Landcsaping in crisis. Need a "Landscaping board" site.
 

HELP !!!

I have an elderly father-in-law with a house that he had professionally landscaped about 16 years ago. He has not really trusted anyone to help maintain his bushes, trees, etc. for years, with the consequence that much of what he has is terribly overgrown.

I have knowledge regarding some of what he is growing, but other stuff - no idea. I need to be able to ID what he has growing so that I can prune it properly, at the proper time of year.

I know there are many gardening forums out there. I am looking for a community (like orchidboard) where there are members that will be able to offer sound advice. Whether in the open forum, or by private message, I would appreciate some advice on groups to seek out. If there are specific members on a forum who are particularly knowledgeable (especially with southeastern USA landscapes; I am in USDA hardiness zone 7b, FWIW), feel free to pass on usernames (private message is fine if you prefer).

Post pics of anything you can't id yourself. Sadly most professional landscapers in a given region use the same old plant material as everybody else. I live in 7A, it's likely I've seen some of it.

I'll try to help too.

Maybe an admin can move the thread to the OT totally section before.

If there is a botanical garden nearby or in your climate zone, there are probably general garden clubs meeting there. Contact some of them for advice. Or, if you can find family nurseries, seek out the old-timers who don't do the heavy lifting any more but can't completely give up the business to their adult kids.

Almost no landscapers nor landscape maintainers any longer know anything about plants, so I fully understand your father-in-law's position. Here in metro Phoenix everything gets carved crookedly into a box or a marshmallow. Citrus are carved up into lollipops, about the worst way to grow them because the trunk is so susceptible to sunburn. Then to prevent sunburn they paint the trunks white.

I have all my desert shrubs and citrus growing naturally. I once had a landscaper stop while I was working in the garden and tell me he could "clear out all that underbrush" cheaply.

That's an unfair statement and I disagree. Wholeheartedly.

I'm sure...like in any industry/field...there are some that really shouldn't be doing it but there are many knowledgeable landscapers who know their stuff. Well, there are in my area so I would think the same could be said for just about any city.

One possibility - if any of your father's neighbors are also avid gardeners, they may already know his plants. They have the advantage of having seen them in all seasons, which often makes identification easier.

Landscapers often draw out a plan (like blue prints for buildings). See if your FIL has a copy. Many plants should be ID'ed on the plans. Even proposal drawings (colorful sketches) sometimes have notes on plants.

I worked as a landscaper in Tucson for a one-man company that specialized in native restoration. And when I lived in PHX, I tore it a lawn of a professor of mine and redid it as a mostly native xeriscape that won an award in her historic housing district. I never carved citrus into Popsicle shapes. Citrus, of course, are not native to Phoenix. But if you want to find someone who knows how to treat your plants, look for someone who specializes in native plants. Those ppl will also know how to treat whatever is a common landscape plant in your area in a way that is natural to the plant. I suspect these ppl won't be giving away their knowledge on a board. But you could always take a master gardening class in your area.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. The advice is greatly appreciated, and I will take you up on offers to help ID plants; as it happens, I'm having some "technical difficulties" getting photos transferred from my phone to my laptop at the moment - hope to get that worked out soon.

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong area - I was looking for an "all topics" forum, thought the orchid lounge was it. By all means, move this thread as needed.

Just to address some of the advice that has already been offered:

I will ask again about the landscape plan, but my understanding is that my FIL no longer has it; either discarded or lost long ago. I will ask again though, as my FiL's memory about things changes at his age.

There is one neighbor I can think of that may have some ideas regarding the identity of some of his landscape plants; I will ask. Same goes for the suggestion to contact the local botanical garden (not sure why I didn't think of that!)

Our town has many decent landscapers, but good landscape maintainers are scarce. The last one my FIL hired is a well-knowh professional landscape maintainer in our town, they left a mess that will take me a weekend to clean up (hence his well-founded trust issues with landscape maintainers). Others have charged him a lot for doing very little (which is why I will be doing the labor for him; fortunately I am physically capable of helping). We have time to do the work, I just need to know what plants I'm working with so I can do a proper job.

Thanks again, I'll post photos when I can.

Gardenweb.com seems to be a very useful forum. For gardens but also all kinds of home renos as there are different forums for different subjects. It seems mostly American, so you should get some advice on plants in your father-in-law's area.