Planting

When it comes to landscape plantings, a lot of people assume that they can perform the work on their own. And when projects are small enough, that’s certainly true in many cases. If you are willing to put in some research and hard work, you could likely perform some other installations on your property.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adding color to your landscape with the use of various plants with colorful leaves, vibrant blooms, and other visual appeal can take your property to a whole new level of “wow.” While most good landscape design has a nice mix of perennials and other shrubs which add some color, you might be looking for something truly spectacular. You’re thinking less about the standard plants you can pick up at your regional box store and more along the lines of your local botanical garden’s display. You want gorgeous, eye-catching color and you want it incorporated throughout your property.

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.

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?

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.

Imagine lounging by your pool, reading a great book or even watching your kids swim. You’re listening to the sound of your water feature churning and feeling totally relaxed when a scream cuts into the picture-perfect scene. Your child was just stung by a bee or scratched by the thorny shrub that shouldn’t have been planted so close to your pool patio. And now that you’re looking closer, you’re noticing that your pool is filled with fallen flower petals and your patio is stained with berries. This isn’t a dream at all—it’s more like a nightmare! And it’s all because of making poor choices in trees and shrubs.

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.

Trees provide beauty, shade, and tremendous value to an overall landscape. But waiting for small trees to grow can take many years. That’s why we get a lot of inquiries about large tree planting services from clients who are looking for a more mature landscape right away. They want a landscape that provides benefits such as shade and beauty—but without any delay.

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.

When it comes to creating privacy screening for our clients, we’ve had almost every request in the book. From screening out an objectionable view (such as a neighbor’s unmaintained backyard), to buffering some noise from a nearby highway, to even preventing the neighbor’s boys from watching the girls swim in the pool. We’ve worked with all of these scenarios and then some. We know there are a lot of reasons why you want to create privacy in your backyard—and you deserve it. You’ve invested in an outdoor living space and now you want to enjoy it without prying eyes or unsightly views.

Every project we do at Earth, Turf, & Wood is exciting for us since it means we get to help bring our clients backyard dreams to life. But some projects certainly stand out. This project, completed just outside of Reading, PA is one such endeavor. In addition to providing beauty and functional use to this client's backyard, this project received two significant recognitions on the national stage.