Can you imagine if your home had 550 garden beds?! That’s the garden bed count at Smugglers’, and our lovely look is achieved through hours of hard work on the part of the resort’s dedicated flower crew. Beautiful grounds are one of those special ingredients in a family vacation that you might not think about until you arrive at your destination.

The herb garden behind Smugglers’ Mountainview vacation homes

A flower bed within the Village Courtyard garden at Smugglers’

At Smugglers’, in addition to the hundreds of flower beds, the crew tends about 40 pots and barrels plus numerous annuals planted in the ground. And then there are the special projects, like the hanging basket that is prepared for  one of our vacation homeowners when she and her family are at the resort, and special bouquets requested by employees and guests. The crew maintains a beautiful cutting garden to fulfill bouquet needs.

The cutting garden adjacent to the flower crew’s workshop

Spring garden work necessitates the delivery and spreading of four truckloads of 45 cubic yards of mulch. Debris from bed clean-up is composted onsite near the flower crew’s workshop.

In addition to tending the Resort’s flower beds, the crew sends a little love to our community by maintaining the beds at the post office, the library and the traffic triangle in Jeffersonville, just down the road from Smugglers’.

Sherri, Molly, Lyn and Kali of the flower crew at work on mid-summer garden bed clean-up at the traffic triangle in Jeffersonville

Words of wisdom: Manager Lyn says yes, what you’ve probably heard before about tending annuals is certainly true – you should pinch back annuals like petunias and verbena because pinching the plant back does stimulate more growth and a fuller, healthier looking plant. Also, it pays to do a thorough fall clean-up of your flower beds by cutting perennials back and cleaning up the bed edges – less work for you in the spring!

Our visitors definitely notice the flower crew’s hard work. A guest recently remarked in our summer guest survey: “As always the grounds were stunning! Especially the gardens. Bravo!”

Early summer irises dazzle outside the Hearth & Candle restaurant at Smugglers’