Through the vision of Heidi Minnick, Director of Facilities Management, Dougherty County’s Judicial Building recently received a landscaping facelift. With damage of the birch trees in the front of the building by Hurricane Michael and overgrown junipers needing to be removed, Minnick worked with FHG Landscaping and took the oppor-tunity to restructure the landscape in order to mirror the sides of the building for a more uniform look overall.

“I am so proud of this project,” said Minnick. “I started the project with the three planting beds, which were filled with weeds about two months ago. The weeds were removed and beautiful sunshine ligistrum with black crepe myrtle trees were planted, which adds visual interest and class to the stately Judicial Building.”

In addition to the overgrown junipers, which were against the building and posing a health haz-ard, the neighboring holly bushes were cut back to a more manageable size. This has allowed for the building to be lit at night for safety. Taller holly trees were added along the entrance to ac-cent the height of the Judicial Building and draw the eye upward. The area was also pressure washed and cleaned in anticipation of the Christmas Parade that was held on December 15th.

Minnick said the final part of the project will be to create a rock garden around the police memo-rial, which will allow the memorial that currently blends into the landscape, to be more visible. This part of the project is slated to be completed once the rain stops.