Helen Yoest

Helen Yoest is a perennial learner, researcher, and teacher of gardening, nature, and the environment. After completing her formal education in London, England, she began her career in the environmental field. With nearly 40 years of experience, Helen has worked as a researcher in air pollution science, garden writing, garden maintenance, and sustainable gardening.

Helen is a lifelong nature lover who has always surrounded herself with birds, bees, butterflies, insects, and snakes and learned to identify and care for their habitat.

From 1985 to 2001, Helen worked at Parson Engineering as an air pollution engineer. After that, she owned and operated Gardening with Confidence, a gardening maintenance company, for 16 years. In 2017, Helen founded Bee Better Naturally, an educational non-profit teaching homeowners to sustainably attract and care for birds, bees, and butterflies. She is a national speaker on sustainable gardening, garden maintenance, garden art, nature, and the environment. She also teaches classes to attract wildlife and sustainability. She's written three garden-based books: Gardening with Confidence, Plants with Benefits (featured in the New York Times), and Good Berry, Bad Berry.

Helen has written dozens of gardening stories for Dotdash Meredith brands, including Southern Living Magazine, Garden Gate, and many others.