Michael and Karen Lukaszewski
7950 Vineyard Lake Rd N
The Deercreek home selected as the landscape of the month is nestled under a canopy of trees, framed with vivid blooming azaleas along the sides and front of the house. Multiple varieties of the blooming plants can be counted in their hedges guiding viewers to the immaculately tended landscape and beckoning them to the front door.
Our honorees, Michael and Karen Lukaszewski, moved into Deercreek in 2014 from their home of over 20 years in the Granada neighborhood. Their two adult children and grands had moved to north Georgia, making them empty nesters. Rather than creating a first-story suite in their San Marco area home, they decided to start fresh with a one-story home. Visiting numerous developments, they found Deercreek. “We love everything about Deercreek-the landscaping, the safety of a gated community and our wonderful neighbors,” he said.
Before moving in, they completed several renovations, painting the exterior a pale gray/green and replacing the concrete drive with pavers to match Karen’s taste and style. “Karen, having retired from an interior design career, knew exactly what she wanted,” he explained. “Me, being an obedient husband and retired finance officer from Baptist Health, simply wrote the checks and smiled.”
After the renovations they tackled the landscaping, painstakingly removing creeping vines six square inches at a time and then planting multicolored varieties of azaleas and camellias. They soon discovered that the deer also loved Deercreek as well, and most of the flowers they had planted. They have had some success with ferns, mint, ivy, spider plants, blue daze, pentas and coreopsis. Mike offers a tip they have found, “A little cayenne pepper in the soil seems to help with keeping deer away.”
Besides keeping their hands in the soil and wearing out hand pruners, Karen devours a book a day and Mike either tinkers in the garage or scares away the neighborhood cats and dogs by playing the piano, guitar and violin, though not very well, he added.
When visiting the avid gardeners, the couple often invites visitors to their backyard–a garden oasis overlooking the golf course’s second hole. Many golfers offer words of praise as they drive along the cart path.