Land Art

Nicole LaPlante provides friendly, one-on-one attention. Her landscaping and gardening expertise and timely, professional work have been greatly appreciated. We have used Land Art for the past two years and will continue to do so! I highly recommend Land Art!

It was a bleak day in February 2017 after my being diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer, untreatable until after a biopsy scheduled two weeks hence. The book, “Cancer as a Turning Point” suggested an exercise: “If you had a fairy godmother, what would you change on the outside and on the inside?” I asked Nicki to come and look at our property wth the eyes of the professional I knew she was from seeing her work and her portfolio. I also knew her as a compassionate friend. Nicki planted the seed of a conceptual view of a part of our property I had always ignored. She envisioned it as a sanctuary and spoke of some natural and simple additions to the mossy floor, adding ferns and perhaps an evergreen hedge. Changing my attitude toward that ignored space, I simply added a summer blooming annual in a large pot and it became my sanctuary each time I walked through with my dog. No further changes were necessary. Fall came and I changed my mind about what Nicki could do to help. Our front garden was a bramble of overgrown plantings not pruned or altered since we originally had our home built in 1971. Nicki and I made a plan for a major change. She spent three days transforming the large garden by digging up invasive raspberry bushes and pruning plants to make them look not only intentional, but sensational! It is now ready for the dormancy of winter and the potential of spring. Now when I go in and out our front door to walk the dog, I am lifted instead of discouraged and ashamed by “what is outside”. I had no choice about the diagnosis of cancer, but the choice of having Nicki LaPlante use her gifted imagination, expertise, training, and hands to alter what I see everyday has helped me on my healing journey. I look forward to seeing the rest of the transformation in the spring. Thank you, Nicki!

We have a tenacious wild apple that for 40+ years has been a frustration to all of our taming. It is somewhat a centerpiece to our landscaping, we have always known its artistic potential but never quite got there. Last year Nicki and Land Art was recommended by a friend, she visited, listened, took photos and discussed concepts. It was instantly obvious that Nicki was not only a professional pruner, she is an artist. We have never regretted hiring her that day, Nicki has shown an outstanding work ethic and professionalism. We went from that 1st project tree, to a rock garden, natural bonsai cedars, flower gardens and numerous other landscape projects. We realize that by nature trees and gardens cannot be just a one time project. We happily are retaining Nicki and Land Art for annual maintenance.

My wife and I hired Nicki for a lawn project that had sat dormant for over 15 years. We had some general ideas of what we wanted but we did not know how to approach the project. When we sat down with Nicki she listened intently to our ideas and goals and then putting forth some of her suggestions. Several weeks later a complete plan was submitted with price, yard diagram and photos of plants to be planted. I really appreciated the diagram and photos since it gave me a clear idea of the finished product. Nicki was professional and very easy to work with. She finished the project on time, under budget, and came back several weeks later to check on the status of the project. I would hire Nicki and Land Art for our next lawn project and would highly recommend Nicki to anyone considering undertaking a similar project.

Nicki took a blank space(except for the weeds!) and created a beautiful garden that also solved a drainage problem. She was thoughtful, thorough, personable and professional. We look forward to working with this talented landscape designer on future projects.

I had a little tree that was "just there" since I purchased my home eight years ago. I'm not overly fond of the shrubbery, but haven't been able to address it yet. Nikki has been doing some basic upkeep for me so I asked her about this unique tree that was so "different". She cleaned out the leaves and did some pruning. What a difference! There's more to do next year, but this tree will stay when I am able to update my landscaping. Thanks Nikki!

Faced with an overgrown weeping crab apple that's form was not recognizable, my choice was to either remove it or find an expert pruner. Luckily, I found an expert pruner, an artist who restored my tree to its natural beauty and form. I would highly recommend the services of Nicole LaPlante.

We are so pleased with the work Nicki did for the Peru Free Library. As a small library in an historic building in a primarily residential neighborhood, the upkeep of our front landscaping is vitality important. Ours had been sadly neglected. We needed professional help. Nicki provided the work we needed in a timely manner and stayed within budget. With some rigorous weeding, and thoughtful and judicious pruning, she transformed our gardens, giving them shape and distinction. Even covered in winter's snow there is beauty. I would certainly recommend her services.

Given that we were so pleased with Nicki's work for us last year, we had to have her back this spring to update a couple of our other planting beds, as well as providing expert maintenance care for a couple of dwarf pines she had installed previously. Her creative use of rock "mulch " (instead of traditional bark mulch) has helped make our Oriental-style planting areas the highlight of our yard. We were again delighted with Nicki's superb work, and heartily recommend her to everyone!

I hired Land Art to provide a variety of services in the maintenance of my perrenial garden last summer. Nicki did an excellent job. She is real perfectionist and her attention to detail transformed the look of my garden. I had no idea that careful snipping, staking, and weeding practices could make such a difference. i've done all these things myself in the past, but the result never came close to what was achieved by Land Art. This summer, I'm looking forward to engaging her again. This time I'm planning a redesign project. Nicki will be developing a layout of the garden in AutoCad in which she is proficient. The fact that I'm rehiring her speaks to the excellent experience that I have had with Land Art. I give Nicki my highest recommendation!