POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Recently, Ralph Savoy of Savoy Landscape Construction in Millbrook was instrumental in helping Lisa Brinkley of Poughkeepsie do a makeover on her yard.
Brinkley was the winner of the Briggs & Stratton Yard Smarts contest and HGTV host Pat Simpson, six Briggs & Stratton women and Savoy helped turn her untidy yard into a fresh, vibrant one.
"We pulled some bushes out and a couple of yew trees," said Savoy. "A big birch tree was dying so we took it down, ground down the stump and made a flower garden."
Savoy also planted a weeping crabapple tree, an annual garden and replaced old plantings with new ones. Brinkley's lawn was not very healthy so the group from Briggs & Stratton and Savoy (with help from Brinkley herself) seeded, fertilized and aerated it. Finally, they planted a perennial memorial garden in memory of her husband who passed away three years ago from a blood disease.
Brinkley, a widow and working mother of three young children, knew she had a lot to learn about lawn care when she entered the Yard Smarts for Women essay contest. Her story was thought to be the best and most touching so she won the grand prize.
"It took three days to do the whole thing," said Savoy. "I did a lot of prep work and representatives from the New York Times and a gardening magazine took pictures."
After eight hours of work the Yard Smarts team had also mulched and watered all the flowerbeds, placed patio pavers outside the back door, planted perennial and annual flowers along the side of the house and created a new flowerbed with a birdbath in the front yard. They also added color to the front entrance by arranging clay pots filled with purple and pink flowers on either side of the stairway and installed plant hangers out front filled with large baskets of petunias.
"It looks great," said Lisa as her mother Pat nodded in agreement. "Thank you all so much."
Savoy said he likes helping people out and was glad he was able to do it.
"It was a lot of hard work," he said. "But it all looked good when it was done."