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Hillside Landscaping open for business
BY JAMES JACENICH • STAFF WRITER
Gardening
 | | Jachin Hill is a landscape designer that specializes in creating outdoor living areas. An example of his work from Overland Park, Kansas shows an artful mixture of stonework, trees and plants that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. (Photo courtesy Jachin Hill) |
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MONTEREY - For some, enjoying nature means a hike through the woods or climbing a mountain. For others, relaxing in the backyard sipping iced tea is all the outdoor recreation they need.
What many people commonly refer to as the yard is an outdoor living area to Jachin Hill.
Hill, 25, the son of Chip and Darlene Hill of Mill Gap, is a landscape designer and sole proprietor of Hillside Landscaping. He specializes in designing outdoor kitchens, patios, naturalistic pools and spas, dramatic or soothing water features, three-season rooms, and of course, landscaping.
He has a miniature Bobcat that wears rubber treads rather than metal - it easily passes through gates and into back yards, and it doesn't tear up the lawn unless that's required of the job.
 | | Jachin Hill's landscape business is new to Highland, but Hill has been doing landscape work for a while. Hill, a landscape contractor, learned landscape design in the yards of homeowners in Overland Park. (Recorder photo by James Jacenich) |
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Hill and his Bobcat dig trenches, put in French drains and drain tiles to keep water away from basements and foundations, move soil, level or slope part an exterior ceiling-less area, all with an artistic flair he says he inherited from his parents. It leaves his customers with an aesthetically pleasing domestic outdoor recreational facility that builds on the natural beauty of the Allegheny Mountains and begs to be called something more than just "yard," he says.
Hill knows how to increase the value of property by making it more than it was before. He plants trees one doesn't want to cut down for firewood. He brings in rocks instead of taking them away. He puts in artificial,yet artful, ponds that make an oasis out of an otherwise ordinary parcel of dirt.
He can add walls, paths, and boulders to create the illusion of vastness in a minimal space. He does theme flowerbeds, for those who want their gardens to not only look good, but make a statement.
 | | Hill's landscape designs include proper placement of regionally compatible vegetation, rock features and artificialponds, all intended to create an aesthetically pleasing setting that is environmentally sound. (Photo courtesy Jachin Hill) |
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Hill practices environmentally sound landscape design and does soil amendments and regrading.
He can put in landscape lighting so outdoor lounge area enthusiasts can extend their pleasure into the evening.
Hill says he has designed several residential landscapes in town, including a lot of rock work. One of his projects is landscaping at Blue Grass Valley Bank in Monterey.
What he doesn't do is cut grass or trim shrubs. He's not a gardener, either. Once the landscape is to the customer's liking, Hill is off to another job.
"We work closely with the client and determine usefulness and desired look and feel for the potential outdoor living space," says Hill. "Then we start the fun process of planning and designing to creating a beautiful landscape."
When he says "we," he's probably including his Bobcat.
"Most people want something that blends into the background - mountain laurel, lilac, climate tolerant plantings, low maintenance plants," he says. "It's so important, and becoming a big thing."
He says the latest trend is a rain garden - water is funneled from the roof of one's home into a garden specificallypopulated with water-loving plants.
There are huge benefits to hiring locally, Hill says. For one, everyone knows him. "It's real personal with me," he says. He's familiar with the area, knows its climate and its special needs for soil enhancements, temperature and sunlight and the plants that thrive in these mountains.
He also knows what people like and is familiar with area standards. He listens and advises, working closely with the client from design to implementation, he says.
He also notes he can save customers money - up to 20 percent of the rate charged by larger companies elsewhere in the region because he doesn't have a big crew, he doesn't have to drive a long distance to get to a work site, and he buys locally, saving on shipping costs. Hill says the average landscape project, which includes mulch and rock, costs anywhere from $300-$1,000 just in shipping.
Hill gets his landscaping materials at David Botkin's Monterey landscape materials business. "Shipping and delivery will be much less," says Hill.
He says there are other benefits to hiring him to do a landscape job rather than someone else. "I can provide the same as large landscape companies can provide, but I'm local," he says.
His business, he says, is about friends and family and doing the right thing for neighbors. "In a way, it's giving back to the community. I know most everybody in Highland County," he says.
"We can talk, we can look at things, we can come up with a solution for the area," says Hill. "I'm open to suggestions, I want to hear the person's point of view, what they want, if anything is a hindrance to what they want, I can work with them."
Hill also has an understanding of the financial aspects of business. After all, he not only wants to do good landscape projects, he also wants to support himself doing it. "I have met with SCORE people (at The Highland Center)," he says. "They gave me a lot of good ideas of how to run my business in Highland County."
Hill graduated from Bath County High School in 2001 and followed that with a degree from a community college in Pensacola, Fla. He moved back to Highland in 2007. He spent three years working for a landscape contractor in high-end residential Overland Park, Kan.
Hill's licensed as a Class C contractor by the state of Virginia, On average, $10,000 can take care of an undeveloped yard at a new construction, he says.
"I love curb appeal with a passion," he says. "When it looks good and complete and professional then I'm happy, I've done a good job."
For more information on Hillside Landscaping or to discuss a project, call (540) 474-2008 or email jachinhill07@yahoo.com.
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