by Quality Brick Paving | Mar 25, 2019 | Landscape Design Grosse Pointe
Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping provides Landscape Design in Grosse Pointe, MI and surrounding areas. Call our top rated Grosse Pointe Landscape Design team at (248) 837-9991 today!
7 Reasons to Tap the Expertise of a Professional Landscape Designer
1. Idea Generation
Landscape designers have loads of ideas. This is due in part to their training, but it is also an innate quality of the kind of person that chooses this career. While the formulation of ideas is a human quality, the ability to be abundant with ideas and to spin one idea into a new and improved idea using past experience and industry expertise is a unique talent of design professions.
2. Site Analysis
Every parcel of land is unique as well as being part of a larger ecosystem. A professional landscape designer will have the skill to understand the macrocosm that will dictate the broad-brush strokes of design. They will also have the refined talent to read the microcosm details, which define the unique elements of a single area of focus.
3. Conceptual Design
Once there is a clear analysis of the project site, it is possible to come up with conceptual design ideas to contemplate. Every site has multiple solutions, but when the background research has been done thoroughly, a professional landscape designer will be able to narrow down the options to a concept that answers the needs, wants and wishes of the land owner while addressing the ecosystem characteristics presented in the existing landscape.
4. Construction Planning
Just because a human being has an idea about a design, doesn’t mean that idea is actually buildable or sustainable. We can dream up some pretty wild stuff! By working with a seasoned professional, you can be assured that what you develop together will have the ability to not only be built, but also to be sustained.
5. Budget Creation
Understanding what things cost is very important. We are all quite familiar with how much any development project cost. The design processes requires unhampered imagination and creativity in the beginning, but once the direction and aesthetic is defined it is necessary to bring the project into the reality of money. A professional landscape designer will be able to reasonably provide a project budget range or ball park budget through experience or be able to guide you through the pricing/bidding process, so that you can determine whether to build the project all at once or to phase it in over a few years.
6. Contractor Liaison
It is monumentally important to draw the design process into the construction phase. Some designers work with in house contracting operations – known as Design/Build. Others work solo and have developed strong relationships with professional landscape contractors that they are confident in working with or recommending. These relationships are very useful to anyone planning to hire installers for the construction phase.
7. Project Management
One of the real benefits of working with a professional landscape designer in the design development process is in having this person stick with you through the construction phase. Every project will have the potential to be improved upon as it is being built. Additionally, almost every project will have some “unknown” pop up during construction. Having your designer close at hand or as your project manager will ensure that you capitalize on opportunity and minimize any unforeseen pitfalls.
source: thegardencontiuum.com
Hire the top rated Grosse Pointe, MI Landscape Designers at Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping by call (248) 837-9991 today and schedule a free consultation.
by Quality Brick Paving | Mar 25, 2019 | Landscape Design Grosse Pointe
Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping provides top rated Landscape Design in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and surrounding areas. Please call (248) 837-9991 for a free estimate today!
4 Ways Landscape Design Can Benefit Your Home
Creating an eye-catching lawn is an important part of establishing your home’s uniqueness and individuality in the neighborhood. It’s important to have the brightest lights at Christmastime, right? The same thing goes for your flowers, your trees and your general plant decorations all year round. But luxury landscape design can actually have practical applicability for your home, too, in addition to just making it look like a pleasant residence. Here are four important ways good landscape design can benefit your home.
Increasing the resale value Imagine visiting an open house at a property with a sprawling, majestic collection of trees, shrubs and flowers all very systematically parceled and planted throughout the lawn. You’ll remember that house because it caught your eye right from the get-go. That’s all thanks to a landscape design service. One of the most sure-fire ways to make your home memorable to potential buyers is to doll it up in gorgeous landscape scenes. This can greatly up your chances of selling your home for much more than you bought it for.
Cutting down on monthly costs Strategically planted trees and shrubs can actually offer financial incentives, too. Studies have shown that trees and other plant life can provide plenty of shade for outdoor air conditioning units, therefore reducing the amount of energy needed for them to keep your home cool. You see, it’s not just about enlisting luxury landscape design services to make your house stand out. It’s about trimming your electric and energy bills in the process. Improving the function of your landscape
OK, bear with me on this one. It seems very strange to say that an ornately decorated lawn or home garden area can have a certain “function” past its aesthetic value, but actually, that is its function. Professional landscape designers understand psychology and they know what’s pleasing to the eye. In fact, it’s these same principles that advertisers and web designers and many other professionals use to entice your sense of sight. In the end, the function of any good landscape is to reinforce the good feelings you want to project about your home.
Giving your home a bit more privacy One of the most hidden landscape design tips deals with the benefits of keeping your home partly secluded under the protection of some trees. Large landscape plants can actually act as natural sound barriers for unpleasant neighborhood sounds of traffic, pets, lawnmowers and other noises. That’s right: luxury landscape designers can transform your home into eye-candy while simultaneously keeping your ears safe from the ugly noises around the block. source: borsellolandscaping.com
Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping provides top tier Landscape Design in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and surrounding areas. Call us today at (248) 837-9991 for a free landscape design estimate in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
by Quality Brick Paving | Apr 30, 2016 | Landscape Design Grosse Pointe
Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping provides top rated Landscape Design in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and surrounding areas. Please call (248) 837-9991 for a free estimate today!
4 Ways Landscape Design Can Benefit Your Home
Creating an eye-catching lawn is an important part of establishing your home’s uniqueness and individuality in the neighborhood. It’s important to have the brightest lights at Christmastime, right? The same thing goes for your flowers, your trees and your general plant decorations all year round. But luxury landscape design can actually have practical applicability for your home, too, in addition to just making it look like a pleasant residence. Here are four important ways good landscape design can benefit your home.
Increasing the resale value Imagine visiting an open house at a property with a sprawling, majestic collection of trees, shrubs and flowers all very systematically parceled and planted throughout the lawn. You’ll remember that house because it caught your eye right from the get-go. That’s all thanks to a landscape design service. One of the most sure-fire ways to make your home memorable to potential buyers is to doll it up in gorgeous landscape scenes. This can greatly up your chances of selling your home for much more than you bought it for.
Cutting down on monthly costs Strategically planted trees and shrubs can actually offer financial incentives, too. Studies have shown that trees and other plant life can provide plenty of shade for outdoor air conditioning units, therefore reducing the amount of energy needed for them to keep your home cool. You see, it’s not just about enlisting luxury landscape design services to make your house stand out. It’s about trimming your electric and energy bills in the process. Improving the function of your landscape
OK, bear with me on this one. It seems very strange to say that an ornately decorated lawn or home garden area can have a certain “function” past its aesthetic value, but actually, that is its function. Professional landscape designers understand psychology and they know what’s pleasing to the eye. In fact, it’s these same principles that advertisers and web designers and many other professionals use to entice your sense of sight. In the end, the function of any good landscape is to reinforce the good feelings you want to project about your home.
Giving your home a bit more privacy One of the most hidden landscape design tips deals with the benefits of keeping your home partly secluded under the protection of some trees. Large landscape plants can actually act as natural sound barriers for unpleasant neighborhood sounds of traffic, pets, lawnmowers and other noises. That’s right: luxury landscape designers can transform your home into eye-candy while simultaneously keeping your ears safe from the ugly noises around the block. source: borsellolandscaping.com
Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping provides top tier Landscape Design in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and surrounding areas. Call us today at (248) 837-9991 for a free landscape design estimate in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
by Quality Brick Paving | Jul 27, 2015 | Landscape Design Grosse Pointe
If you are looking for landscaping in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, contact Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping at (248) 837-9991 today to receive a free consultation.
Boost value to your home with landscaping
Forget wiring your new home for audio, video and data. Pass on the upgraded kitchen cabinets. Say no to thicker carpets. If you really want to add lasting value, opt for landscaping.
Done correctly, the addition of trees, shrubs, plants, walks, lighting and patios can increase the value of your property by 20 percent — almost instantaneously.
Real-estate professionals have always known this. A study by Arbor National Mortgage found that 84 percent of the agents questioned believe a house on a treed lot would fetch at least that much more than one on a lot without trees.
Another survey, this one in Greenville, S.C., showed houses with “excellent” landscaping could expect to sell for 4 percent to 5 percent more than homes with just “good” landscaping. But those with only “fair” landscaping would sell for 8 percent to 10 percent below “good” houses.
Some builders, on the other hand, don’t seem to get it. Indeed, landscaping is practically an afterthought for many of them. Sure, they deck out their models; but for the most part, they do very little when it comes to the houses people actually buy and live in.
For many builders, the standard is “four heads of broccoli and two asparagus” — four shrubs and a pair of spindly evergreens. In some jurisdictions, they have done such a poor job that lawmakers now require a minimum numbers of shrubs and trees.
But a growing number are finally waking up to the fact that landscaping pays, in more ways than one. For starters, nicely landscaped houses add curb appeal over and above the sample house. After all, what’s more off-putting to potential customers than driving through sections of newly built houses with brown lawns and a few scraggly bushes?
For another, there’s money to be made in landscaping. Big money. There’s no record of how much people spend planting stuff after they move in. But it’s typically the next thing they do after unpacking and hanging their curtains or blinds.
The National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C. reports that people are spending a lot more money on the outside of their houses than they used to.
One builder that has figured it out is St. Lawrence Homes in Raleigh, N.C. The company offers three different landscaping packages as standard at Trenton, its high-end, big-lot subdivision in Chapel Hill. But “just about everybody” goes beyond that, opting for $3,000 to $5,000 in extras, such as lighting, irrigation systems, pavers and vegetation, said sales vice president Rich Ohmann.
At Sun City Lincoln Hills in northern California, Del Webb offered four different upgraded landscape packages, plus an a-la-carte menu of upgrades. That’s in addition to a standard package of a 24-inch box tree in the front yard, 19 shrubs and sod, which is more than most builders offer.
Still, four out of five buyers in the now nearly sold-out project choose to upgrade, spending an average of $12,000 each.
Which begs the question: How much should you spend?
The Washington, D.C.-based American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) suggests you “invest” 5 percent to 10 percent of your home’s value on landscaping. That rule of thumb can be expensive, but the good thing is, you don’t have to do it all at once. Indeed, you can start small and watch your money grow . . . well, grow on trees.
Start by making a realistic budget. Next, ASLA suggests looking at books and magazines and start a file of plants, trees, gardens, yards, patios, decks and fences that strike your fancy.
ASLA also suggests you hire one of its members to bring your ideas to life. If you go that route, interview several companies and check their references. If you can’t afford an architect, check out the services offered by local nurseries and big-box retailers, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. Many offer design services, sometimes without charge, if you are buying your plants at the same place.
Before you hire anyone, though, or before you purchase plants, you’ll need to find out exactly how your builder plans to landscape your house. Or better yet, how much he plans to spend. With that in mind, tell him you might be interested in doing your own landscaping work, and ask for a landscape credit.
Chances are you’ll be surprised how little you’re offered. But at least you’ll have a starting point. You’ll also want to determine whether the builder will use sod or seed — or a combination of both. Because sod requires more water to grow than seed does to germinate, it should be laid in late spring or summer. Already rooted, sod can better withstand dry, hot weather; it also covers poor soil preparation, which, after the lack of water, is the major reason new lawns fail. Seeding is best in the early spring or late fall, when rainfall is abundant and the cool nights give the grass relief from the heat. If the builder wants to seed during any other time of the year, be certain he will try again if your lawn doesn’t take.
If the builder won’t guarantee your grass — most won’t — and your local building code allows you to occupy a house with a barren lot, consider asking for a lawn credit and either do the work yourself or have it done by a professional after you move in.
If you are not satisfied with the builder’s landscape plan, ask that he spend the entire budget on one large tree and put in your own foundation plants, or take the entire credit and do your own thing altogether.If you are on a tight budget — and what new homeowner isn’t? — a few larger plants will have a greater visual impact than a bunch of smaller ones.
Professionals suggest starting in the front yard with a large-caliper shade tree — one that’s 4 to 6 inches in diameter at a point 12 inches off the ground. This, they say, will immediately give your home an established look that otherwise would take five or six years to create.
As a rule, you can expect to save half the cost of landscaping if you do the work yourself. But unless you have a green thumb and can transport plants properly, it’s best to stick to the smaller ones and let the pros handle the bigger pieces.
Large trees are killed most frequently when carried uncovered in the back of the buyer’s SUV from the nursery to the house, not because they are planted poorly. And most nurseries won’t guarantee plants they don’t install.
source: realestate.heraldtribune.com
Hire the top rated landscaping service in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Contact Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping at (248) 837-9991 today to receive a free consultation.
by Quality Brick Paving | Jun 30, 2015 | Landscape Design Grosse Pointe
Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping prides itself in being the top rated Landscape Designers in Grosse Pointe MI. Hire the best by calling (248) 837-9991 and schedule a free estimate!
What are the benefits of landscaping?
- A well-designed landscape will cut your summer and winter energy cost dramatically, protect your home from winter wind and summer sun and help control noise and air pollutions.(1)
- Carefully positioned trees can save up to 25% of a household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling.(1)
- On average, a well-designed landscape provides enough energy savings to return your initial investment is less than 8 years.(1)
- A well-planned landscape can reduce an un-shaded home’s summer air conditioning cost by 15-50%.(1)
- Shading and evapotranspiration from trees can reduce surrounding air temperatures as much as 9 degrees F.(1)
- Studies by Lawrence Berkeley laboratory found summer daytime air temperatures to be 3-6 degrees F cooler in tree shaded neighborhoods than in treeless areas.(1)
- Research conducted from 1996-97 in South Carolina showed that home price premiums increased 6 to 7 percent for home landscapes that were upgraded from good to excellent and 4 to 5 percent for and upgrade from average to good.(2)
- Landscaping can bring a recovery value of 100 to 200 percent at selling time. Kitchen remodeling brings a 75 to 125 percent recovery rate, bathroom remodeling a 20 to 120 percent recovery rate, and addition of a swimming pool a 20 to 50 percent recovery rate.(3)
- By spending 5% of the value of your home on the installation of a quality low-maintenance landscape, you could boost the resale by 15%, earning back 150% or more of your landscape investment.(4)
- A mature tree can often have an appraised value of between $1,000 and $10,000.(5)
- 95% of the members of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers say landscaping adds to property value, while 99% agree landscaping increases speed of home sales.(6)
- In another study, 83% of Realtors believe that mature trees have a “strong or moderate impact” on the salability of homes listed for under $150,000; on homes over $250,000, this perception increases to 98%.(7)
(1) – Landscaping for Energy Efficiency. Energy efficiency and renewable energy clearing house. National renewable energy laboratory. FS 220, April 1995.
(2) – The effect of landscape plants on perceived home value. Virginia Cooperative Extension. Pub 426-087, 2009.
(3) – Money magazine.
(4) – Smart money magazine, March 2003.
(5) – Council of tree and landscape appraisers.
(6) – Society of real estate appraisers study, 2003.
(7) – Arbor national mortgage & american forests.
source: hallowgardens.com
Quality Brick Paving & Landscaping specializes in Landscape Design in Grosse Pointe MI and surrounding areas. If you would like to hire the top rated Grosse Pointe MI Landscape Design team please call (248) 837-9991 today!
