His ‘Housewives’ appeal just keeps growing and growing

Jesse Metcalfe is the hedge-clipping hottie to call for all your landscaping needs.

As buff ‘n’ sweaty 17-year-old gardener John on ABC’s Sunday night hit “Desperate Housewives,” Metcalfe has been working for Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) outdoors – and indoors.

The relentless twosome romped on Gabrielle’s dining room table. In her tub. And more recently – ever since Gabrielle’s husband and nosy mother-in-law became suspicious – at out-of-the-way motels.

These steamy sexploits have established Metcalfe as the hottest sex symbol on television’s hottest new show. Indeed, US Weekly magazine recently named him the sexiest man on the tube.

“It’s because he has his shirt off every episode,” laughs Longoria, adding that “(John’s) a really, innocent, young kid who hasn’t been tainted by the world. And I think that’s very endearing to people who watch.”

“I’m big with moms,” says Metcalfe, who is actually 25. “All of my friends’ mothers are like, ‘That gardener’s so cute; I can’t believe you know him.’ ” (We’ll soon meet John’s mother, Helen, played by the sexy Kathryn Harrold.)

But Metcalfe came close to missing out on the star-making role. “The O.C.” was about to cast him as its new (and often shirtless) landscaping lover D.J., a role that instead went to Nicholas Gonzales.

In the “Housewives” pilot, a different actor played John – a blond 18-year-old who lacked chemistry with Longoria.

“They wanted more sexual energy, so it would justify why (Gabrielle) was having an affair,” she says.

“If you see my husband on the show (played by Ricardo Chavira), he’s gorgeous, so people would be like, ‘Why don’t you just be with him?’ The day Jesse walked in, everybody’s mouth dropped. He has sexual energy oozing out of his pores.”

While studying film at New York University, Metcalfe modeled part time. His first acting audition landed him a role on NBC’s far-out soap opera “Passions.”

Of Italian-French-Portuguese descent, Metcalfe was born in California, but his mother moved him to Connecticut when he was 2 after separating from his father.

While in prep school, he went to work for his stepfather’s landscaping business. Though he claims that clients never tried to seduce him, Metcalfe did develop a lasting relationship with shrubbery.

“I can mow lawns, weed-whack, plant flowers – whatever you need me to do,” he boasts.

Turns out gardening is not the only skill he shares with John. Two years ago, when he was 23, he briefly romanced an “older woman” who was 32.

“It went well,” says Metcalfe, who is currently single. “Older women are awesome because they know who they are and what they want. There’s also a lot less drama.”

That is, of course, unless you’re fooling around on Wisteria Lane.

The birthday bunch

Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. is 75. Singer Randy Newman is 61. Musician Paul Shaffer (“Late Show With David Letterman”) is 55. Actor Ed Harris is 54. Actress S. Epatha Merkerson (“Law & Order”) is 52. Actor Judd Nelson is 45. Comedian Jon Stewart is 42. Model Anna Nicole Smith is 37.