moister has four guidelines she adheres to.

1. Pick the right plants. “It’s important to choose plants that will thrive in the growing conditions you have, considering the amount of sunlight, temperature, and moisture your plants will encounter.”
2. Have a good soil mix. “There is a recipe for the right soil mix for your container. This is so important. With the wrong soil, your plants won’t thrive.”
3. Focus on texture and shape over color. “People get too caught up in choosing colors. A really stunning container will have a variety of textures and shapes—clusters, seedy flower, etc. Mixing these will make your pot more interesting. If you get this right, you can introduce any color and it will work.”
4. Foliage makes the difference. “Sometimes I’ll have a client ask me to leave out the green and I’ll gently push back. The greens set the stage for the flowers—it’s amazing what the leafy color will do.”

Years of experience has allowed Moister to develop an expertise in the correct scale of containers for a home or business.

“It’s the worst to show up to a client’s home who has purchased planters that aren’t appropriate for the space,” she says. “My team is happy to make suggestions on what is best. We now have a new line of fiberglass pots at the shop that are finished in a matte automotive paint that is weatherproof. Our containers can even be color matched to the trim of your house.”

Moister says that floral design closely follows current interior design trends. “Many of our clients like all white to mirror the clean, minimal looks of their interiors,” she says. “Greens are having a moment, too. But I’ve also loved some of the boho-chic elements that have been popping up—fuzzy pampas plumes, cinnamon-vanilla colorways, antiquey shades. It’s all so good! Can you tell that I love what I do?”

To learn more about the services Soil & Spade provide or to find out their retail store hours, visit soilandspade.com.