This past month we had the great fun of doing over a large yard in Manakin- Sabot, Virginia.  We had worked for this family about 8 years ago, and were back this time to help landscape their entire yard after they had enlarged their deck, and built a free standing garage/ guest room.

The project flowed beautifully. Plans were drawn up, pricing agreed upon and a few trees dropped to open up the woods which came up to their deck. We worked around their contractor who was finishing up his part of the new garage, and went for the deadline of a neighborhood party they were having in a few weeks.

Because of deer, the lack of an irrigation system, sun and shade exposures, an acre of lawn, lousy soil, and two goofy but loveable white labs, we kept it simple and bullet proof.  Trees like crape myrtles, vitax, styrax, and a hornbeam were used for structure and leaf or flower color.  Bushes like Knock Out roses, Davidi viburnum, and oak leaf hydrangeas were installed as well as ornamental grasses, hellebores, ferns were and hypericum.  Wow! What a pallet!

In the hardscaping department, one great benefit was that the home owner had a few tons of Tennessee ashlar stone that had lined their long driveway.  We used it to build a few retaining walls for a really great look.

These before and after pictures say a lot.  It looks really rough in some parts, because we had just aerated the lawn, but the bed lines, the stone walls and plant placement tell a lot.

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.