[cutntrim]

Voodoo mentioned scaling back on his perennial garden designs, and that reminded me that the most common calls for help I get from homeowners is to regain control over perennial gardens gone wild. I've seen dozens and dozens of gardens that were once (10-20yrs ago) probably beautiful multi-textured, and multi-colored landscapes, that have since turned into something out of a Jurassic Park movie. Homeowners (and sometimes myself), can't even tell where one plant type ends and the other begins, nevermind determining what's what anymore, or telling apart the weeds from the perennials in some cases.

So far, in the limited number of gardens I've installed, I'm conscious not to include too many perennials for the reasons mentioned above. Again, unless the customer is an experienced gardener, or will be employing one, then you're just asking for trouble down the road when putting in a plethora of perennials. Sometimes less is more.

I think in many cases, annuals can be used effectively to give some color to the garden in place of overuse of perennials. Petunias, impatiens, geraniums, etc... are within the grasp and experience levels of most any gardener/homeowner and as a bonus you can change up the appearance on an annual (or even more frequent) basis. The price of having to replace annuals each season is also not an issue for most of those having installations done on their properties anyway.

P.S. Glad to hear that some landscapers out there do think of lawn cutting when designing their jobs. Thinking about turf requirements may be something that some installers look down upon, but it often represents the largest amount of required maintenance, and is frequently the most visible aspect of a home's landscape.