Todd gets landscaping | Gardening with Gutner

Todd’s wife Rachel puts her foot down! She wants landscaping in front of their porch.

PORTLAND, Maine — While the gardening season is winding down, it’s the perfect time to tackle some big projects like landscaping. After more than ten years in their home, Todd’s wife Rachel put her foot down! She wants landscaping in front of their porch.

“This is embarrassing.” Todd’s better half said. “I didn’t like pulling up in the driveway and seeing nothing. It bothered me every single time.”

In his defense, Todd admits he is frugal, but he also thought the challenges of the location were overwhelming.

“It’s rocky soil. The biggest challenge, though, is the sunlight. Or lack thereof. It’s all shade. I only get about an hour of light right there,” Todd explained.

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Undeterred, Rachel, armed with her budget, went to a local greenhouse that helped her pick out the right shrubs for the front of the porch. She selected hydrangeas that alternated between purple and pink.

“In the fall is when the garden centers are trying to unload all of their excess inventory and you can get some great deals on plants that are usually fairly expensive,” Gutner revealed.

The buget had to also include the install of the shrubs. Todd knew the task was best left to a professional.

“So we’re on ledge here. Umm, we had to blast and ya know this is all like on rock and ledge. It’s only like three to four inches of loam,” the meteorologist complained. “Doing my mailbox. Like I’ve dug a hole here and I did not want to do that again.”

Jack Manning of Jack Ryan Landscaping did the install.

“There’s really only three main components to putting in a garden like this,” Manning instructed.

Rip out the sod in the area we want to put in the garden bed. Condition the soil with a mixture of loam and compost. Reprofile it to create a nice shape on the outer edge. Dig out the planting wells Plant shrubs with straight compost.Mulch

While the landscaping pleases both Todd and Rachel, it also serves a dual purpose. Curb appeal is very important. According to the real estate professionals in the Ginther Group, a well-maintained exterior can increase a home’s value by up to 10%. The real estate group Caldwell Banker says potential buyers often decide whether they are interested in a property within the first few minutes of seeing it. So, warm feelings aside, the Gutners just increased the value of their home.

When asked what her favorite part of the finished landscaping was, Rachel replied, ” The colors. they’re just so… they came out so… they’re so vibrant. So, yeah, definitely the colors.”