Our Meticulous Process Begins with You

A big part of developing a successful outdoor living or landscaping project is first understanding and respecting that you are making a large investment in your most important asset - your home. Second, it is essential that we understand what you ultimately want to achieve with the end result. With these key factors in mind, we involve you in each step of your project, from initial designs to selecting materials to inspections of work-in-progress. By working together, we can make your outdoor living or landscaping project a tremendous success that you will enjoy for a long time to come.

STAGE ONE (INSPECTION): We begin all outdoor living and landscaping projects with a $75 consultation that includes a 10-point Landscape Site Inspection. A $300 value, this inspection gives us insight into ten important aspects of your property and the prospective building site. The ten-point inspection includes:

1. HEALTH OF EXISTING PLANT LIFE. We check for disease, that existing plants are pruned correctly and are not competing with the same sunlight and water source as nearby plants.
2. LAWN ANALYSIS. We check your lawn for dead patches, poor soil conditions, thatch build-up, and proper mowing height.
3. SITE DRAINAGE. We check your property and potential building site for erosion and proper drainage away from home and patio foundations.
4. IRRIGATION PLAN. We check existing irrigation and water system for lawn and landscaping needs, possible over watering situations, leaks, and then suggest ideas for water conservation if necessary.
5. OUTDOOR LIGHTING. We check for adequate outdoor lighting for security and lawn and landscape accents.
6. PATIO. We check for patio settling, cracks, and possible need for sealing. Your lawn should slope away from the patio.
7. OUTDOOR STRUCTURES. We check decks and fixed seating for warping, wear, rot, cracking and misplacement.
8. TREES. We identify trees that may be at risk or have disease and fungus. We will then propose an action plan to save the tree or consult with our certified arborist if necessary.
9. SEASONAL COLOR. We identify areas for seasonal color accents.
10. DESIGN IDEAS. We will provide ideas with our initial thoughts on-site with the homeowner to discuss and answer questions prior to moving into a formal design phase.

STAGE TWO (DESIGN/BUDGET): We then move to the next step of working with you, which involves gathering the ideas and photos of outdoor living or landscaping projects that you have seen and thought would be nice on your property. We can then incorporate those elements into our design plan and provide a detailed budget for achieving your goals.

PROPERTY SURVEY: We need your property survey, this allows for our designers to be accurate in measurements.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT: We need you to fill out a design questionnaire, this allows our design team to have an idea prior to designing of some of your likes and dislikes along with designing on a budget. We need you to take a field trip/ day trip. Some suggestions would be to go to Blue Max materials, Daniel Stowe Botanical, or go see some of our properties that we have worked on in the greater Charlotte area.

BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS: We need you to be honest about the amount of money that you would like to spend on your project in its entirety. We fully realize that this might be your first time buying this type of service and we will guide you but the worst thing we can do is design something that you will not be able to install. We can give you options.

DESIGN CONCEPTS FEEDBACK/APPROVAL: We will need you to approve or comment on one of two concepts that will be sent in black in white typically in week two, prior to going into more detail our design team wants to make sure that we are on the same page and moving in the right direction.

STAGE THREE (BUILD): Once the budget is approved based on the approved design, we move into the development and building phase. The building phase can last anywhere from a week or two up to 10 weeks, depending upon the complexity and size of your project. An important point of distinction is that all design and building of your outdoor project is performed by us!

IN-HOUSE CAPABILITY: Our in-house capability assures quality, responsiveness and a true turnkey approach to design+build. You get one single source of contact for all questions and answers to how your outdoor living project is progressing. And we stay with you through the entire process until you are satisfied and the last finishing touches of the project are completed. We continuously amaze customers with in this phase because of our dedication and focus on your ability to enjoy the end result as soon as feasibly possible.

ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS: Communication is an essential part of the process and we adapt to what will best work for you during the project. In this day of technology, some people prefer to be contacted by text, others e-mail and of course nothing like an old fashion phone call or site visit. Before work begins your Outdoor Living specialist and Operations team will walk your property and discuss the strategy of managing the building and installation phase of your project. You will get to meet the team leader managing the project and exchange contact information to assure easy access should questions arise. We want to make the process as easy as possible for you.

PROMISE OF EXCELLENCE: The bottom line for us is that we want you to enjoy your outdoor living space as soon as possible. Here is what we strive to do for you and every project entrusted with our design+build expertise and experience:

• We typically beat the time that was predicted to complete.
• We work hard sun up to sun down if needed.
• Our team Foreman speaks English
• If anything arises not to your satisfaction, rest assured we will make it right and fast.
• We never leave your job once we have started unless otherwise communicated to you.