Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/93509
fi eld report Rocky Beginning, landscaper marries after transforming derelict property into a gala event venue.BY BILLY R. SIMS ast March, we profi led Nikos Phelps as a 2012 TLC Landscaper of the Year fi nalist ("Confi dent Vision," pg. 41) and owner of Utopian Landscapes in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was a year into trans- forming a run-down, 8-acre nursery and various buildings into a comfortable home, a base for his business and a showcase for his landscaping talent. Near the end of the ar- ticle, he told of plans to host events such as weddings and parties in an area that was a muddy back lot. Since then, in a labor of love topping 3,000 hours, Phelps and his fi ancé, Terra Dietz, sometimes aided by Nikos and Terra Phelps Utopian crew, moved and re- graded some 400 tons of soil and rock, reclaimed stifl ed ponds and overgrown groves of trees, and then went on to convert an old greenhouse into a courtyard bar and plant 1,500 sunfl owers. October 2012 / TOTAL LANDSCAPE CARE 11