Where do I Even Start?!
Before contacting us, start thinking about what your priorities are for your property. Generally, your average person's priorities (or what we recommend them to be) are as follows:
1. Retaining wall repairs and replacements. We do retaining walls up to the maximum "garden wall" height, which is 42 inches in height total, including the footing in the ground, AND it must be about level behind the wall for at least the total height of the wall. ALL retaining walls that don’t meet those requirements or below will require structural engineering plans and permits that you’ll need to work with a different team to acquire.
2. Fencing repairs and replacements. We usually want to ensure your privacy and security are up to date before working on other areas (we do many different kinds of fencing and gates and can help you with this). This is especially referring to back yards, as we want to make sure it’s safe for you, your kids, your animals, etc. If you want your kids or animals playing in the front yard, of course this also refers to the front. The perimeter of your property should be addressed before most other work is done.
3. Once the above two are done, it's good to start thinking about where you want your patios to be and the size you want them (we do all kinds of patios except for overly-structured, tall decks, which is another engineer/permit type item). Think about spaces for your kids and dogs, and areas for your family members and friends. Smaller patios for things like a fire pit or small table can range from 8x8-12x12. If you want more space for larger gatherings, you should start one of your measurements at least at around the 14-foot mark. Think about accessibility and ease of access from your house/kitchen to your patio, barbecue, etc. Will it be annoying and inconvenient to walk way over to that spot in the corner all the time? Is the closer spot better? Is the patio too far from the grass yard/play area to watch the kids? Etc.
4. Once you figure out your patios, it's time to start thinking about usable yard space. In a back yard, when you have children and/or dogs, grass or artificial turf should be at the top of your list for the majority of your “yard” area. There are some other options that could work okay, but these two should be considered thoroughly. What do you want to DO with your family out there? Soccer? Run around? Do your dogs dig all the time and sprint around the corners? Is it just for lounging around and hosting parties? Do you want to impress your friends and family? So do we! These are all things to think with, and imagining the activities you’ll be doing on your patios and in the main yard space should be an extremely high priority in your planning.
5. Everything else in your project is probably a far lower priority than the above 4 items if you’re doing a full property revamp, but it's all important nonetheless. Need some extra privacy with hedge bushes? Want some veggie boxes with micro-spray? Want some color with some beautiful drought-tolerant plants, but you want it to be low-maintenance? Need to save water, maintenance time and money by xeriscaping your front yard? These are all things we can help you with. Not exactly sure what to do in the front yard besides replacing the dead grass with new grass, but you don’t really use the grass and it actually died in the first place because the city restricted your watering due to the drought? Afraid this will just happen again? These are things we've heard a thousand times and we want to help you. We love using colored, crushed granites for longevity, drainage and bold looks. We love using sages, grasses and succulents for a stylish, colorful yard that brings in hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. It's very rare that someone actually NEEDS grass in their front yard, unless they don't have the option to have grass in the back yard for the kids/dogs because their property layout isn’t ideal, so we like going with alternative routes to help you save money and help the environment. Some areas of Los Angeles actually REQUIRE grass in front yards, so in that case, our hands are tied; but you could even use a more drought-resistant grass in this case instead. We don’t run hard electrical, gas and sewer lines, but if you need any of this done during your project, you can usually do it during our work, as opposed to needing to run them beforehand. Usually, our demolition work for your project will actually help any electricians or plumbers with running their lines. We can even take coordinating with these people off your hands if you like and coordinate with them for you. We definitely have electrician referrals, and we may have plumbers to refer you too.
So, that's it. Start thinking with these priorities. Walk outside with a tape measure for fun and play around with your spaces with some little landscape flags if you want. It'll help you get some visualization before we get started with our assessment, where we can create upon every square inch of your property with you. Let’s have some fun.
-Cody Simpson, Chief Landscape Consultant