Busch Gardens landscape experts create wildlife habitat for lucky homeowner | Diggin' In

Once again, Busch Gardens Williamsburg offered its award-winning landscape skills to a homeowner with a needy yard.

This year's winner of the landscape giveaway, Naomi Donohoe, 37, of Salisbury, Md., wanted a fuss-free front yard that is also a habitat garden for wildlife. She also received a Bad Boy Mower from the giveaway's co-sponsor.

A disabled veteran, Donohoe has limited mobility from service-related injuries, so the team incorporated low-maintenance landscaping elements in the design. Shrubs and perennials provide year-round color and interest, and attract wildlife like bees, birds and butterflies.

Kim Martinez, regional education manager for the National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) visited the finished landscape to recognize the yard as a Certified Habitat Garden.

"A habitat garden can be built in many sizes and styles, so long as the basic elements are met," said Erick Elliott, director of Busch Gardens Landscape Operations.

For 24 consecutive years Busch Gardens Williamsburg has won the "Most Beautiful Park" award from the National Amusement Park Historical Association. Last year, Busch Gardens began offering a new landscape to the winner of its Landscaping Giveaway contest.

"Here, the house is very linear, and lends itself to a formal garden style," Elliott said of Donohoe's home.

"By incorporating a short boxwood hedge, the landscape team provided the linear continuity for the garden, with formal topiary pieces to provide balance on the ends of the house. A half circle across the front of the home is filled with 10 different perennials in shades of purple to pink, providing blooms from April to October and seeds into the winter months.

The selection of plants also assisted the design.

"By selecting taller plants that are sturdy and 'good for cutting,' color blocks can remain more linear and help maintain a more formal appearance over time," he said.

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Busch Gardens landscape experts create wildlife habitat for lucky homeowner | Diggin' In