Houston Landscape Business

I want to hire a landscape business to work at my home. Can these companies do more for me then just gardening and landscaping?

Of course, landscape companies offer a full range of landscape services including consultation, design, installation and maintenance. A landscape business will usually concentrate in one or more areas and subcontract associated installation elements such as summer kitchens, swimming pools, water features, outdoor fireplaces, and night lighting.

Once you have decided to hire a landscape business, you typically begin with a discovery meeting or interview where you have a chance to talk about your overall goals, program elements, design objectives and the overall aesthetics. The subsequent meeting you may discuss landscape designs, landscape plans, permitting issues and cost estimates. In providing landscape services, a good professional should work conscientiously to help you define the scope of your project, phasing, scheduling, coordination, selection of all materials and construction methods, and project cost.
Once you have approved the landscape design, the landscape company you selected can begin the installation. As mentioned earlier, many landscape businesses act as the general contractor and oversee the entire installation of drainage, irrigation and landscape lighting. The fees for these services vary for each landscape business; however they are normally charged as a percentage of the total cost of the work for the project. .

A landscape business will usually include all plant materials, irrigation, drainage, and landscape lighting in their contract. Once the irrigation and lighting contractors finish their work, the planting can be completed by putting in all shrubs, groundcover, and seasonal color. After this step, mulching and cleanup commence. The irrigation and lighting subcontractors then return for final adjustments and the installation is complete.

It is during the installation that the importance of tree preservation must be emphasized. Careful pre-construction activities include protective tree fencing, borer applications on sensitive trees, temporary drainage and elevated walks to protect tree roots. Proper grading and soil preparation around large trees is another delicate issue. The foresight to understand the impact of changing grades on mature trees is crucial, so make sure your landscape service company is well versed in this area of expertise.
Some homeowners want to act as general contractors for their landscaping projects in order to save money. This choice can lead to some real problems. Often confusions can arise from the misunderstanding of trade terminology, scheduling and coordination if the different phases of a project. A subcontractor will respond much better to a seasoned general contractor who understands the work to be performed and with whom they have a good relationship based on past experience. Many landscape businesses have years of experience to make sure the end results exceed your expectations.

Landscape maintenance is one of the most imperative ongoing services to insure that your asset develops into a mature and beautiful outdoor environment. A landscape company will normally include proper trimming of plant material and mowing of all yard areas. They should have a methodical feeding program that boosts the varying plant health of tropical, acidic and seasonal color plants. The feeding program may also include spring and fall aeration of lawn areas with the application of fall rye grass.

If you are interested in landscape services, Exterior Worlds has been providing the services discussed above for the Houston Texas Hou area since 1987.