Category — Our Landscape Business

I know these posts are far and few in between as of late but it has become almost crazy as far as time management goes. This year the Landscape Maintenance Services as really taken off. We have been very busy with pond work this spring and have put in more than a few long days. Our latest project started as a pond cleaning, and ended as a complete make over when the owner asked for a more professional look.

Here is a picture of the pond when we arrived.

I will publish the whole renovation latter in the week when I can get the photos uploaded.

I am really pleased with how things are going. I have determined that there is still plenty of work out there but my business plan calls for me to undertake only that which I am interested in doing. I also have determined that while I do not want to gouge the client my prices are not for the bargain hunter! Rushing a job will end up with a poor quality product like the one above. I prefer to take my time and do the job the right way. While I am not inexpensive I also will not settle for just alright as my name goes on each project. I believe in the olden days they called it craftsmanship. For more information about my landscape services click the link on the right at the top of the page.

It seemed like a simple enough project. One of my clients wanted to redo the parkway in front of the new shop he had bought. A couple of inches of topsoil scraped off and replaces then two pallets of sod and it would be a quick one day job.

A Quick One Day Job

Well at least I thought so as the first two inches of soil was being removed the trouble began. There is a term which we use in the landscape business one we do not like it is known as “Unforeseen Conditions” . This is never a good term but one that we run into all the time.

As the first two inches of soil was being removed it turns out that the whole parkway was asphalt from end to end. As grass will not grow in only two inches of topsoil the quick job turned into a project.

The Unforeseen Condition

With the asphalt having to be removed we ended up having to bring in the heavy equipment to dig the area down 8 inches to get rid of the asphalt and stone. Of course this was a big budget buster because trucking and dump fees are not cheap and added about $650.00 to the cost of the job and additional topsoil added another $400.00.

In Comes The Heavy Equipment

As you can see the large chunks of asphalt that had to be removed. Once everything was dug out we placed the two zone irrigation system in and replaced the Chinese Elm tree with a Purple Robe Locust Tree . At about this time the owner decided they would like to added two 10′x12′ paver areas to prevent vehicles from running over the turf. This added 240 square feet of brick paver at $12.00 a square foot to the cost.

The Brick Paver’s Added A Lot To The Final Appearance

Once we had gotten the project completed we had thrown in a couple of large boulders and a few ornamental grasses in two planting beds along with a few perennials that added an additional $400.00 to the cost but I believe it was well worth it. The final appearance really dresses it up and one of the adjacent businesses has already expressed interest in a renovation of their parkway.

The Finished Project Looking Really Sharp

It is a good job but a good thing to remember when you are budgeting for a project a reserve should be set aside so that when unforeseen conditions arise you will be able to get the job finished in a timely manner.