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November 30, 2022

Kyle Burgamy, Landscape Architect, ISA Certified Arborist

The biggest factor in how a landscape “feels” is the presence or absence of large trees. If you live in a newer subdivision with few trees or none at all, consider adding a few large-growing shade trees such as Oaks, Maples, Tulip Poplar, Elms, River Birch, etc.

Pruning the lower limbs of existing, large shade trees may improve the view of your house from the street. It is also good for the trees, and can give your yard a cleaner look. (Not necessary in wooded or natural areas, or where screening is desired)

Use mulch or pinestraw around all trees and shrub beds, both for plant health and aesthetics.

Having well-defined edges to all lawn areas will do wonders for the appearance of your yard

When laying out these bedlines, use broad, graceful curves, which are easier to maintain and more aesthetically pleasing than wiggly, uneven lines. Straight lines are more suited to formal designs and architectural features.

Design with plant form (overall shape) in mind, not just flower color; Against the house, choose plant colors that complement the house.

Design with foliage color in mind; colorful trees and groups of shrubs can have a much bigger impact than small flower beds, and give you more bang-for-your-buck.

Use mostly evergreens around a house foundation, but use a mixture of evergreens and deciduous plants throughout the yard for year-round interest.

Use ornamental grasses for their drought tolerance, deer resistance, and different texture. They look great when combined with other plant types, especially evergreens.

Consider the mature size of plants before planting and give them enough space to grow without continual pruning.

Don’t be afraid to plant small and medium-sized trees near the house – they can give a sense of scale and cast welcome shade onto walkways, patios, and windows.

January 12, 2021

Milledgeville, GA Lawn Care — Where the water goes

Despite a most unusual year last year, it appears that in 2021, water is still flowing downhill. Virtually every Lake Sinclair property slopes down to the shoreline or seawall, even if only gradually. You know what this means. When it rains, the water will be running across your yard, taking the path of least resistance as it heads toward the lake.

Many properties, especially those with lots of natural vegetation, will manage this flowing water quite well. The trees and native plants will take up the moisture that they need, and the roots of those plants provide an underground framework that stabilizes the soil. Natural ravines and ditches may channel the water in certain areas.

When we change the landscape by building homes near the shoreline, it’s important to remember that when the house is complete, gravity will still be a thing. Proper site grading and home construction can eliminate a host of drainage problems. Diverting water away from the house through skillful shaping of the land is a crucial first step.

If you live at the lake and are trying to manage drainage issues, remember that your neighbors may have the same challenges as you. (Or more likely, they are not thinking about it at all!) Just keep that in mind as you ponder solutions.

Lake lots tend to be long and narrow in order to maximize the number of lots with lake frontage. One common drainage solution is to have ditches or channels between properties. They can potentially catch water from both sides. However, you must be aware of where the property line is. If the ditch clearly falls on one lot or the other, due to the topography, that property owner would ideally come to some sort of agreement with you before you send more water runoff onto their property. Above all, be a good neighbor.

Above-ground drainage solutions include swales or ditches that can come in a variety of designs. If the slope is gentle enough to be mowed and it goes right across your yard, maybe you just keep it as lawn, knowing that the ground will be moist from time to time. If you’d like something more decorative, dig it out a little deeper and fill it with stone to create a dry creek bed. If the ditch does through a wooded area, maybe you don’t need to do anything at all.

Below-ground solutions include catch basins (drains) that connect to pipes that carry water to a downhill location, and dry wells (an underground gravel pit that water can be diverted to). If your work will be done close to the lakeshore, be sure to check to see if any special permits are needed. Modifications to the flow of water into the lake can alter the water quality of the lake, especially if done on a large scale.

Buildings can be protected from most water damage through effective drainage solutions. Drainage problems in the garden, however, are never quite fixed “for good”. An especially rainy year can create problems that maybe didn’t exist before. As gardeners, we look for the details. After a storm, we often notice details such as mulch that has washed downhill, topsoil that has eroded, or a patch of lawn that stays soggy. Each of these problems is unique to the specific property it is on. But each can be addressed with creative solutions to improve appearance and function.

Just remember: the fact that water flows downhill is not a problem; it’s simply a fact of life, like sunshine. We want sufficient rain to nourish our gardens. Just as we choose plants that will fit the sunlight conditions of a site, we can design our garden to be resilient to the forces of rain and erosion. I think that water will continue to flow downhill for a while. But that’s just one opinion.

December 14, 2020

Like all of our human emotions, joy can be unpredictable. It can come and go. The potential for it is always there somewhere. To use a gardening metaphor, joy is perennial, meaning it might go away for a time, but it will surely come back again.

But this isn’t about joy. It’s about perennials. Perennial flowers, that is, and how they can bring variety and interest to your garden.

First, a quick review of terms, because I know that many of us get these mixed up. Annual flowers are those that last only one season (Think: petunias in summer or pansies in winter). Perennial flowers are those that last more than one season (Think: canna lilies or hostas). They may die back to the ground in winter, but new growth will emerge next spring and they will begin the whole process again. Some perennials are also evergreen, meaning they basically look the same during winter.

Most trees and shrubs are also technically perennial plants, since they last year to year, but for our purposes, perennials are the smaller plants with interesting flowers or foliage that persist year after year.

Here are a few good reasons to use more perennials in your garden:

They are lower-maintenance than annuals. “Low-maintenance” is a confusing term, and great perennial gardens are anything but “low-maintenance”, which is not a bad thing (more on that HERE). But the simple fact that you don’t have to replace them once per year means less plants to purchase and less work to do.
Some varieties will multiply, giving you free plants. Again, not maintenance-free, but digging and dividing seems like a minor task when you consider the cost of buying new plants at the store.
Most perennials change appearance throughout the year, creating a dynamic and interesting garden. While the flowering period can last from a couple weeks to several months of the year, many perennials still have interest at other times of the year due to their leaf shape and color. In fact, some perennials are used only for their foliage and texture, while the flowers are hardly noticeable.

Nearly infinite variety. With so many plants to choose from, you can endlessly experiment with colors, textures, and plant combinations.
It doesn’t require a lot of patience to appreciate them. Some perennials look great the day you purchase them, especially if they are in flower. With some, it may take a year or two for them to get going. But since perennials last longer than annuals, and are smaller and faster-growing than shrubs and trees, you will get much enjoyment out of them during that sweet-spot of elapsed time known as… “the next few years”.

There is an old saying about perennials: “1st year they sleep; 2nd year they creep; and 3rd year they leap!” I can attest to this, and I’ve learned that when planted in rich soil, this process can even be faster, with a profusion of plant growth after 1 or 2 years. While they may seem small at first, many perennials do grow quickly. Some may even reach their full mature size after just 1 season. In the gardening world, that is quick indeed.

Designing with perennial flowers is not as simple as a color-by-numbers drawing. Plants may bloom at different times of year, or for different lengths of time, or may require different growing conditions than nearby plants. They also grow to different sizes at different rates of growth. Even though you may try, don’t think you can approach it like an engineer. Well, you can start that way, but be prepared to adapt and change. Most perennial beds and borders will have some surprises for you.

Perennial beds can be full of color and variety, but they are in a constant state of change. Gardening tasks throughout the year will include:

dividing plants that are getting too big
removing plants that perform poorly
adding new plants to fill in the gaps
removing weeds
cutting back growth that is crowding out nearby plants
cutting back dead parts in the winter
adding compost and mulch
etc.

Some plants will thrive more than others, and some plants that you want to thrive may need some extra attention and space for growth. In other words, gardening with perennials is not a completely passive endeavor, unless of course you have some help with these tasks. Managing a perennial garden requires a blend of maintenance and design skills. More on that approach HERE.

Perennials can provide more interest than shrubs alone

Since I run a gardening company, you might guess that I have a fair number of potted plants in my backyard, and you would be correct.

Over the past few years, I have collected perennials from our clients’ properties, as well as shrubs that were removed from job sites and are now being nursed back to health. More recently, we have begun to keep an inventory of some of our most commonly used perennial flowers. The result is a backyard nursery that probably takes up too much of my time. It was mostly intentional.

Instead of shopping around for plants that may not be available locally, now we can provide healthy perennials more quickly to our Lakefront customers. Additionally, it is much easier to design with plants when the plants are right in front of you. There’s no better way to visualize a plant combination than to put the actual plants together and see how it looks.

Yet another benefit to the backyard nursery approach is that we can observe these plants throughout the year, getting familiar with the changes they go through, whether by just observing them in their pots, or seeing how they perform planted in the ground nearby.

While teaching us about the nature of joy itself, perennial flowers can also bring us some of the joy of nature. They can fill your piece of land with happy surprises of color, form, and texture. Little reminders that joy will always return.

February 28, 2020

In the gardening world, “trial and error” is acceptable. In fact, it’s the only way of doing things. If you want to do something with no risk of loss or failure, then by all means, don’t start planting things. They might die.

With our human tendency toward loss-aversion, we try to mitigate risk as much as possible. We buy intangible things like insurance. We make purchases more quickly when our satisfaction is “guaranteed”.

What is a plant guarantee anyway? It’s certainly not any kind of assurance that a plant will live and thrive. None of us have ever been given a “health guarantee” as we left the doctor’s office.

Not much to see here… just some dead plants

A plant guarantee (or warranty) is basically a commitment to provide a replacement plant in case the first one dies. It’s a way to lower the customer’s risk, or perceived risk. Offering a plant guarantee is a business decision, and not a horticultural decision. Some companies or retail stores may offer a guarantee, and others may not, depending on their business model. When we as a company offer a plant guarantee or warranty, essentially we are saying this:

“Here is a plant that we purchased for you. (Maybe we even grew it ourselves.) As far as we can tell, it’s a healthy plant, and it’s ready to be planted in your garden. This plant is alive. Because it is alive, it is subject to death. In fact, it will most certainly die one day, hopefully a long time in the future. At this stage, we don’t know of anything special to do to ensure that it will remain healthy, other than the expected… give it some water. There’s probably already enough fertilizer in the pot to last a while.

Since we’ll be planting it for you, we’ll make sure that the location gets an appropriate amount of sunlight for the plant’s needs, and that the soil conditions are ideal for growing healthy plants. If the soil is poor, we still may plant there anyway, but first we’ll add some compost or soil conditioner to improve the soil texture and composition.

We’ll check on the plant each time we’re there to do garden maintenance. Sometimes we can catch problems before it becomes too late.

If the plant dies despite our best efforts to care for it, have no worries / regret / sadness. We’ll go ahead and bring out another one for you, and we won’t charge you for it. However, we’ll do our best to figure out WHY it didn’t thrive. After all, we may learn that this species is not a good one for this location. Maybe we need to consider a different plant altogether. If we have suggestions on what to do differently or which new plants to try, we’ll let you know. That’s what we’re here for.”

Planting is a low-risk, high-reward activity

I’ve noticed that those customers who have the most experience gardening tend to be the ones who expect the least in terms of a plant guarantee. I suppose that is because in addition to the experience of walking through their beautifully-tended landscape, they’ve also witnessed plants unexpectedly shrivel up and die, despite their most fervent efforts. They’ve seen prized plant specimens attacked by insects that seemed to come out of nowhere. They’ve observed a young and hopeful tree eaten down to nothing by wild animals.

In other words, they win some, and they lose some. And so do we… believe it or not.

Forget about the 1 plant that died – step back and enjoy the big picture

Despite our attempts to manage customer expectations by being realistic, don’t forget that the vast majority of our plantings are successful, and yours will be too. Nature finds a way to do what it does. Look no further than the trees that grow out of cracks in the sidewalk.

Plant guarantees can be helpful. But not because they ensure plant survival. They ensure that your garden, as a whole, will be successful in the long run. And they give us all some peace of mind, which is worth a lot.

Kyle Burgamy
Landscape Architect

December 3, 2019

During the last few years, we’ve completed several landscape installations around Milledgeville and Lake Sinclair. All of these jobs have been learning experiences, and we stand by our work. However, since our designs are full of living things, some landscapes would unfortunately begin their decline the day after we left the jobsite.

Plants would die. Weeds would invade. Mulch would disappear, never to be replaced. Shrubs would become overgrown or they would become the victims of unnecessary pruning. The result could be a neglected landscape that didn’t showcase the homeowners’ yard to its full potential. It wasn’t necessarily anyone’s fault. People are busy.

Sometime in 2017, we had the realization that there’s a MUCH better way for us to serve our clients.

We asked ourselves – What if, instead of simply telling our customers when and how to prune their plants, we came out and did it for them? It shouldn’t take that long. By the way, while we are there, we can take a few minutes to remove the weeds, put out extra mulch, fertilize a few things, check on plant health, give advice for what to plant over there in that new bed, etc. etc. etc.

And thus the Garden Maintenance Plan came to be. We created it as a way to better serve our clients.

Yes, there may be a small amount of overlap with the services of traditional landscape companies (not much though). And yes, I realize that gardening is one of the oldest hobbies known to mankind. People do this stuff after they come home from their REAL jobs. They do it for free, and for fun, right? So why would they pay others to do it? There are many possible reasons: lack of time, lack of knowledge (or confidence), lack of physical ability, and the list goes on.

We also live in a completely different world than previous generations. New technologies seem to steal all of our time and attention. Perhaps gardening is not quite the hobby that it used to be.

While this service continues to evolve, I will try to paint a picture for you of what it is today. Let’s begin with the end in mind. What are the intended results?

RESULTS FOR THE CLIENT:

More time to watch football
More time to spend with the grandkids, cook gourmet meals, go out on the boat, read poetry, entertain with friends, go sky-diving, take up a new hobby, etc.
More time for ________________ (fill in the blank as you wish)

MORE RESULTS FOR THE CLIENT:

A well-kept landscape with healthy plants
The ultimate “low-maintenance” landscape (have others take care of it)
Gradual improvements that transform your property over the course of months or even years
Assurance that no plants will ever become overgrown, requiring a big effort to prune and clean
Horticultural best-practices applied
Suggestions and ideas on what to plant and where

Just consider it a subscription gardening service where gardening experts come by once a month.

Why monthly? We’ve found that monthly visits are sufficient for many of the types of tasks we perform. Some customers prefer weekly visits, and others have us come out every 3 months. All properties are different and have different needs. A typical monthly visit may include a few hours of labor, along with some material costs such as fertilizer or deer-repellent.

Because we spend time on many residential properties, we also frequently identify maintenance needs that perhaps the homeowner is not aware of. Another way to view the Garden Maintenance Plan is that it’s a partnership that allows us the permission to come to the property and do what needs to be done, applying our 40+ years of combined experience in the horticulture industry.

We serve several types of clients. If our client is an avid gardener and needs help with specific tasks, we can certainly handle these, and we can also make other recommendations. Our goal is for the client to have a perfectly care-free landscape that is maintained exactly how they want it. Some clients may not be gardeners, or may not have any specific requests; they simply want us to do our thing and make it look great. In other words, they trust our expertise in determining what needs to be done. We happily assist both of these types, and any others who have landscape needs.

When beginning to manage a new property, we first assess the site and begin by prioritizing which tasks to do first. We ask questions to ensure that the client’s priorities become our priorities. If the client has specific requests, they are encouraged to let us know. However, they should not feel like they have to give us a “to-do” list each time. We trust that part of the value in partnering with Lakefront is our expertise in knowing what to do and prioritizing our work accordingly. Again, we are here to serve both client types: those who wish to be involved with a lot of the details of what we’re doing, and those who would rather not.

Our employees maintain a high level of professionalism. We work with purpose, balancing speed and thoroughness. This service is based on the premise that “low-maintenance” means “frequent maintenance”. In other words, short visits on a regular basis will help keep your landscape in the best shape possible, and will give you more enjoyment since the property will look well-kept year-round.

The work we do as gardeners is never finished. Therefore, prioritization is the name of the game. Persistent attention and effort applied over time can result in a great transformation. For more about this approach, please check out our blog post about Design Through Maintenance.

We prefer not to be simply a “design it, then leave” company. Lakefront is a garden maintenance company that ALSO offers professional landscape design and installation services. We’ve stumbled upon a way to create extra value for our clients by offering a service that we are uniquely suited to provide. This also allows us to generate sustaining revenue as a company and ensures that properties under our care will look their best.

Our business model makes our clients far more satisfied with their investment. And it’s enjoyable work that we can be proud of. A definite WIN-WIN.

So now you know what a Garden Maintenance Plan is. It’s more than just a novel way to offer gardening services – its also a partnership to make landscape management easier for you, with better results than ever before.

Kyle Burgamy
Landscape Architect

Containers and Seasonal Plantings Before

November 4, 2019

Have you ever been so engaged with an activity or project that when you look up, you see that many hours have passed without even realizing it? You have been in a flow state, and you’ve lost all track of time. The work was fulfilling, your focus was intense. The work itself was challenging, but not too hard. You could even describe it as “fun” most of the time.

I’ve had that experience on many occasions… whether strategically trimming trees, carefully spreading mulch between flowers, or even (especially) thinking about a new design for a client.

Now imagine that you look up to realize that not just hours have passed you by, but days, weeks, and months! That’s the general feeling we have here at Lakefront. As it does for so many landscape companies, it began sometime back in February. Plants are beginning to wake up from their winter sleep, and human beings are suddenly much more interested in getting to their outdoor projects. Then the phone calls and emails pour in.

We are in Autumn now. As the grass cutting slows down and the leaves begin to fall, the workload for some landscape companies tends to slow down a bit. There is a definite “off-season,” even though it is a short one here in Georgia. Since we do a lot of planting at Lakefront, and fall and winter are great times to plant (see the last blog post), our project calendar is as full as ever, for which we are extremely grateful.

One of the unfortunate downsides to having a super busy year is that we simply can’t help every customer that contacts us. We do our best, but there is always room for improvement in how we manage time and resources. If you have contacted us about work, all I can say is: thank you for your patience. Even though we may be gardening in a time warp, our customers are back in the real world, wondering what is taking us so long. I understand.

Lakefront has had an amazing 2019 so far. We’ve grown in our knowledge and approach. We’ve added some tremendously talented team members. And we have hiring plans for the coming months as well, so give us a call if you’re a landscape superstar.

Gardeners do what they do for many reasons. Yes, it is one way to pass the time, but the pleasure and satisfaction derived from a focused effort is one reason we are compelled to get out the door and put on the work gloves. We’ll continue to garden in a time warp, enjoying the moment, even if it is passing by too quickly.

Kyle Burgamy
Landscape Architect

April 12, 2019

Have you ever wondered about the best time of year to plant a particular tree or shrub? Maybe you asked somebody’s advice. Maybe you looked to see what Google has to say about it. The info I’ll share is about trees, shrubs, and most perennial flowers. When it comes to annual flowers (those that only last a year or less), timing is definitely more important.

So when’s the best time to plant? There is a short, simple answer and there is also a more nuanced answer. Let me share both with you.

The first answer is… NOW. And not because “now” is springtime. I would say the same thing in September or December. Why is NOW (whenever you ask the question) the best time?

You’re thinking about it.
You have some discretionary funds earmarked for it, or at least available.
You want the satisfaction of completing a project.
The sooner that tree or shrub gets in the ground, the sooner it can begin growing.
What does the plant want? I think it would much prefer to be stretching out its roots into the fertile soil of your garden, instead of being confined to a small plastic pot. This is true regardless of the time of year.

Ask a nursery employee about the best time to plant, they will most likely say “Now” too, and not just because they are selling plants. The more nuanced answer to the question will depend on the time of year in which the question is asked. This is true for trees, shrubs, and perennials. It goes something like this:

January: “Now is a great time. Plants don’t really need to be watered, and as long as the ground is not frozen, it’s a wonderful time to plant.”

February: “It’s a great time to plant. Spring is right around the corner.”

March: “It’s the perfect time. Go for it!”

April: “The sooner, the better! Best not to wait until it gets too hot.”

May: “It’s a great time to plant. Better to plant now than wait until mid-summer. Just be sure to keep them well-watered.”

June: “Trust me, you can plant things year-round. I know it’s 95 degrees, but during the warmer months, you just have to do a little more watering to help them get established.”

July: “We install trees and shrubs for people year-round. Honestly. I know it’s 105 degrees, but just keep everything watered, and they’ll be fine.”

August: “We plant year-round. But I understand if it’s too hot to even go outside. Fall is right around the corner, and that’s actually the ideal time of year to plant trees and shrubs.”

September: “Fall is the best time of year to plant trees and shrubs!”(Just ignore the fact that while Fall technically begins in late September, in Georgia this month still feels very much like summer.)

October: “You couldn’t pick a better month to plant! But if we still have some lingering 90 degree days, just be sure to give the plants some water.”

November: “We are in prime season for tree and shrub planting. It’s the perfect time. Plants don’t need much water.”

December: “It’s a great time to plant. Better to plant now than to wait for spring.”

Hopefully you see a pattern. The best answer is the simplest one… Go for it! It doesn’t really matter what time of the year it is; just do it!

One of the advantages to shopping for plants in the springtime is that you’re likely to find a better selection, since this is the peak season for plant nurseries. Of course, you can shop for plants in July too, and I hope you will, but the selection of plants available may be smaller. This is due to the law of supply and demand, and not because you can’t plant in the heat of summer (you can!). As the year moves along, there will be a secondary peak in nursery sales with the arrival of the fall planting season.

Winter months are also an excellent time to plant trees and shrubs. The dormant season (when plants are not actively growing) is an ideal time to plant especially large trees, or transplant trees and shrubs from one location to another.

Annual flowers and vegetables are a different matter entirely, since they have a certain window of time in which they perform. When planting containers or beds for the summer season, plant these sometime in April, when there is no more risk of freezing temperatures. Flowers for the cooler part of the year are ideally planted in October or November.

Some customers may be an exception to the “plant whenever” mentality, and timing will be more important to them. If you intend to plant 200 trees, you have no irrigation, you don’t live there full-time, you have no neighbors you can trust to help water, and we’re in the middle of a drought..… just wait until November or December. You’ll lower your risk that way.

Or, if you are of the “zero-maintenance” mindset, meaning you like to just plant stuff and then walk away and come back in a year to observe survival-of-the-fittest in action, go ahead and wait until fall.

It’s true that the fall season is the “ideal” time to plant most trees and shrubs, meaning that the risk of them not surviving is slightly lower. But for many gardeners, it just doesn’t make sense to wait for months on end in an effort to time it just right. For the reasons listed above, planting can and should happen year-round. After all, if everything we do in life required perfect timing, we would all just be doing a whole lot of waiting.

By now you know the secret about when to plant. When it comes to trees and shrubs, the time to plant is… NOW! Go for it!

February 13, 2019

Yes, I said it. I do love high-maintenance gardens. What exactly is a high maintenance garden? It is a landscape that requires a high level of human involvement to maintain a desired look.

I don’t love them simply because I like to do unnecessary work.

I don’t love them because professional gardeners need more job security.

I don’t love high-maintenance gardens that are not maintained well. Those just look bad.

I don’t love high-maintenance gardens that are poorly designed and full of problems, like fast-growing plants in the wrong spot, or an area that continually floods and causes a mess.

I don’t love high-maintenance gardens that are uncomfortable to be in. Gardens are primarily for people, not plants.

I get the opportunity to speak with many homeowners about what kind of landscapes they want. After years of consulting, certain phrases are almost a given. These requests, in particular, show up time and time again:

“More color” – 97% of clients (numbers are approximate)

“Deer-resistant plants” – 86%

“Screen a view of the neighbors” – 44%

“No thorny plants” – 17%

“Low-maintenance” – 100% of clients

So many people request low-maintenance that I normally just assume this is their desire, without actually asking about it. Perhaps I shouldn’t assume. What do clients really mean when they request a “low-maintenance” garden? I think it means they don’t want to waste time and money, which is a very rational request indeed. A low-maintenance landscape is one that does not require much human involvement to maintain a desired look.

Clients who want low-maintenance do not want to create a situation where there is unfinished work to do outside, and they have neither the time nor desire to do it. They do not want to waste part of their household budget paying others to do yardwork that could be eliminated altogether by simplifying the yard and having less plants. These are all fine reasons to request a low-maintenance landscape.

Other homeowners want to create something unique out of their property. If the typical residential property is low-maintenance, then a high-maintenance landscape will truly stand out by contrast.

So, why do I love high-maintenance gardens? It’s simple. They are typically the best and most beautiful. They usually have the most variety and detail. They have the most thought and effort put into them, and the results reflect this.

Milledgeville, GA Landscaping — Biltmore Estate Gardens

High-maintenance gardens are not for everyone. Deciding what type of landscape to create will be a balance of priorities on the part of the homeowner. Budget, available time for gardening, and (most importantly!) interest and desire….these are all factors in the decision.

A high-maintenance design is not always necessary to achieve your goals. I once had a college professor who lived on a wooded lot. His landscape was zero-maintenance. None at all! Not a square inch of turfgrass to cut. No shrubs to shear. No plants to fertilize. Tree limbs and pinecones scattered across the ground, right where they fell. It’s no small irony that this teacher was an expert on ornamental landscape plants.

To have a truly low-maintenance landscape, we would have to let nature take back over, allowing our homesites to gradually become reforested. Aside from removing the occasional tree that poses a safety hazard, this is the ultimate low-maintenance landscape. These kinds of landscapes can be wonderful and inspiring. They definitely have their place.

What about the Biltmore Estate, Callaway Gardens, Lockerly Arboretum, and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia? Are these your typical “low-maintenance” landscapes? Of course not! These places have a lot of attention paid to them by gardeners, designers, patrons, volunteers, administrators, etc.

While we don’t all have the resources to create a botanical garden on our homesite, why not take a step in that direction? If it brings you any amount of joy in the process, the effort will be worthwhile. Don’t cling to the low-maintenance approach simply because it is today’s standard. Get to work on your own masterpiece, and embrace the challenge.

So yes, I do love high-maintenance gardens. And I know I’m not the only one.

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