Landscaping in Brandon, Mississippi

Brandon is the county seat of Rankin County, about twelve miles east of Jackson. It was a small courthouse town for its first century. Then Jackson's growth spilled east across the Pearl River, and Brandon has grown fast since 1980. The Rankin County Courthouse and the Downtown Brandon Historic District anchor the old center.

The city calls itself part of the Red Hills, and the name fits. Brandon sits on rolling terrain, higher and hillier than Madison or Flowood, with reddish clay-loam ridges cut by creeks that drain toward the Pearl River and the Ross Barnett Reservoir to the north.

Neighborhoods like Crossgates, Shiloh, Castlewoods on the Flowood line, and the subdivisions off Highway 25, Highway 471 and Greenfield Road are built on those slopes.

Slope is the defining feature. A lot in Brandon almost always has grade to deal with: a back yard that drops off toward a creek, a side yard that funnels the uphill neighbor's runoff at the foundation, or a front bed that washes out in every heavy rain.

That makes retaining walls, terraced beds, dry creek beds and proper drainage a larger share of our work here than anywhere else in the metro. The red clay compacts as hard as the gray Yazoo clay to the west, and it erodes faster once it's exposed, so new construction lots along Highway 25 need grading fixed and sod established quickly.

Brandon also has a lot of mature pine and hardwood. Pine straw is everywhere and it's the natural bed cover, but pine roots and pine shade make Bermuda lawns thin, and pines are the trees most likely to come down in a summer storm.

Same crew, same day every week, all year. In Brandon that means mowing and trimming around the pines, edging every hard surface, and blowing the drive and walks before we leave. We aerate the red clay in late spring and early fall, overseed thin spots while the soil is warm, and keep fertilizer and pre-emergent on the warm-season calendar.

Leaf and pine-needle cleanup runs from October through the holidays. On shaded lots, we'll tell you when a section should become a bed and stop being a losing fight with the grass.

We build terraced beds that hold on a slope, set foundation plantings that take full sun on a south-facing ridge, and plant privacy screens along the property lines of Brandon's larger lots. Hollies, crape myrtles, loropetalum, boxwood and ornamental grasses do the work, and pine straw finishes it. Lighting shows up well on a hillside home, with path lights on the steps and up-lights on the trees.

This is where Brandon differs from the rest of our service area. Segmental block and natural-stone retaining walls with a gravel base, drain pipe behind the wall and geogrid on taller runs turn an unusable slope into a flat back yard. Paver patios go on a compacted base, pitched for the grade.

We put French drains and catch basins where the hill sends water at the house, run downspouts underground, rebuild swales between lots, and build dry creek beds that carry what a Brandon storm puts down. Every project starts with where the water goes, because on a Red Hills lot it's going somewhere fast.

We thin and remove pines, trim oaks and hardwoods for clearance and light, take trees down in sections near houses, grind stumps, and clean up after summer storms. Brandon's tree cover is a big part of why the neighborhoods look the way they do, and keeping it healthy and away from the roof is ongoing work.

We keep up churches, medical and professional offices along Highway 80 and Highway 25, HOA entrances and retail centers.

Crossgates, Shiloh, the Downtown Brandon Historic District, the Highway 25 corridor, Highway 471, Greenfield Road, the Castlewoods side toward Flowood, and the acreage lots toward Pelahatchie and the Reservoir. ZIP codes 39042, 39043 and 39047. Landmarks near our routes: the Rankin County Courthouse, Downtown Brandon Historic District, Black Rose Theatre, Brandon High School, Shiloh Park and the Brandon Amphitheater.

In Brandon the year turns on slope and pines. The cold months are for pre-emergent, cutting back ornamental grasses and liriope, a light prune on the crape myrtles instead of a topping, and planting trees and shrubs while they're dormant. Lawns in Crossgates and Shiloh green up in March and April.

The first mow is set high and lowered over three weeks, beds get fresh pine straw, and the irrigation is turned on and checked head by head. Spring storms are when a front bed on a hill washes out, so that's when we see which slopes need help.

May through August is weekly mowing with the deck raised in the heat, feeding on the warm-season schedule, spot weed control, and an eye on fungus once the humidity settles in. Late summer is when the pines and hardwoods on the Red Hills ridges show dead wood, and it should come out before a storm takes it.

September and October are the big months for the lawn: fall fertilization, aeration and overseeding while the soil is warm, and a bed refresh. November and December are leaf and pine-needle cleanup and the pre-freeze irrigation check. Commercial properties along Highway 25 follow the same calendar, with seasonal color at the entrances in spring and fall.