This Front Yard Landscape Renovation in Boynton Beach was performed for a couple looking to get away from the builder landscape package they received and have a new landscape incorporating Stonework, elevations, Decorative Flagstone walls for something that would stand out, look cleaner and provide their home with more “pop” and attractiveness.

Glad to say our customers felt that we delivered on that goal and the process of selection with the design began with a meeting in which we reviewed the goals of the project, the colors, textures and styles of the stones, the plants, the flowers and all the artistic elements of the project. Before the meeting was over, we had an agreed budget range for the project & design.

A common phrase we say often in our consultations is that any successful project requires us as a company to hit on two points in the process, and we must hit on those points right up front:

Number 1: We must come up with a project that our customer likes the look of. If we don’t do that, who cares what it costs?

Number 2: We must come up with a price that works for our customer.

If we don’t do those two points first, there is no successful project.

With this project, a newer community, and a lot of the landscape renovations were looking very similar. Our customer wanted theirs to be up to the standards that were developing in the neighborhood, but also wished for theirs to stand out as well.

Stonework was a must as part of achieving that clean look and the Blue Quartzite Boulders that were selected from a local vendor named Yardco Rock & Stone which we highly recommend and refer many clients to, was the place these boulders were selected.

Referring Our Clients to Visit Different Vendors Personally to Help Add that Special Piece, Selection or Personal Touch to A Project

In This project, our referral was to Yardco Rock & Stone, one of our favorite vendors.

We offered our clients the opportunity to visit the Yardco Rock & Stone business with its location on Lawrence Rd. in Boynton Beach, just south of Hypoluxo. The staff there is second to none for what they do in terms of product knowledge and customer service. You can tell by the way we’re sharing info about them here that we are a fan, and the reason is simple, the clients that incorporate their products, for projects that might benefit from what they offer – it helps to elevate and improve the projects themselves.

Beyond the wide selection of imported and native stone selections, flagstones, boulders they have fountains and a wide selection of impressive artistic and focal point pieces from contemporary to rustic designs, and from different places as imported as far away as Asia and Africa. In addition, as they go through importing directly, they often will have the best prices on their selections as well. Mention to us, you might get a discount sometimes on what they have to offer on some items.

Our customers had selected the Blue Quartzite Boulders and Flagstone color, and style was approved along with the highlight of Blue Glass that we incorporated as a contrasting color to help give the overall project a little extra “pop” to stand out.

Removing the Old Landscape, Transplanting Some Trees, Getting the Earthwork Shaped up in Preparation

When renovating a landscape, especially for a newly constructed home, that is the easiest time typically to transplant materials, especially trees or palms. The trees and palms are the ones with the larger root systems and while the roots are not yet deeply established, easier to transplant and move with less preparation quite often.

For trees and palms that are more mature, there’s often a balance between the look and the cost of a move to help determine if something should be removed, transplanted, or changed in a layout and preparations can be made, can take a little bit longer to help roots prepare for the move.

With this project, the palm trees were being removed in place of a larger canopied Sylvester Palm & the Silver Buttonwood tree from the builder was being moved to help remain as a part of the front look but framing the side a bit more.

The Decorative Flagstone work was a main element in the new design and establishing the layout of that base, leveling, and prepping the grade for that stone elevation was the first point of re-shaping the new landscape renovation design for this front yard that was about to be made over!

Once the shape of the stone wall was laid out and begun, base prepped for the decorative flagstone wall and that work begun, the soil work additions would follow along with the adjustments to the irrigation to make sure everything was to be receive its needed water through the sprinkler system.

Sloping the Soil in the Landscape Beds, Not Only Good for the Plants it Helps the Ground Stone to Be Seen So Much Easier for a Fuller Look

The contours of the decorative flagstone landscape wall helped to influence the shaping of the soil and with that elevation, would help to “puff up” the look and add slope to the soil so that the top layer of ground stone installed throughout the bed would be more visible and at an angle for better viewing.

Quite often we’ll see people installing ground stone instead of mulch and they don’t take the time or make the effort to prep the grade, they simply install it on flat ground the same as mulch.

With stone, an argument is that while more expensive it doesn’t have to be installed over and over again as mulch does, which is true. However, when going for the extra eye-catching appeal that ground stone can offer, it makes a much greater difference to help it be seen by sloping the soil in the bed.

When the soil is flat in a bed, its difficult to see until you walk or drive up to it. Often, you might not even know what color the stone is until you have the view of looking down at it.

A natural part of trying to provide a quality job is to have the water roll out of the beds during a heavy rainstorm. To do this, there’s grading involved to help the plants become a bit elevated. Some properties that are poor draining really require this type of soil elevation to help the roots go deeper into the ground and avoid being planted in an area, or a landscape bed that is poorly draining with a lot of surface water that resides well after a heavy rainstorm has passed.

Shallow root systems in a landscape for any plants or trees can challenge the health of a landscape and diminish the longevity, health, and beauty of a landscape. Beyond the selection of the plants, depending upon the style of any particular project we might design, which are all custom, is the way the plants are installed. Briefly as a point here, the way the earthwork is prepared is the foundation of a proper planting job. It all starts with the grading.

With this natural emphasis on a foundational part of the beginning of any quality job being the grade, helping to even accent the grade a bit further sometimes with sloping, really helps the ground stone to “Pop” and stand out more than anything else we might do.

Even at night, with landscape lighting added, the ground is more visible, and the ground stone on top of it, to any driving or walking by in view at a distance, more than any flat landscape one might see.

The Difference in the Landscape, the Stacked Decorative Flagstone Wall Stonework, The Ground stone, and Plantings – The Difference is in the Details!

From the care taken with each and every customer we have the privilege to work for we provide a custom landscape design that is based upon the goals and the style, texture and color tastes of each individual for their project(s). With careful thought, no matter what style of look one might desire, a goal of both 1) A Low Maintenance Design & 2) A landscape with a mindset on longevity for the lifespan of the project, is a focus we keep present on every project we design and perform.

With the Low Maintenance Design – our definition of low maintenance is anything that is 3 to 4 trims a year or less. Some elements may definitely exceed that frame of design and we let our clients know what to expect so if there is something they really wish to have in their landscape design, they are knowledgeable of what kind of work or maintenance it will keep to have certain plants or trees. If the love of something is worth the work of it, a decision we leave to our clients, but inform them of what to expect.

Some say we want “No Maintenance” and we’re quick to point out, we haven’t come across anything that lives that is Maintenance Free, doesn’t exist to our knowledge. Another thing we’ll tell people, and we explain in greater detail is that a landscape will always require more attention when it is first installed, especially within the first 90 days, and then less and less over time. We have articles in our “Customer’s Corner” relating to the care from the time of installation through the longer term. One article entitled “An Introduction to Your Landscape” helps to review the elements of watering, trimming, and fertilizing with a Xeriscape approach as well.

We also include detailed Landscape Care notes for every customer we install a new landscape for, and these Instructions and Guidelines are also available here on our website as well.

Beginning with the initial Design Consultation, the design and proposal, the process in the method with an ongoing focus not only on working to continually improve and deliver a positive good working experience and being communicative for our clients, but we also focus on the simple fundamentals for each project we perform.

Schedules can get crowded at times, which we recognize as a blessing at times, but each project is its own. People can often ask for extras which can save money if performed in concert at the same time with what we’re already doing. Sometimes extras can affect our schedule more than the weather. Whatever that circumstance, our focus day in and day out, month in and month out, year after year is to aim to be amongst the best contractors that our clients may have ever hired. That is a customer focused experience and in delivering a project that is of quality, to the best of our ability, as a natural way of existing.

We hope any may find this information helpful and we welcome you to browse through the questions sections or any part of the site as many articles are focused also on answering frequent or common questions, we receive in regards to landscape care as well.

If looking for a company for your landscape design or makeover project and you’re in Palm Beach County, FL, we hope you’ll keep us in mind. If you hire us, we’ll work hard to make you glad you did!