This modern stucco house was beautiful if you were able to see past the horrible landscaping. It had no curb appeal when the owners and I looked at it in July. We were ready to go with garden renovations.

After a preliminary design, our plan evolved to include:

Clearing away the junk!

• We dropped 2 trees, ground out 4 stumps, and carefully pruned the ornamental tress and shrubs.

Adding some style to the prominent small gravel pull- in.

• We edged the area and made a small sidewalk with Old Town Pewter pavers.

Creating a durable and striking feature along the side of the property.

• We built an 18″ high and 123′ long retaining wall by using 13 tons of the brownish gray and tan Mountain Laurel building stone.

Adding some striking color and texture with plants.

• New plantings in the front and side include Harbor Dwarf Nandina, Kaleidoscope Abelia, Autumn Fern, Acorus gramineus, ‘Autumn Embers’ Encore azaleas, Chindo viburnum and the wonderfully red blooming ‘Yuletide’ Sasanqua Camellia.

Finding some unique pots.

• After a lot of shopping, the urns for the front landing are from Colesville Nursery and have a rustic red look.

Grading of the lawn.

• In existing lawn areas we aerated and seeded. Sod was used where there was solid dirt.

In keeping with the Spirit of Christmas, I will not go into the ever-changing requirements and frustration we endured in obtaining approval from the City of Richmond.

What was really great was the way the clients and our staff worked together through the frustration to get the job done!

Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.