Landscaping in Maine is ledge, salt spray, and a short stretch of growth between mud and frost. Coastal yards from the south shore to Downeast burn ordinary shrubs in an onshore week and sit on granite that will not take a deep bed. Inland yards deal with spruce, maple, frost heave, and snow sliding off metal roofs onto the only walk. A midcoast lot may have all of that plus fog that keeps a shaded side damp. Say coast or interior before you describe a plant.
Downspouts that end at the sill create the wet wood this climate never quite dries. Grade into a crawl floods it. A wellhead and a septic field on ledge are easy to hit with a shovel or a truck. Mention them. Snow storage cannot be the field or the front stair. Stone walls heave. Trees over the roof fill gutters that then ice inland or overflow in a coastal rain. The melt and the storm, not a gentle summer sprinkle, are the drainage test.
Salt-tolerant plants belong on the immediate shore. A lawn imagined for a warmer suburb sulks in spray, fog, and shade. Planting has a real calendar, shorter Downeast and in the County, and a late frost will take what you rushed. Roots and ledge share the same ground. Walks heave. Timber walls rot. Dogs and mud finish a small yard in April, especially where the driveway is still soft.
A low lot that takes storm water off a peninsula road is not a flower problem. Say so. Separate a spring, a roof leader, and a street that floods. They are not the same shovel. Island properties should mention barge or ferry limits if materials have to come from away. The ocean is not a backdrop. It is the wind, the salt, and the water at the edge of the grade.
Describe the town, the slope, and where water or snow ends up. Mention ledge, walls, and any yard system you must avoid. Have one priority. Call the number on this page.