Landscape Jacksonville FL

Posted February 23, 2018

Landscape Jacksonville FL (the Miracle)

Yes.  The miracle.  The landscape design you create out of pure necessity to please the customer and keep your job.  This is a tiny backyard on a slope to a townhouse (brownstone).  The owner lives in one and has a dog.  The dog needs an area to use the restroom.  She also wants to patio areas one for her and one for the neighbor, separated for privacy?  Privacy?  In this tiny space.  Uh ok. and lots of rocks, no maintenance. And did I mention the slope?  She started with a 1000.00 budget.  We quickly came to the understanding that as many years as I’ve been doing this I have never been able to pull off the entire front or backyard redesign for less than 2500.00. That in itself is a miracle and I hate discussing money.  It’s like politics. Greasy.

We Agreed on the Price

We agreed on the price and tried to figure out a way to use the old recycled pavers she wanted to use.  There was no way I was terracing her yard with that budget so we built the largest patios we could, added plants, recycled some she had, some edging a little grass and viola!  A pretty cool little backyard landscape design. Two patios separated by plants (they will get bigger), a grass area for her pets and lots of rocks for little maintenance. We love to landscape Jacksonville Florida so getting past the sticky details and into the creative aspects of our work is where we excel.  I would like to say she was completely happy but she was a little disappointed.  She was hoping to fit 10 or more people on her patio.  It’s hard to explain sometimes, even with all my capabilities, your yard just won’t accommodate all of your wants.  She plans on buying another place and renting out both townhouses.  I suggested one with a bigger backyard.

Landscaping a Slope

Posted February 21, 2018

Landscaping a Slope

Landscaping a slope can be a difficult challenge but what kind of person would I be if I ran from a challenge?  Take this yard for instance.  The entire yard is a 45 degree incline to a fence which runs along a major boulevard.  Not the most romantic backyard but I think I’m up for the landscape design challenge.  Being a landscaper in Jacksonville Florida we are presented with all kinds of challenges. Slopes, flooding, too much water, not enough water, fungus, insects, neglected gardens. Really the list does on.  As you can see from the before photograph the home owner was saddled with a steep slope and an inexpensive solution from a not so competent competitor.

I would like to say I was kidding but the photographs speak for themselves.  Yes, that giant railroad tie thing was resting on top of the hill and sliding down towards their patio.  Granted you get what you pay for but this was just too much.  There were no anchors or tie backs.  Nothing to hold up the landscaping at all.

After meeting with the homeowners they did not have the budget for a more permanent hardscape solution.  (Their neighbors had a giant concrete wall built and said screw it to half their backyard deeming it unusable.)  We settled for in the middle.  The wood structure we created for their landscape design should last about 10 years before it will need to be replaced.  They will be able to utilize the hill as a vegetable garden and there is a terrace at the top for entertaining.  We put in some pavers and edging to define a walkway from the patio door to the stairs ascending to the top terrace and around the house to the gate.  We used sod to created the run for the stair case which blended in nicely to the existing grass.