By Emell Derra Adolphus
When it comes to shaping your summer garden, beauty begins with the architectural bones, says Phillip Morici of Fleurdetroit in Bloomfield Hills.
"You can't have an English garden in front of a super modern home," explains Morici, 38. The rules of tailoring a fashionable look, he adds, especially apply when pruning a proper garden. "People should focus on one look and do it really well. Less is always more. Less. Less. Edit it. I think most people don't have enough order in their landscape or backyard spaces."
Morici, who co-owns Fleur with his partner Joe Nieradka, 36, explains that crafting a garden space is in part a reflection of your personality. And if you feel a bit directionally challenged in your yard after a long winter, don't throw down the rake just yet. The gardening "bug" comes in the simplest forms of inspiration.
For Morici, of course, it started early, during afternoons gardening with his grandmother.
"I have been affected a few times in my life by plants and trees which shaped me as a person and directed my path in life," says Morici in a personalized blog post to Fleur's client base titled, "The Trees That Shaped Me."
"The first few were as a child when my grandmother instilled the sense of wonder with gardening," Morici writes. "I was further supported by my parents, by allowing my brother and I to plant our own little 2-by-2-foot garden squares with annuals by our old garden shed."
Morici payed for college by working at an estate in Bloomfield Hills, where he got his hands dirty in floral maintenance and further cultivated a love for horticulture. And soon he found not a life-shaping tree but a branch of support in his partner.
"I met him, but he didn't meet me," Morici says, explaining he saw Nieradka at a wholesale nursery from a distance. "He really met me at a party."
Morici and Nieradka's love blossomed over a mutual interest in gardening and this year marks their 13th year together. Their joint venture, Fleurdetroit, is an offshoot of their landscape business, Urbanscapes Detroit, located in Birmingham.
As a landscape firm, Urbanscapes offers a range of design services including installation, maintenance and house management services, such as gassing up family vehicles while homeowners are away. Fleurdetroit is growing to have the same setup, with an emphasis on flowers, says Morici.
"We were always doing work for families through the Urbanscapes brand, birthday parties, etc. And then with Fleurdetroit, we focused that and refined it to include larger events," says Morici, who explains Fleur started as an interior object and garden shop. "And then the retail has continuously evolved to the point where Fleurdetroit is bigger or as big as the landscape division."
Morici credits the popularity of Fleur to a rising appreciation of the power of a well-manicured garden.
"For (Joe and I) personally, because we are always on when we're at work, once we pull up in the driveway and go up the walkway we are encapsulated in this little oasis so we can decompress," Morici says, explaining that Fleur is about giving each client their own oasis. "We really like being inclusive of everyone. It's really just making people aware around here, and making it attainable for everybody. An object does not have to be $3,000 to be greatly designed."
When thinking of ways to enhance an outdoor landscape, there is a common misconception that a professional job will be too expensive. But Morici says a professional opinion means less money spent in the long run and a lasting garden with solid architectural bones.
"A lot of these older estates in Bloomfield, when they have had a good landscape architect they are set. The bones grow," says Morici. "A lot of the legacy trees you plant now are going to be around in 80 years and you just want to make sure it's well thought out."
He warns: "Going to Home Depot, buying six bushes, and not having clear direction – those are disposable landscapes and in five or 10 years, you are just going to gut them out."
The best piece of advice, Morici explains, is to take your focus off bright plant and flower choices. In Michigan, the most important thing you can do for your garden is to ensure a proper outdoor entertaining space to enjoy the warm season. A garden grows from there.
"It's a necessity to have an outdoor living space, whether it is a little dining room or a nice patio," says Morici. "Somewhere you can get out during that Michigan summer and enjoy it."
For more information on Fleurdetroit, visit http://FleurDetroit.com.
