Yesterday was a melancholy day at Land Designs Unlimited LLC. A client of 5 years is moving and yesterday was my last visit.
There’s a chance the new owners will want my services, I hope they do. Unfortunately, experience has taught me it rarely works that way.
This landscape is special for a couple of reasons. First, the owners are very nice and it’s a pleasure working for nice people. Second, I planted this landscape after the ‘correction’ of 2008 when the economy, and landscaping industry, was shaken to its core.
When I first looked at the landscape I knew it was going to take a lot of work. The masonry investment was going to be equal to, if not more than, planting.
The landscape would never look right with a bandaid. A stone wall and new sidewalk had to be installed.
They were meeting another well-established company that worked with any budget, even if the job required a larger investment. Did I mention this was after the ‘correction’ of 2008?
I suppose the other company was more client-focused for I politely insisted the landscape be done my way. There was no way I was installing a landscape without a retaining wall to hold back the grade.
I explained my design concept and assumed I’d never hear back. I reassured myself that I was polite, I spoke from the heart and I wasn’t going to be responsible for a shoddy landscape.
The project came together superbly with a few hitches. The wire from their lamp post twisted around my tiller, a first, and I used more soil than anticipated which happens often. Also, the redbud planted on the left corner of the house didn’t pull through a bitter winter.
After installation, I visited four to six times a year to maintain the landscape, not too much, but enough to make a difference.
Every spring there would be an edging, weeding and light pruning with fresh mulch every two to three years. I returned in June or July to hand prune and keep up with weeds over the summer.
Some visits took only an hour; just enough time to pull the weeds, prune stray branches and re-edge the gardens with a weedwhacker.
The shrubs in this foundation planting have NEVER been touched by hedge clippers. I’ve only used my Felcos to prune. I hope you can see how natural the shrubs look.
Being a landscape contractor is an endless cycle of finding new clients and losing old to promotions, retirement or being a poor fit.
I look forward to showing you the landscape I’ve been working on the last few weeks where I find a balance between color and low maintenance.
It’s time to say goodbye to great clients and a beautiful landscape. I’ll miss you both.
Comments
4 responses to “Saying Goodbye”
Beautiful work!
What is the reddish lacy shrub in the fifth picture from top?
And is the green one a type of cypress?
Thank you!
Thank you Liz. The red lacy shrub is a Laceleaf Japanese Maple, you can see it in other pictures in the post as well. The green spreading shrub is Microbiota decussata or Russian Cypress. I’ve been using Russian Cypress more and more because it looks great, it is very hard, and it is different. Thanks for visiting!
Let’s hope that the old owner has told the new owner about your skill and care. Maybe you should leave a card with the old owner to post in a prominent position when he leaves.
I’m sure they did Mark. It’s a common practice to leave a list of contractors for new owners. I’ve learned that there’s more to the formula than just being the previous contractor. I wish it were that way.