Twenty years ago when my house was built, which was long before my time in it, Jim Shreckhise was…read morethe landscaper responsible for creating the eye-sore that is now my front yard. Below I will present the details of his job then, as well as his recent, equally bad, proposed solution to the problems that he created 2 decades ago. I will try to keep it brief so that you can quickly move on to a landscaping company that knows what it is doing.
-At the front corner of the driveway: 3 weeping cherries all within an 8-foot triangle pattern. Now huge and unbearable, they have created subterraneous root systems that permeate the yard, creeping under the driveway, which has buckled as a result. Why anybody would put 3 potentially huge trees in such an undersirable location is beyond me, but it is clear that he did not take the future of the yard into consideration. Every year they must be cut back extensively so that I can pass through the driveway. The city, also, has notified me twice that they must be cut back from the street so that drivers could have full visibility.
-Flanking the front door: 2 Japanese red maples so close to the house and porch that they constantly have to be trimmed, year after year.
-Right in front of my front door: 5 dogwoods in a completely unnatural and unpleasing zig-zag position, so close together that they are now entangled in one another.
-The rest of the front yard: DOZENS of juniper, holly, another gigantic oak tree, more dogwoods, 5 barberry bushes, 5 dwarf pine trees, 3 golden mop cypress, and a tri-color beech that now takes up half of the front yard area. In summary, the landscaping now looks like an overgrown forest area that probably cost a fortune for the home's original owner.
Two years ago, I thought I would give Shreckhise another chance and asked him to propose a solution to the high-maintenance clutter that he originally created. I had two criteria: it had to fit within my budget, and had to be as low-maintenance as possible. His idea was to rip about 90% of the plants out and plant $6,000 of rose bushes, holly and boxwoods, all in aesthetically unpleasing geometric patterns throughout the yard. How is $5,000-6,000 worth of rose bushes low-maintenance?! Needless to say, I did not call him back about his plan.
Shreckhise may have decent ideas at the time, but he does not take into consideration anything that might happen in the future. I cannot imagine how a professional would recommend blocking the main entrance of a home with 5 dogwoods, 2 maples and other shrubbery. When I look around the city, I can tell a Shreckhise creation when I see one. It usually consists of multiple weeping cherries, barberry, dwarf spruces, and golden mop cypress, all of which provide an array of colors, but the zig-zaggy patterns, positioning, and sheer number of items is mind-boggling.
Save yourself money, time, and future stress. Please do not allow Shreckhise to landscape your yard the way that he did mine when the previous home owners hired him.
