Landscaping in Burlington is a short season squeezed between mud and frost, on lots that are either tight city yards or low ground that holds water. The Intervale and the lakeside flats stay wet after the hill has dried. Old North End yards are small, shaded, and sloped toward old foundations. Hill Section trees heave walks and fill gutters. New North End lots have more lawn and the same lake snow to store. If you need plants, grading, or a walk rebuilt, the weeks are few. Call before they are gone.
Downspouts that end at the sill feed rot and ants, and that water is a problem you can see in any month. The rebuild of the grade is not. Snow banks land on the only path and on the shrubs under a roof that sheds. When the pack melts, a bad pitch puts the whole winter into the basement. Ask where the water sits on the first warm afternoon. That is the design test. A July sprinkle will lie to you.
Ledge, roots, and a fence on a tight lot limit what can be moved. Do not plan a trench you cannot finish before frost. Raised beds in a shaded side yard need an overflow that misses the foundation. Dogs and mud take over a small dirt yard the week the ground opens. Street salt burns the front, even this far from an ocean. A tree over the roof is a roof problem as much as a yard problem. Say if the canopy is the thing doing damage.
A low yard that floods with the neighborhood is not a flower bed. Say so, especially if you are toward the river flats rather than up on the hill. Heaved brick, a rotting timber wall, and a walk that ices because it never sees sun are different jobs, and all of them want the open season. Interior planning can wait. The ground will not.
Describe the neighborhood, the size of the yard, and whether you are fighting water, snow storage, or a surface that has heaved. Have one priority and say if the work has to happen before frost. Call the number on this page.