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Its picturesque setting along the shore of a peaceful cove on Fort Loudoun Lake in Louisville is a fitting advertisement for the beautiful work done by Poland Creek Nursery, LLC.

Many gardens in Blount and Knox counties and beyond have been graced with the landscape design talents of Pam Dorsey and her landscaping team. Dorsey, who managed the nursery for about 17 years, recently bought the landscaping portion from the previous owners after they went out of business.

Working with son Jeffrey Dorsey, she now owns and runs the landscaping business from her home at the nursery, and says she misses the plant-growing part a little.

Dorsey, who has taken many classes over the years and holds several plant-related certifications, is self-taught for the most part. The Blount County native pairs her obvious design talent with her gift for working with plants.

"When I'm designing, I like to be different, and use the new plant material. I love what I do, I love the people I come in contact with," she said.

Pam's design philosophy is simple: be different. "Our slogan is 'When average just won't do,'" she said.

Pam goes out of her way to find rarer, beautiful plants that will succeed in their settings. "People will call me all the time and say, 'I drove by this place, and you did the landscaping, and I want to know what plant that is.'"

Prefers new plants

Dorsey says many older plants are just overused. "There are probably a hundred new plants released every year. They do the research on it, and usually the new plant is a better plant, whether it tolerates drought better, or is insect/disease resistant," she said.

She designs and plants a lot of natural screens -- trees and plants designed and grouped to shield houses and add natural beauty.

One of the most common problems Dorsey notices in landscaping is overpruning. "It's an art," she said, adding that you have to know the plant and how it grows in order to prune correctly.

"There are just a few golden rules, but it makes a world of difference. You'll see people with a 10-foot holly, trying to keep it at 4 feet," she said. "It just doesn't work. It'll be a wonderful plant, but it just needs to grow naturally."

She counts introducing people to new plants as one of the best parts of her job. "People tend to use the same old same old, like nandinas and boxwoods, not to say that those aren't great plants, they're just overused."

Dorsey's favorite plants list includes "Limelight" hydrangea, "Ivory Silk" lilac tree, Chinese Fringe tree, Hoogandorn holly, and a certain yew called "Duke's garden."

Some of Dorsey's past projects include the island plantings throughout Turkey Creek in Knoxville, and in Maryville, the Savannah Park residential community's commons area and entrance as well as the new Maryville Municipal Building complex, for which she designed the landscaping and supervised the planting. She has also designed special occasion outdoor settings.

"For one wedding," said Dorsey, "we took a new dance floor and made it look like it'd been outside for years" with landscaping.

Pot-in-pot growing

Dorsey is looking forward to expanding her lakeside pot-in-pot growing system, which is basically a series of rows containing holes about a foot or so deep, all containing a planted pot inside an empty pot. (Think of the potted hole in the ground being an electrical socket and the potted plant being a plug.)

Watering and fertilization are more easily controlled and efficient, and the plant can be lifted right out, as opposed to digging it and cutting the roots, which can weaken the plant.

"You can harvest it at any time of the year or plant it at any time of the year. It's a wonderful system and I want to get back into growing some of the more unusual plants," she said.

Poland Creek Nursery does all sizes of residential and commercial jobs, from design and redesign to planting and maintenance, as well as landscape design for weddings and special events. It is located at 3642 Prater Road in Louisville.