Easier by design

Easier by design
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday February 06, 2008, 4:49 PM
Paul Rodriguez/Orange County RegisterHard-surfaced paving like this mortared brick is a low-maintenance surface ideal for patios and other sitting areas.
If owning a home is the American dream, transforming the land it sits on into a personal Eden is part of the fantasy. What's a manor without an estate, after all?

We envision a landscape that's lush and inviting, one that reflects our pride of ownership -- not Versailles, perhaps, but not a barren lot either. Trouble is, we have too many things competing for our time in this busy, modern world to become full-time groundskeepers. And too often we make choices about our property through ignorance or an excess of enthusiasm that turn the dream into a nightmare.
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