Byron Shutt and Julia Jones, owners of Maple Leaf Landscaping, stand in one of the many gardens in their yard. This one boasts semitropical plants. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

Landscapers create their own trace of paradise
By Thea Steinmetz
Insights
Published Oct. 18, 2006

There seems to be a new breed of landscapers emerging within the last few years. They are younger, energetic and not afraid to get some help from talented designers. The landscapers are active themselves, do not rely on sales people and try to maintain a close relationship with their clients. Above all, they want their own gardens to be representative of their skills. Today such a firm, Maple Leaf Landscaping, is in the spotlight.

Large landscaping firms have large problems. I have monitored some of these businesses over the last 15 seasons and this year, more complaints than ever have surfaced. Granted, it is a tough business to be in, especially when it comes to help. There is a great turnover and it is difficult to satisfy with inexperienced help. I will never forget when a crew came through our condo property a few years ago and wiped out hundreds of dollars worth of perennials in the spring, mistaking them for weeds. I always like to do my own planting, but in this condo setting, the landscape help did as they pleased.

If there is no follow through, the customer is up the creek. In addition, a large firm carries a proportionate overhead, meaning the cost for services has to go up proportionally. I have the feeling that landscapers are not in favor of a client who wants to do some of his or her own thing in the garden.

Maple Leaf Landscaping, composed of Byron Shutt and his design partner, Julia Jones, is another story. The pair knows thier stuff. Their home in Bay Village was bought only three full growing seasons ago and yet, it has the air of permanence. It is a vintage home — classic Bay Village. The generously proportioned front porch serves as an outdoor living room in the summer. From there, they can see the world pass by or look across the road to see sailboats on the lake. It very much is a neighborhood kind of place that we still like to see in this age of hyperactivity.

When I called for an appointment to see the property in the middle of October, I thought it would be a garden so much on the wane that barely any color remained. How wrong I was. Even at this late growing date, a profusion of exploding color, form, texture and variety are visible. Yellow and orange marigolds line the tree lawn and say, “Hey, look at us, we are still pretty.”

An eye-catching tall light pole boasts masses of soft blue morning glories in bloom. Despite the name, this species variety likes to flower at four o’clock in the afternoon. At the pole base, hot pink geraniums cluster happily. Other shades of blue in this front bed include ageratum, salvia Victoria, alyssum, Russian sage and lobelia.

It becomes clear very quickly that Julia is not afraid to try any color and form combination. The front entrance beds are so chock-full of still performing plants that it is hard to believe it is the end of the season. There is a repeated strong punctuation of unusual impatiens with color hard to define - violet, purple or even deep pink. Let’s just say it packs a punch.

The towering cannas bring height, while dwarf zinnias are lovely with their golden hue. You know it is fall by the multitude of flowering kale and cabbages on the property. Some are so big that one thinks they must have sniffed some extra fertilizer when coaxed from small plugs. 

The oversized pots on the porch are also attention grabbers. The overflowing planters carry a somewhat unorthodox approach to container gardening. Potato vines in chartreuse and the red leaves of the cannas are one such unusual combination.

Byron has installed a random material stone and brick walk that meanders through the rear of the property. It is a garden that packs a great many ideas, plants and themes into a relatively small space. For instance, a mahogany colored sweet potato vine serves as a groundcover on a slight elevation. It looks stunning.

The yard’s semitropical garden is also amazing. The rubber tree and banana tree will, of course, have to be brought indoors, as do some of the other specimens. Large, as in large plants and large leaves, is the operative word here. No shrinking violets allowed. Julia said that due to the close proximity to Lake Erie, they have Zone 6 growing conditions, while most of us in the area deal with plants surviving only in Zone 5.

A yellow flowering saucer magnolia is a recent addition and one of Julia’s favorites. So also is the shade-loving aucuba, “Mr. Goldstrike.” It has a lovely bold color for shady areas. Golden spots punctuate the green leaves. At this lake location, it survives outdoors in the winter. The one I have had in my garden for at least three years has to be carted inside every fall. But it is one of those plants that always satisfies.

An all too brief walkthrough wasn’t enough time to take all of this lovely property in.