[Boomer]

This is not about the particular situation with the landscaper. I am not in TV. But I just wanted to share a little piece of landscaping advice that I was given a long time ago and that has served me well.

A friend who knows his way around landscaping told me that before choosing your plants, spend some time looking at the landscaping of commercial properties. If you see something at a restaurant or an office building that you like, find out what it is and if it will work in your yard's exposure and space.

That makes sense to me because commercial landscaping has to be pretty tough. It is not like anybody is babying it. And because the plants are tough, they are tried and true and should be less expensive than other plants. If they are not less expensive up front, at least overall they will be because they will make it.

But another thing that some landscapers may try to do is to sell more plants than can mature in the space and do well. As I look at commercial landscaping, I can tell the ones where somebody was not minding the store. I can see where too many plants have been sold. Sure it's the instant gratification look, an easy sell, but that always results in a mess after a while, no matter how tough the plants are.

A truly professional landscaper wants the landscaping project to look great years down the road and will design accordingly. Not easy to find sometimes. From what I have read here on TOTV about the problems so many Villagers have had with various landscapers, I have to wonder what it takes to set up a landscaping business there. A shovel?

I wish you all the best in finding good landscapers. Beautiful landscaping sure makes a house complete.

Boomer