Darn - that's the kind of job I'd love to do, but I'm in Raleigh, NC.

I would agree with Laura, since I am nowhere near as well, being too far to the west.

If you could get some recommendations for a good designer, who has a feel for plants and surroundings - I know, NOT easy to find, but personal recommendations might help, if you can connect with someone in the area.

I do know that just BEING a designer isn't enough - my brother and SIL took someone else's suggestion and hired someone when they finished the addition to their house a few years ago, to tidy up the area between the new front steps and the garage wall, and make it more inviting and attractive - her plan was attractive enough, in outline, but the plant choices were abysmal, not right for the light situation, nor in eventual size. It was pretty on paper, but awful in execution. I think maybe 3 varieties remain from that design, and a few of the then groupings look pretty sad.

If you could find someone to "edit" what she has, and add a few other plants, opting for ease of maintenance, then keeping it attractive might not be too hard. The designer might be willing to come once a year or so and tweak what needed tweaking, while someone else did the "grunt" work. Your SIL might even be able to do a lot of it, if she were interested - mostly, once the bones and the plants are in place, it's a matter of a few minutes a day, keeping it tidy. If you pull weeds and dead-head daily on a walk-through, they never get ahead of you. (You have to understand, this applies to other people's gardens - mine has good areas and areas I have let slip....., and I WON'T say how large each one is!)

I am a devoted gardener myself. but this is a vey large yard. I would estimate it would be a full day per week in summer and winter. Plus at least 2 weeks of full time labor in the Spring and Fall. Or at least that is how long it would take me to maintain it. Cottage gardens only look casual. As you probably know, they are high maintenance.

Dibbit, you are quite right about the landscaper's plans - boring choices poorly suited to the locations. Not enough attention to foliage and not enough going on throughout the year. I believe I mumbled something about that before the work was begun. The problem is that you don't want to make a fuss about how other people spend their money. Especially relatives!

When I lived in San Francisco, 15-18 years ago, I did some work for a cousin's husband, who had a landscaper/gardener business. One of the "things" he did, as did many others in SF, was to go in 3-4 times per year, for most of his clients and change out plants, either as a new bedding scheme altogether (for those who had mostly annuals), or to replace the perennials, etc., that were past their prime or not doing well. He would also plan on trimming hedges, pruning rosees, etc., etc., at the appropriate times of the year. Some of the gardens used only annuals for most of the color in the gardens, using trees and shrubs as the permanent 'backbones' - others were a mix of annuals and perennials. He would then come in X number of hours per month to keep it tidy, usually dividing those hours into x hours per week. While he had a fair bit of imagination and also common sense, there were others in the city who did good work, operating under a similar plan. He wasn't cheap, even then, but the gardens were well looked after. He tried to hire people who had some garden knowledge.

Could your SIL ask around and see who/what firms her friends recommended, and who the better nurseries recommended? If she, or you, followed up on references and LOOKED at the gardens, I am sure there must be SOME-ONE out there, more than a guy with 3 non-English-speaking Hispanics, a couple of trucks and a couple of lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Of course, this does mean that you, or she, would have to do a fair bit of work, following up, and it would leave you somewhat "in the middle", if you get involved..., and if your choice turned out not to be so good after all..., but I HEARTILY suggest that you and/or she do go and look, and talk to the owners, as the design on paper that my SIL and brother had put in looked good, and I was new enough to SC that I didn't question her choices as strongly as I would now.

There is nothing worse than looking at a messy, unpleasing garden. I can understand your SIL's frustration. And yours as well, I am sure, since you can see what YOU would do, if it were yours. I agree that a 'cottage garden' style is lovely, but it IS high maintenance. Since it doesn't sound as though your SIL or brother has the time or inclination to do the work themselves, they may have to tailor their vision to what CAN be done with the resources they have, both time and money. If I were doing it, not having seen it, nor spoken with them, I might suggest using a number of trees and shrubs as the "mass" of the garden, filling in with a lot of bulbs, and perennials that could be shifted or removed once a year or so, as the trees and shrubs grew. Annuals could fill in any continuing holes. That way, the color might change, but there would be less in the way of plant materials to keep track of, and to keep tidy. But I can't be there, so ... Good luck!!

Cottage gardens that I've seen have looked a bit too wild for me. I like small shrubs and small trees for the bones, and then fill in with mostly shorter things. Greens need to be green. Nothing that is going to get weedy or invasive. Contrasting foliage in color and texture. Anything tall has to look rich with strong colors and be tidy or I'm not going to buy it. Under-utilized shrubs IMO are daphnes, plumbago, spirea, and gardenias. There are several small trees that I feel the same way about. I have all these gardening books and when I see the planned out gardens I think - uck - I could do better than that!

Gosh I'm in the area - Pineville, 10 minutes away and this is something I'd like to start doing. I might be able to recommend someone with experience if she isn't interested in a new person. Please send me an email if you'd like.