Hardscaping

We’ve been fortunate to have been provided countless opportunities to work with clients on a wide variety of projects over the years. One of the most common areas of focus is backyard living spaces. A great way to get the most out of a backyard is often accomplished by adding (or renovating) both a patio and a deck. Patio and deck combinations are a great way to fully maximize the use of your living area, not only horizontally, but vertically, too. An upper-level deck that leads down to a lower level patio will absolutely give you lots of fantastic outdoor living space to use and enjoy to the fullest.

The natural setting of this backyard, which backs up to surrounding woods, was one of the aspects that the homeowner of this property loved most. It was a peaceful and perfect environment for the avid gardener and for someone who truly loved being engulfed in nature. However, the functionality of the property was something that was desired to be improved upon. Since the homeowner enjoyed entertaining and spending a lot of time outdoors, a solution to remedy the condition of the sloped backyard was needed so the space could be utilized to its full potential.

It can be frustrating when a finished area begins to have problems—particularly if it was the result of improper construction. Even if you love how an outdoor living area looks, you want it to function well, too. That was the case at this Reading, PA home.

There’s nothing wrong with having a backyard living area built over the years (as opposed to all at once). In fact, phasing is one of the best ways to incorporate multiple outdoor living zones into one complete space. But that’s all assuming it’s completed in a way that looks like all of the spaces were always meant to be one. When it’s not, it can negatively impact the entire look and functionality of the area. For this particular landscaping project in Strasburg, PA, there were multiple existing spaces that were built and added over the years by different contractors—and every single one looked like it was built as a separate project. The individual areas lacked unification and it was quite obvious that this outdoor living area was designed and developed over time. That’s why the family was looking to redo all of the individual zones to make it look and function as one intentional space.

Sometimes an existing outdoor space just doesn’t work. You may try to make the most of it but there comes a point when you realize it’s just never going to be the backyard that you love. An outdoor living area like this can actually start to have a negative impact on your overall enjoyment of the outdoors—and for that reason (among others), may be worth renovating.

If you’re thinking about installing a new patio, then you might be wondering about what kind of pavers are available now. The last thing that you want is to have a professional patio installed that looks like it was completed with pavers from the local big-box store. If you’re going to invest in a professionally installed patio, then you will want something that looks unique. You certainly don’t want to feel as though you have the same pavers as everyone else seems to have—you want something truly your own.

Do you feel like your backyard dreams aren’t living up to what you want them to be because your patio isn’t all you wish it could be? Is your time outdoors falling short because you don’t have enough reason to stay out there and truly enjoy yourself? Getting maximum use out of your yard and enjoying your time spent outside just isn’t going to happen if you have a boring back patio.

Landscaping can have a tremendous impact on a home’s overall value. In fact, an ROI study by RealEstate.com expressed that landscaping and hardscaping can deliver a return on investment as high as 150 percent. That puts backyard landscaping ROI higher than other home improvement projects like a bathroom or kitchen update. Whether you are certain that you will be selling your home in the future or it’s just a possibility, you might be thinking about the best landscaping to sell a house before having a major project completed. After all, you want to love your backyard—but if you do go to sell, you want potential buyers to love it, too.

Is your outdoor living wishlist growing bigger than your budget? If it is, then you’re not alone. When push comes to shove, most homeowners, regardless of means, have bigger dreams for a space than they actually plan to spend on it. And that’s okay—because it’s great to dream big. We only live once and there’s nothing wrong with putting some thought into what you really want, if your budget would allow for it.

A fire pit can add beauty, warmth, and light to your outdoor living area—enhancing the space in a way that you can enjoy it to the fullest. The ambiance of the fire will make your outdoor meals, lounging, or entertainment even better.

If you’re in the process of patio planning, even if you’ve only just begun your research, then you may have already realized that there’s a lot involved. There are so many different factors in play and a big range of choices when it comes to patio materials and even patio builders (all with different price ranges), and you might feel terribly overwhelmed. If you are going to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a new patio, you want it to be perfect. It ought to not only look nice but should not have ongoing problems with it either. You should be able to create a patio that meets your needs and doesn’t have you wondering if you wasted your money.

One of the most critical steps in bringing your outdoor living dreams to life is the design phase. This invaluable process is where ideas start to evolve from mere conceptions to reality. Given the value of a great landscape design, it’s important that you fully maximize your first step in this process, the landscape design consultation meeting. If you're considering or have already scheduled a landscape design consultation with us, then this article is perfect for you. In order to get the maximum benefit out of your consultation, here are 6 questions you should ask yourself in advance.

A patio under a deck can be a great way to get even more use out of your backyard. When designed and built well, you’ll have the deck for upper level entertaining and that space can flow seamlessly into your lower level entertainment zone.

When this York, PA family moved into their new home and set up their existing patio furniture, they were dismayed to find that it barely fit. Chairs were practically falling off the edge of the tiny concrete patio and there was hardly any room to move around the space. The family knew that they needed a bigger patio—not only to accommodate their furniture but to properly entertain. This led them to start looking for the best patio builders in York, PA.

Deciding to have a large landscape project completed at your home is an exciting endeavor. Of course, whether it’s an outdoor kitchen, a patio, a pavilion, or all of the above, you want to be sure that it’s built right. That means hiring a landscape designer to professionally complete your design. But excellent landscape design isn’t exactly cheap and you want to know that investing in it will be worth the cost. You may have been searching for “landscape design near me” online but you’re still not exactly sure what you’re going to get for your expense. The last thing that you want is to invest a lot of money into a “design” that took someone a measly 15 minutes to sketch.

Ever-improving advances in health care are allowing people to live longer than ever before. That means we have an unprecedented rate of aging Americans. In fact, according to Pew Research, 10,000 people retire every day. This phenomenon has demanded new solutions for “aging in place.” Homeowners want a space that they can stay in for the long-haul. They don’t want to have to move down the line because their home or yard wasn’t aging-friendly.

Whether you have children now or you plan to in the future, you want to make sure that your landscape design takes into account safety just as much as it takes into account how your kids will use the space. After all, as a family that likes to spend time outdoors, you want them out there having good, safe fun with you or their friends. Of course, they won’t stay little forever. That means you also want a landscape design that will be appropriate as they grow. You don’t want to worry about making poor design choices now that will end up being a frustration down the road.

While slopes can certainly pose major challenges, it also creates the opportunity to have a property that is truly unique. When designed and built properly, slope challenges can be turned into a multi-level property with tremendous appeal. That was the case for this Leola, PA landscaping project. The property had a major slope and the previous landscaping didn’t incorporate it into the design in any way.

Just as homeowners are looking to expand their living area with outdoor spaces, churches are also looking to extend their usable space to the outdoors. As your church grows, you might be thinking about how you can expand and improve your campus for visitors and attendees.

Whether you have an outdoor living space that you’re looking to upgrade or you are adding something from scratch, the last thing that you want is an ordinary space that can’t be used for extraordinary events.

Whether you already have (or you’re looking to add) functional outdoor living space, then you might be thinking about outdoor organization ideas. However, you want solutions that are going to be an attractive enhancement—not something that’s going to be an eyesore.

Are your ideas for your outdoor living area bigger than your budget? If they are, you aren’t alone. Oftentimes, homeowners have grand ideas that they’d like to see brought to life but they simply can’t afford to do them all at once. That’s not a problem as landscape design for your Lancaster, PA home can be phased—as long as there is a strong professional design to begin with.

With a daughter in high school, only a year away from graduating, these Lancaster, PA homeowners were eager to turn their backyard into a space where their family could make long-lasting memories. Of course, they also wanted it to be a space that could be used in the years ahead—when their daughter would return home from college or maybe even have a family of her own.

Your driveway is the first part of your home that people see. It’s an opportunity to set the tone for your entire property. Whether you’re looking to revamp an existing one or install a driveway for the first time, you may be considering different material options.

When guests pull up to your home do they feel that wow factor? Do they feel welcomed by your beautiful and inviting front yard landscaping? Or are they instantly turned off because of overgrown shrubs and outdated hardscaping?

Building a pool is a big investment and you want to be sure that you’re making wise choices about its design. After all, you want the pool patio to enhance your pool’s beauty and value—not detract from it.

Any good landscape designer takes the wants and the needs of the homeowners they’re working with into account. And, every homeowner enters the design process with a different level of involvement. Some have lots of ideas of their own while others are looking for direction.

Are you wondering how to make your paver patio look new again? Your quest for answers may have led you to a great question, “Do pavers need to be sealed?” And if so, how often does it need to be completed? What kind of prep work should be performed before the sealing? Or maybe you’re considering installing a paver patio, walkway, or driveway, and have questions surrounding their maintenance.

Are you considering a paver patio but worried about some of the problems with pavers you may have heard? Maybe you heard these allegations from a local concrete company or even someone you know who has had a problem with their own paver patio? These problems don’t seem to happen to everyone, so you might be wondering whether these are legitimate concerns that should stand in your way of the patio you want.

When it comes to choosing the best material for your patio, there are a lot of considerations to keep in mind as you explore your options. Of course, you want to be sure that you don’t overspend but you also may be worried that taking a shortcut with materials could lead to wasted money or aggravation. You likely want to make the best possible choice in order to be able to get a good return on your investment—and a lot of enjoyment out of the finished product. In order to help simplify “what’s out there,” we’ll take a look at some of your options and what points to keep in mind. Whether you’re looking at pavers vs. a concrete patio, pavers vs. natural stone, or stamped concrete vs. natural stone, we can help guide you in deciding what’s right for you.

If you’re investing in a new patio, chances are, you want something original that doesn’t look like every other patio on the block. While you might know you want something unique, you may not be sure what’s out there. That’s why you may be searching for some patio design tips that will help you to create something out-of-the-ordinary. When it comes to customizing a patio, you want to be sure that you’re finding a pro who isn’t just giving all of their customers the “same old, same old.” By exploring a lot of different patio design ideas, you hope to bring lots of ideas to the table but also work with a professional who will have patio design examples of their own. In order to keep those ideas flowing, here are four tips for the best paver patio design.

Lancaster County is known for its unique blend of residential areas and rural countryside. The picturesque views of sprawling farmland are part of what makes the region so charming. Small towns throughout the county each have their own specific personality. It’s no surprise that one such community in Lititz, PA was voted the “Coolest Town in America” in 2013. Lititz homes are highly sought after. In fact, it’s quite desirable to find a home that has one of the stunning views that overlooks the countryside. For this reason, when you find that perfect setting, you want to ensure your Lititz, PA landscaping goes a long way in enhancing that view.

Even a small backyard can be spectacular. That was the case for this historic estate, which had a sprawling front yard, but not a tremendous amount of space to work with in the back. The new homeowners (who had recently relocated there) had a lot they wanted to accomplish with the yard and it required maximizing the available space to get as much out of it as possible. Projects on the wish list included a patio design that incorporated various entertainment, dining, and living spaces. More specifically, they desired a cigar patio off of the sunroom, a dining patio for guests or family dinners, an entertainment area, and a cozy fire pit zone. It was a tall order for a small space and required some out-of-the-box thinking.

Whether it’s boiling a big pot of corn outside, grabbing a cold soda from the fridge, or even just having a place to neatly tuck away the trash, it’s the outdoor kitchen appliances that can make or break the convenience factor of your brand-new outdoor kitchen. They might seem like small details, but it’s appliances like these that really complete the space. After all, nobody wants to take a seat at the bar only to realize they have to trudge all the way back to the house to get a cold drink. And when you’re in the midst of cooking raw chicken, it’s not enough to just wipe your hands on a towel. You want to be able to actually wash them in a sink with running water.

When it comes to entertaining, the layout of your outdoor living space can make or break the party. That’s exactly what this Downingtown, PA family found out with their existing deck. It was not only very small, but it was fenced in on all sides, giving it a “playpen-like” feeling. The family wanted to be able to spread out and truly enjoy their outdoor area with a space that was thoughtfully designed. This would allow them to get more use out of the space for themselves, and for their guests.

Imagine spending time in your beautiful new outdoor kitchen, connecting with family and entertaining friends. What is integral to that outdoor experience? The grill, of course. While it is ultimately just one piece of the outdoor kitchen for your Harrisburg, Lancaster or York, PA backyard, it’s a pretty crucial part. After all, you’ll use the grill to prepare your meals and that’s typically why you’re gathering outside in the first place. Even the act of grilling is an experience, and it’s fun to have family and friends gather round while you cook up something delicious.

Water is said to be the most powerful element on earth. After all, it carved the Grand Canyon. With that kind of power, just imagine what water can do to your backyard. Whether you already have a wet backyard, or you’re worried about water problems in the future, water can not only be a nuisance but destructive. Every time it rains you could find your yard sloshy and difficult to use. And if you invest in a patio in a wet backyard, your water problems could get worse and cause big problems for your new outdoor living area as well as your home itself.

When you own a property, you want to be able to use the outdoor living spaces to their fullest. The last thing you want is for them to be difficult to traverse. But that’s exactly what can happen if you have steep slopes in your yard. In some cases, these grade transitions can be dealt with by a professional analyzing the grade of the site and creating a landscape design that gradually transitions elevations from one area to another with sloped mulch beds, lawn areas, or even paver stone ramps (especially helpful for aging homeowners). However, there are some properties that will require a different approach.

When tackling a project as important as a backyard renovation complete with a new pool, you want to work with the best company for the job. It’s a big investment and a space that you plan to enjoy for many years to come. Knowing that your decision in hiring a contractor will impact all of this, you should be determined to choose wisely. Of course, the most typical pattern of thought when having a pool built is to hire a pool company. It sounds logical, after all. There are some amazing pool builders in York, PA and surrounding areas like Lancaster, Reading, and Hershey. But the truth is that we’ve seen some pool companies fail to think of some of the pool design essentials that would make your space truly complete.

Exceptional vs. Typical: Landscape Design in Lancaster, York, Hershey, and Reading, PA Imagine stepping outside in your dream backyard—the yard that you’ve been thinking about for quite some time. Your favorite colors are reflected in the plant material. That idea for a unique water feature is in just the right spot where you can enjoy the sound of the water while reading a book on the nearby bench. And your patio was designed in a way that it’s not only gorgeous, but it’s extremely functional and you aren’t quite sure how you ever lived without it.

If you live in a home that has large slopes and banks, you might be wondering what you can do with those areas to make them more functional or aesthetically appealing—and also to prevent problems such as erosion or drainage issues. There’s no question that landscaping hillside areas can be challenging, but that’s not to say that it can’t be done.

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably experienced what it’s like to have workers come to your home that you’re not exactly comfortable around. You hire a contractor to complete a job and suddenly you feel as though you have to cover your children’s ears because of bad language or you can’t even step out for a quick errand because you don’t trust them alone on your property.

Finding a landscape company that truly listens to you—the client—is such an important part of a patio design for your Reading or Lancaster, PA home (or its surrounding areas). It might not sound like such a big deal, but the truth is that it can be the difference between a patio that you love and one that doesn’t meet many of your needs.

At Earth Turf & Wood our goal is always focused on creating one-of-a-kind outdoor living spaces for our clients that truly suit their wants and needs. In this particular outdoor kitchen and patio design project in Lititz (just outside of Lancaster, PA), the homeowners wanted an open design concept. They previously had a screened in porch but decided to open everything up. The end result was an outdoor kitchen and patio that was perfect for entertaining with multiple spaces for lounging and dining.

Outdoor kitchens are an incredibly popular addition to any outdoor living project. In fact, about half of the projects that Earth Turf & Wood designs and installs include a kitchen. The goal of an outdoor living project is always to keep people outdoors by eliminating any reason to have to go in and out of the home—and that’s exactly what outdoor kitchens provide.

Once pool building season begins the pool companies in Lancaster, PA and its surrounding areas are looking to get as many jobs done as they can. The sad reality of this way of doing things is that (in most cases) they just want to build a pool, pour a concrete patio, and move on to the next job. Unless you hire them for any ongoing maintenance of your pool, their relationship is pretty much over after it's built.

When thinking about an outdoor living space, it is your hardscaped areas that tend to bring the most value. A patio is where you entertain, share meals with your family, or even just sit outside to read a book or enjoy the nice weather. Adding a patio provides a lot more versatility to your outdoor space. Patios are incredibly popular so it’s no surprise that a lot of companies build them. But you’ll likely find that natural stone or paver patio costs can really run the gamut.

Gone are the days when an outdoor kitchen consisted of just a grill, sink, and at most, also including a refrigerator. These days, outdoor kitchens are more elaborate and customized than ever before. We believe that Outdoor kitchen plans should be personalized for you and your specific lifestyle whether it’s how you like to entertain or what your family regularly enjoys your backyard oasis.

When a retired couple in York, PA wanted to have an outdoor family entertainment area completed, they knew they had to find the right professional for the job.

Outdoor kitchens are a sizzling hot trend in outdoor living. Studies continue to show that outdoor kitchens remain the most requested outdoor feature of a home in Reading and Lancaster, PA, and beyond. But, resale value aside, an outdoor kitchen is a destination location for you and your family to enjoy. It is a space that will help you truly capture the full potential of your outdoor living area.

If you’re looking in your backyard and dreaming about its potential, it may be hard to imagine how it can go from blank canvas to completed look. But that’s the science and the art of good design. A talented landscape designer or Registered Landscape Architect will create the plan that is essentially the blueprint of a total transformation.