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Right now on Desperate Landscapes
you'll see how in just 7 hours
we brought the French Quarter to this front yard.
This is heavy.
JASON: It's a big transformation
in the Big Easy for two homeowners
who throw killer parties.
Ultra cool, ultra hip.
JASON: But have killed everything in their front yard.
There's a whole azalea for you.
JASON: That's our cue to start the destruction
and wipe away the desperation.
You want a good workout,
grab some 20 pound sledge hammers
and start swinging them in the morning.
JASON: Wild plants, crazy colors--
We were calling it eggplant.
JASON: High-powered stripping
and funkified neighbors.
I know.
JASON: It's a Creole style makeover, fit for a king.
Thank you, thank you very much.
JASON: By the time New Orleans famous Mardi Gras parade
rolls into the French Quarter,
Marcy and Ryan Hesseling
have a front yard packed with neighbors.
It's curb appeal, Cajun style.
Mardi Gras day, there's a huge party here.
There's a gathering.
People are like crawling through the windows
'cause they just welcome everyone.
They're just amazing.
JASON: The Hesselings moved from San Francisco
to the Big Easy.
Snagged this Creole cottage near the French Quarter,
then pimped it out with a voodoo lounge vibe
as funky as their jobs.
Oh, yeah.
This will be super Mardi Gras.
We'd probably light it up, put some lights on it.
JASON: Marcy owns the French Quarter's
most colorful wig shop, Fifi Mahony's.
This is not too much for New Orleans.
JASON: A few blocks down is the bar Ryan owns called
One Eyed Jacks.
When the party follows, the Hesseling's home,
the front yard is the best on the block.
But when the crowd heads out,
the desperation heads in
and the neighbors stop toasting and start roasting.
I just don't understand.
SHELLY: They're colorful characters
in the neighborhood, you know.
And then they've got this white house.
All right, so you guys want to see
what your neighbors had to say?
It's cold and it looks like a graveyard
and I'm scared when I walk through the yard.
Graveyard?
Yeah, really.
Yeah.
No.
They have this beautiful setback
that as their neighbor I would kill for
but instead it's-- it's, you know,
it's weeds, it's chopped up concrete.
It's bricks here and there. It needs help.
She's definitely, absolutely right.
It's a total mismatch.
The inside is so cool.
and the outside is so lame.
We're gonna take care of a lot of things,
I'm embarrassed.
The one thing I know about you guys,
you like to socialize. You like to have people over--
Yeah.
And we don't want them to be scared of our house.
We're gonna take care of that.
We are here to help you.
So, guys, your neighbors are leaving for work.
Right.
So we've got 8 hours to take this setback
from worst to first.
I also want to see at the end of the day
what she's--what earrings Monique's wearing.
We're tight. We're on a tiny street.
Houses are right up on the sidewalk.
So this is gonna be tricky today.
JASON: With no room for heavy machinery,
everything today is getting done by hand.
We supply the muscle, Marcy brings the color--
Tequila sunrise.
JASON: And the crew.
I'm gonna take that, is that coffee?
I'll take that from you and keep it warm.
Look at him, look at him...
All right.
So you guys paint,
you guys clear, and you guys demo.
Ready to go.
I'm gonna hold this for you.
JASON: This whole area is coming out.
You got brick, you got concrete,
so this is all gonna go.
I like it. Better than coffee.
JASON: Because the concrete's so thick,
we need a spud bar
to pry out big busted pieces
of the main entrance pad.
But on the sidewalk, we get lucky.
This makes our job a lot easier.
You can see how thin this is,
what a thin pour this is.
And little different what we are
because we have freeze-thaw, they don't have that here,
so they generally pour it a little bit thinner.
But you can see underneath what they've used.
As an aggregate, they used shells.
I'm gonna crack this one more time here.
There we go just like that, little bit right there.
Doesn't take much.
There's whole azalea for you.
Yay!
It's very wiggy.
I know, I was thinking that.
No wonder I picked this plant.
Looks like a big green wig.
So, Ryan, you haven't even seen the plan yet
but, you know, we're doing a lot of demo obviously.
But you really have no idea what we're doing here.
I have no clue.
JASON: No clues but lots of work
as I pack the front landscape with ladders,
people and supplies.
Moving fast, perhaps too fast.
Maybe not the smartest idea with paint going on right now
but we got to get it done.
We got no choice.
The paint will have a little chalk in it.
That's all.
I have the plan.
I've listened to you guys.
I've listened to your neighbors.
Yeah.
Totally excited--
All right, check this out. Hold that side.
I'm so excited.
This looks amazing, you guys.
JASON: Amazing and dramatically different.
The cracked concrete is being replaced with bluestone.
The two overgrown planting beds go tropical.
The empty center front area becomes a new planting bed
with a giant fountain.
All right.
Wow.
Yes.
If they're palms or whatever they are.
We're bringing in two mature trees
on each corner--
Oh, you always wanted that.
You always wanted it?
That exact thing, yeah--
That's exactly what he loves.
All right, yes--
All of his tattoos have to be symmetrical.
I'm funny that way.
JASON: The rusted fence is stripped and repainted.
Plus the entire house goes from white
to something as funky as the wigs in Marcy's shop.
It looks great.
I mean, I love--with the things on both sides like this,
the water feature I had no idea.
That's completely blowing me away.
So this works for you then?
Uh, perfect.
And what about you? What's your...
I am blown away about the water feature.
I love it.
So do I.
JASON: Removing the historic iron fence
without damaging it is a tricky process.
The neighbors have made it clear
they don't want us replacing this with something new.
I love the iron look.
So that would be great if you could stick with that.
But it's missing a gate, it's old,
it needs paint, it just is run down.
JASON: Dave Moskovich is an expert in iron removal
and restoration.
He's using an angled band saw to cut close to the sidewalk
and get as much of the fence post as possible.
Every piece of the 50 foot long fence is getting pulled up
and shipped out to Dave's shop
for a complete overhaul.
Well, it's rusted.
You know, it's not painted properly.
So what we'll do is we'll blast it down,
put some zinc primer on it,
put a good urethane top coat on it, good to go.
It will look better than the neighbors'.
JASON: It's up to my guys
to find a replacement for the missing gate
on the left that was stolen 8 years ago.
After weeks of searching New Orleans' junkyard,
Jed and the guys make a discovery that will change
the front yard.
Looks like it.
It does.
JASON: And back at the house,
we're working to avoid a mistake
that would kill thousands of dollars in new landscaping.
The biggest mistake people make when planting a tree,
is to plant them too low.
JASON: We're in New Orleans working not far
from the French Quarter in a neighborhood called Bywater
where little pink houses
and the sound of jazz fill the streets.
The neighbors are complaining about Marcy and Ryan,
colorful hosts but lousy landscapers
whose milktoast house is getting a makeover.
Sage on the siding,
fire engine red on the trim,
the foundation goes vegan.
We were calling it eggplant or maybe...
isn't there a French word for it?
Eggplant?
JASON: And the incredible detail work
all across the front of the house
gets a dash of color.
Cameron and I drew the short straw,
44 of these to paint.
We got 2 1/2 done.
Little gem magnolia, perfect tree for the spot.
JASON: Two magnolias will anchor
both ends of the new patio
and we're using a variety that will grow tall but not wide.
Nice.
What's nice about this is
that now that we got rid of your concrete,
Right.
We've left areas to plant trees.
So here and there, we're gonna anchor your house,
basically, is what we're doing.
And these are perfect, because they're
little gem magnolias, so they're gonna stay small.
Perfect.
I've never seen one this size.
It's such a southern tree, too.
It's such a symbol of the south,
Perfect.
Oh, it's gorgeous.
And the color's kind of pulling the house colors
Exactly.
JASON: Installing these trees is trickier
than in a typical front landscape.
Guys, can you give us a hand lifting this up?
JASON: Both magnolias need to be planted
so they're flush with the sidewalk.
If they're not, it'll screw up the installation
of the new patio and fence.
Well, what you want to do
is you want to measure the root ball.
The root ball is 14 inches.
You want the root ball, the top of this to be level
with the top of the concrete, with the top of sidewalk,
so what we're doing is just using the shovel
as our straight edge coming off of the sidewalk
to carry that plane over
and then I measure down the hole
and we're at 15 inches right now.
So we need a little bit more.
The biggest mistake people make when planting a tree,
is to plant them too low.
And what happens is you bury the whole root ball
and part of the bottom of the trunk
and you get root rot. It drowns the tree and it dies.
JASON: Across town, Dave is suiting up,
ready for stripping.
And you've got a front row seat for an amazing project.
In just seconds, decades of old paint
and rust disappear.
This looks like sandblasting but Dave's actually using
recycled coal slag
being pumped out with enough pressure
to blast away the ugly.
Out from the fog comes some good news.
Every piece of the 100-year-old fence
is stripped without any damage.
What started out rusted is now clean to the core.
The fence is moved into the paint bay
where two coats of rust-resistant,
high gloss power urethane dries fast enough
that we can reinstall the fence this afternoon.
So right now we're prepping the base
for our new bluestone patio.
Now, normally, what we would do
is bring in 3 to 4 inches of what we call "crush and run"
which is a crushed stone.
In this particular case,
we're actually gonna save time and money
because there's a thick layer of seashells here
which is probably out of Lake Pontchartrain.
Now this can be used as a base.
As you can see it's really thick
and there's different sizes of shells,
so once you can pack this,
it becomes a really good base,
so it's very suitable for this.
JASON: As the base is laid and leveled,
the two planting beds along the porch
are filled in with banana shrubs,
trimmed on the backside,
so they'll be flush against the porch.
The idea was to have something evergreen,
something that would smell good
and something that you can keep trim.
I like they look nice and clean
unlike my crazy gardening that was here before--
Absolutely, it's gonna look neat and tidy.
JASON: Next in, a tropical dwarf pygmy date palm.
The palm is gorgeous.
I never would've thought of putting it
in front of these other plants though,
but it looks really regal that way.
It looks very regal.
That's an awesome word.
JASON: Finally, a half dozen wild striped Stromanthe.
I'm totally amazed.
I never would've picked these plants.
It wouldn't even occur to me to put this
in front of these.
Before it was a jumble, just a total mess,
so now it is cohesive and clean
and beautiful and makes sense.
This color absolutely brings in all the colors of the house,
like I finally understand what it's supposed to be like.
JASON: But if Marcy thinks she's figured out
our entire plan, she's wrong.
The surprises are still heading in.
RYAN: Yo.
MARCY, RYAN: Oh...
JASON: Then the tables are turned
as I discover Marcy's plotting with our producers
to do a makeover
that has nothing to do with the landscape.
Maybe for Jason, I'm thinking Elvis,
he would be a great Elvis guy.
Or...maybe colonial style.
That'll be a good look for him, too.
JASON: Pull it toward you a little bit.
It's 1 o'clock and we're still working
at warp speed 5 hours into an 8-hour transformation
here in New Orleans.
Marcy and Ryan Hesseling are colorful homeowners
with a dull house and nasty landscape
evolving quickly from worst to first.
I'm blown away. And it's not even done, yet.
So I'm excited to see it.
It does not even look like the house that I know at all.
I would drive right by not knowing it's my house.
It's incredible.
JASON: The biggest project is transforming
an empty cracked concrete front yard
into something that matches the classic styles
in the neighborhood.
So we're finally laying the bluestone.
I love working with this.
It's very common here in the French Quarter.
You see this?
We're doing a running bond pattern
which means we're gonna run a straight line here.
We're gonna come back and then we're gonna offset
the next line and we're gonna keep doing that
all the way down. It's called the running bond.
The reason we started here up against the steps
is because that way we're gonna have less cuts
by the time we get to the sidewalk.
So this is the final step in our bluestone application.
This is an edging to lock all the bluestones in place
and this is something that's commonly forgotten about,
you don't want to do that.
This is a very important step because of the fact that
this is how the bluestone stays here.
This locks it in.
Now we're in a warmer climate,
so using a fast setting concrete works for this.
But if you're in a colder climate
where you have freeze-thaw,
then you want to use a hard track.
You know, like a metal track or composite track
that you stake into the ground that locks them into place.
This is exactly in my dreams what I've always wanted.
It looks like the French Quarter to me.
I love it.
There you go. Good.
I love it. You got paint on you now, too.
That's all right.
JASON: With the patio finished,
it's time for the fence to return.
What's up, Dave?
Pull right over there.
These look incredible, man.
I tell you what, let's take them right over here
by the telephone pole, and we'll lean them up.
All right.
JASON: Less than 24 hours
after pulling the rusty fence out,
it's back home.
RYAN: Looks great. Wow.
Looks like it's brand new.
You wouldn't guess it's 100 plus years old, you know?
That's incredible.
Dave, you did an amazing job on these, man.
Sand blasted, completely refurbished.
RYAN: Unbelievable.
And even the paint job
you put on here is an industrial paint--
You can tell, yeah.
So it's gonna hold up for a long time.
Incredible job, man.
JASON: As fast as each section is set
and welded back into place, we plant around it.
And while this is all shaping up,
there's still one complaint from the neighbors,
like Monique and Jeff who come here to party.
One thing that really bothers me
that there's no light and I fell off the porch one time.
Had a few drinks, yeah.
And I was, like, saying, "Hi..."
and I fell off the porch 'cause I couldn't see.
Yeah.
I hurt my foot.
Where are they?
Where's my homeowners?
RYAN: Yo.
MARCY, RYAN: Oh...
Handmade.
No more stumbling off your porch at midnight.
RYAN: Yeah...
We've got some light on the situation.
This is a handmade gas lamp.
Now you don't find a lot of people
who actually do this anymore.
This is completely 100% handmade,
all the rivets and everything.
MARCY: It's really beautiful.
It's such a quintessential New Orleans look.
JASON: This lamp was handcrafted
just a few blocks away at one of New Orleans
most famous creators of gas lamps.
You walk here in the French Quarter
and you'll see lights that my great-grandfather built
and you look at them and they look great.
JASON: Chris Bevolo's family has brought light
to New Orleans' most famous buildings.
So I asked him to create a custom copper gas lamp
for the Hesseling's historic home.
The secret to these lamps lasting 100 plus years
in New Orleans' harsh weather
is that the pieces are riveted instead of being soldered.
Riveting holds up forever.
Riveting was used for helicopters and planes
and automobiles and that's where my great-grandfather trained.
That's where he learnt his metalsmith skills that
hold up on a boat, should be able to hold up on a light.
JASON: To give a new lamp an aged look,
it's dipped into a secret mixture burnishing the copper.
Installation is not a DIY project.
Plumber Dave Thomas has run a line
from a meter in the back of the house,
out through the attic and into the porch.
He's doing a final test checking for leaks.
The gas is on,
so I'm gonna pressure test it using at the gas.]
All right.
Right.
And once again, this is just one method
of checking for gas leaks and we use multiple methods
And that looks good.
I don't see any bubbling whatsoever.
JASON: Finally, the moment of truth.
Tan ta da...
Yes.
Nice.
Yes.
All right.
MARCY: Oh, it's so pretty.
JASON: That is awesome.
That's super beautiful.
Another thing is that, you know, this is a double
but we made it into a single so, it kind of demarcates our door,
JASON: Right.
It is our front door.
It's dreamy. Thank you.
JASON: With the neighbors set to return
in less than an hour--
Perfect viewing spot right here for you.
JASON: I'm anxious to see the look on their faces
when they see the new landscape.
But it's clear the big reveal includes
more than just the front yard.
Uh-huh, I see what's going on here.
You can't fool me.
So turn around.
RYAN: Can't wait to see this.
JASON: Oh, my God.
JASON: With the neighbors due back in 1/2 hour,
the rush is on to finish Ryan and Marcy Hesseling's
New Orleans makeover.
In the center of the new landscape,
a 200-pound cast stone fountain.
And this sucker's heavy.
This is heavy. Once this is down--
It's the real deal.
MARCY: Wow.
Oops, sorry.
That's all right, take your time, guys, this thing's light.
Yeah.
Whew...
MARCY: It's amazing.
This is over the top. This is great.
Like the Versailles of the Bywater.
JASON: And the final touch is a real surprise.
So, guys, check this out.
You know that gate you've been missing for how many years?
Since you've been here?
We've got it.
JASON: Kudos to contractor Jed Hadley
who searched salvage yards
and found a replica that does the job.
This probably is our gate.
It's a long-last gate. It's not lost anymore.
I can't believe you found it.
We found its home.
RYAN: Well, it fits perfectly.
These guys did an amazing job on it.
And it looks like a brand new fence, doesn't it?
MARCY: Yeah.
JASON: 7 1/2 hours, how are you guys
Lot done--
I was getting tired but then I started to see it
come to life and I got more excited, more excited.
How are you doing?
Good to see you.
What do you think?
Whoa.
Little different, huh?
Big change.
Wow.
Incredible, the plants--
Amazing what a day does, huh?
The gas lantern and the fountain, incredible.
The crew really did it. It's incredible.
I'm blown away.
Well, every time I come out of my front door,
I'll look at this.
I can't quit staring at it.
It's great for the neighborhood.
They've given me ideas what to do in my backyard, actually.
I got to get a couple of those in the backyard--
That's the idea.
Look at these earrings. Hold on, let me just--
They aren't the biggest ones.
I got to see what they weigh.
I--no.
Now you're here, you're looking at it,
give me your impression. What do you think?
MONIQUE: Looks really good.
Night and day.
JASON: No.
Yeah.
They worked hard.
Believe it or not.
JEFF: Yes.
MONIQUE: So pretty.
Now I won't fall off the porch anymore.
MARCY: Nicki, you look bright up here.
I'm ready for a party.
Yeah, I saw what you got.
Uh-huh, I see what's going on here.
You can't fool me.
We thought, we'd let you pick your king wig.
You can be King Louis or you can be The King.
All right?
Yeah.
Nice.
( cheering )
All right.
Yes.
Elvis is leaving the landscape right now.
It's good.