Getting It Done

Once you have gotten your HOA approval we will start the real work.

Starting with our arrival we begin shaping the landscape to the plan.
 
You will see a crew arrive with a variety of equipment to get the job done.  Now you will begin working with a new set of people.  Beginning with Scott Haugland, your designer, and the crew leaders, everyone is ready to listen to your questions.  This begins the period when everything gets torn up so it might look a bit chaotic.  In some cases we might start off with moving small mountains of dirt onto the site to make berms and create some dramatic interest in the overall ground levels.  It doesn’t take much time nor cost much but it adds so much to that initial impact. 

Questions at this time usually center around logistics and how big or how small berms will be.  Sometimes, your questions are as simple as how do you let the dog out with all the stuff going on.  We can help with that too.

At this point we will be entering the house at different times to work on the irrigation system or any electrical.  Once we are done with that (usually in the course of 2 days) we won’t need access to the house until near the end of project.

When the rough grading is completed we will begin to layout drainage pipes from your downspouts to the parts of the yard that allow excess water to drain away from the foundation.  We are very concerned that no water is draining toward your homes foundation and trapped close to the house.  During the early parts of the landscape we will be putting in forms for yourpatios and walkways.  At this point you will be consulted to see if the size ofpatios is adequate for your needs.  We can resize it to either a smaller or larger form on your visual inspection and approval.

Once the rough grade is done we will begin to rip and rototill the compost and soil amendments into the soils. We do this at the rate of 5 cubic yards per 1000 square feet.

The irrigation system will begin to be set when the grade is completed and we have the edges of the hardscape (patios, walls, and walks) set.  We will install wire, pipe, and valve boxes during this phase.  We might be putting the irrigation controller clock into the garage.  Irrigation is set up so we can start to water plants on that first day of being planted. 

Next the trees and boulders get set into place.  This is a key time to have your input about where we will plant the trees.  At times it might even be nice to use a different type of  tree than the designed tree.  Together, we will walk around and place plastic flags in the tree locations, or perhaps pretend to be a tree while you move through the house to see if it is the best place to be planted.  This is often a time when people make a decision to add or delete some trees.

The steel edges of the beds will be set out at this time.  The beds are shaped with spray paint and steel edging is set into place.  The shapes can be altered from the design by walking it with the designer or crew leader.

Once the edging is set into place we will begin adding shrubs, grasses, and perennials to all the beds.  The drip irrigation will be installed and plants will begin to receive their supplemental water moments after the planting is completed.  Clients often look at this as an opportunity to add more color or evergreen elements to the beds.

Low voltage lighting wire is placed throughout the beds and lawn areas and buried.  While the light fixtures come later, they can be moved easily. We place wire in the areas we anticipate future landscape lights.

Mulches will follow the planting.  By this time the mulches have been chosen and the areas that receive different types will be marked out on the ground with spray paint.

Finish grades are finalized around the beds. 

Sprinkler heads are set into position and tested.  We have hooked up all the drip emitters to the plants and set the irrigation clock to run automatically
for the plantings.

The last big step is to lay down the sod.  This makes everyone happy.
Now the ground is covered.  The dirt piles have disappeared.  This is point
at which everyone starts to believe that it is all coming together into the magic place you imagined!

We might be doing some other things at your house that aren’t included in the
process we just discussed.  We might be adding walls, a fire pit, or a water feature, and a swimming pool.  Perhaps an arbor or spa area is on the design.  These will all be installed somewhere ahead of the plantings are later.

Depending on the season we will do the seeding of the meadow if that is also
a part of your plan or called forth in the HOA covenants.

Low voltage lights and transformer will be installed in the places that we and you feel will most enhance your home and surroundings.  Adjustments and additions are easy to accomplish once you see the first results at night.

The sprinkler control clock is programmed and we then give you the first of  your lessons in how it operates.  The “as built” design and irrigation plan is re-drawn by the designer and this is laminated and posted on a wall
near the irrigation controller.  On the irrigation plan we will create a custom
irrigation run time chart that allows you to quickly create or modify your irrigation programming after we have turned the landscape over to you.

Cleanup of the site involves picking up all construction debris, power washing the patios, walks and driveway.  All the excess materials are hauled away and the entire project is shined up and ready for your final walk through inspection.

We will monitor the landscape intensively over the next several weeks and months to make certain that everything is working properly.  This includes mowing the lawn for the first or/and second time mowing.  This practice allows us to determine whether we get any areas that are too dry or too wet.

The above is an approximate listing of how we make a landscape. If you have other questions about the work we do please take a look at the FAQ section under the PROCESS drop down menu.