In the home and around the garden with Scott and Gary 6/6/2026

Landscaping is often overlooked, but it's a crucial aspect of our home's exterior. It's not just about aesthetics; it's also about energy efficiency. A well-designed landscape can help keep the sun off our homes, reducing our energy bills. But what happens when our landscaping starts to look a bit neglected? Overgrown plants, shoddy maintenance, and poor design can all detract from the appeal of our home.

Scott shares his expertise on how to take your landscaping from lackluster to lovely. He breaks down the different types of landscaping and offers tips on how to create a beautiful and functional outdoor space. From choosing the right plants to designing a cohesive look, Scott covers it all!!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, We're twenty one minutes after the top of
the hour, and I'm just talking about curb appeal for
our home, our entry way, the pain on our home.
But landscaping pay you know, that's a big part of
the curb appeal of our home. So joining us this
time every weekend is Scott Burline. He does a National

(00:22):
Gardening landscaping show called Let's Garden with Scott Burline, And
so Let's Garden. What do you say, Scott.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, I'm itching to get out there.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah. So, you know, really, I'm not going to say
it's ignored, because landscaping is not ignored in nice neighborhoods.
Landscaping really sets off the house and it can also
conserve energy.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Oh yeah, you know.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
There, I kind of categorize the landscaping is is three
different kinds. You can have the landscaping that detracts from
the appeal of your house, you know, shoddy, ugly, unkept landscaping.
Then you have the standard issue suburban you know what's expected,

(01:10):
and that's probably no, not a plus, not a minus,
it's it's just just there there. And then you can
really knock it out of the park with you know,
a nice shade tree.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
You know, innovative, nice plantings, a richness of diversity, and
as you mentioned, you know, saving energy. Anything you can
do to keep wind off the house, sun off the house,
uh is going to help your your with your energy bills.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Sure, you know, I it's interesting my pet peeve is unkept.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, and.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Unkept to me means overgrown. It's you know, good landscaping.
It's like furniture in a home. Placements important, right, color
is important, and upkeep is important. When it all kind
of meshes together, it can still be colorful, but it

(02:06):
doesn't look great.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
Yeah, you know, it's design and its care, just as
you would have inside a house. You made the comparison,
and you could have a beautifully designed living room with
great furniture. All the colors are right, everything's arranged well.
But if you leave all the laundry that's unfolded, the blankets,
you know, the kids toys out on the floor, whatever,

(02:31):
you know it you almost can't see the good parts
of the design through the clutter. And that's very true
with landscapes.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Too, Scott.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
I'm sure you're privy, you know, to latest trends in
you know, landscaping around the home. But somebody listening right
now may be thinking, yeah, mine's overgrown or mine you
know that Japanese used now like you know six feet wide, yeah,
three feet high, and there's three of them, and you

(03:03):
know it's unkept, it's too big, it's age too much.
I've got to redesign. Where do you start with that process?

Speaker 3 (03:13):
I would start right where I would start with a
new landscape, and as that would be with the big plants,
the trees, the shrubs. You know, those are the foundations,
the cornerstones of of what you do afterwards. So if
you know, we've seen that where the front door you
can't even get in through the front door because whatever
is playing it on both sides is encroaching, you might

(03:37):
just have to remove those. You might have to start
over right, pull those out and do a redo. And
if you know, if you're doing that, and you're you're
taking out a lot, then you look at it again
from the top down, where you're you're looking at trees, shrubs,
where they go, what they are, and once they're in place,
or even before, but I like to go once there

(03:58):
in place, then then you start looking at the little
nooks and crannies that you can fill in.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, you brought up a good point. I was talking
about the front door and at one time I've been
in my house for twenty six years and I had
a Japanese used on each side of the sidewalk going
to the front door. Well, these things got massive in
twenty two years. They got massive, and a buddy of
mine said, you know, you need to take those things out.

(04:25):
I said, yeah, I know, I know, yeah, And he
told me something. He goes like I said, Well, he goes,
look at you got this big arch. Why don't you
get a u a Japanese view that grows vertically?

Speaker 2 (04:36):
And I go what, Yeah, what are you talking about.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
I thought Japanese uws were all big. My point is
there's a lot of new stuff and old stuff out there,
and you can't expect to or I can't expect to
know all that stuff. But people in the business they
know all about that stuff.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, looks great.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
If you can afford a good designer, that's a great
way to go. But if you're designing on your own,
knowing what plant options you have can be so helpful.
And you're only going to get that by going to
an independent garden center and just looking at the different
plants talking to the people there. So I need something
tall and skinny for this purpose, and there's probably three

(05:16):
or four things that can name.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
You know.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Or I need a shade tree that I want to
grow fast to everybody, all, what's the shade tree that
grows fast?

Speaker 2 (05:25):
You know?

Speaker 3 (05:25):
And you know what's the best one that I can
grow in my neighborhood.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Someone can help you with that well.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
And also where you spend your Monday through Fridays, I
know in our city, the Cincinnati Zoo and botanical gardens. Yeah,
you've got all kinds of species of plants and trees
and shrubs, and I mean just getting ideas. Yeah, that's
where it all starts.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yeah, all of them labeled or almost all of them labeled,
so you can see what they do in the landscape.
And we don't do all the shearing and hedging. We
let everything grow naturally, so you can see what it
does if it's left alone, sure.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
You know, and the type of site that it likes.
Is it shade, is it sun?

Speaker 4 (06:05):
Sure?

Speaker 2 (06:06):
That kind of thing. All right, Scott, thank.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
You always for your input. I love talking about that.
Curve appeal is such an important part of our home
and landscaping. Certainly kind of accents that. So thanks for
your time. I appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Absolutely, always a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Thank you. All right, we'll take your calls next. You're
at home with Gary Sullivan, and.

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