He installed a year-round landscape that softens the hardness of the large driveway and frames the home with curving, flattering lines of mixed plantings. In return, the homeowners enjoy surprises all year - perennials popping up in spring, leaves turning fall colors, hydrangeas bursting forth in summer and berries bright with winter color. Viburnum Tinus is an evergreen that blooms three to four times a year. It has a slightly fragrant whitish flower and is great as a hedge, specimen or foundation plant if your windows are high enough, says Jim. Raised beds built with some of the 105 cubic yards of topsoil Jim trucked in keep the landscape from looking flat.
Rock columns identify the driveway entrance.
Next year, Jim will put in a large koi pond near the deck. Even though the homeowners are not avid gardeners, Jim says they find the low-maintenance landscape easy to care for. To make sure clients know what plants need as they mature, Jim's fee means he returns to do the first-year pruning and to answer questions.