Residential

Grafton New Home

This project (2) in Grafton incorporated several features to create a distinctive landscape. The use of boulders accented the colors of the home and created interest in the approach to the front yard. Embedding flagstone in the backyard created a low maintenance casual pathway from the garage to the back deck and gazebo. A firewood storage area is near the garage, neatly tucked behind the Hydrangea bushes. A berm was built to provide privacy from the next door neighbor. The project was completed in two stages.

Mequon New Home Patio Retaining Walls

Thinking ahead (6) saved this new homeowner headaches. The retaining wall was built before the plantings were installed and the lower level was usable at move-in!

Milwaukee Retaining Wall By City Sidewalk

The owner (9) was tired of mowing the steep hill leading to the city sidewalk. A Keystone wall and steps were built which blended with the neighboring properties.

Fox Point Big Roll Sod

This home in Fox Point (3 & 10) had a large back yard that had deteriorated over time. When sodding a large flat area "big roll" sod may be used instead of the smaller rolls. A better result is usually achieved with big roll sod and the work goes faster.

Brookfield New Home Landscaping In Stages

This home (11 & 14) in Brookfield is in a new subdivision which required the lawn to be green the first year, so it was hydro seeded after the beds were roughed in. We finished the next spring by building a berm and planting larger items like trees and shrubs. We coordinated with the owners who wanted to "put the frosting on the cake" by planting their favorite perennials and annuals.

Greentree Apartments Milwaukee

This freestanding courtyard (20 & 21) in Milwaukee features park benches, a central flower garden, two fountains, and night lighting.

Greentree Apartments are a large complex covering several city blocks. The center of the property houses the offices, day care, and community center. The objective of the landscaping project was to beautify the center and unify it with the parking and garden area.

The challenge was to create a wheelchair accessible courtyard with night lighting in the middle of four walkways of differing elevations. A two and a half foot drop exists between two of the walkways! The owner wanted to have park benches, a sculpture, two fountains, and colorful plantings. He also wanted to screen the trash bins by the parking area and make the garden more appealing. The area is used by all ages and has become a central focal point, enriching the lives of the residents.

Tumbled block wall was used for the walls and plant enclosures. The patio was made of antiqued pavers. Drainage of the patio was accomplished by slightly sloping towards the center and the parking lot.

Pabst Farms New Home

This beautiful home (23) in the Pabst Farms subdivision in Oconomowoc was a spec home. The builder hired us to design and install the landscaping. This picture was taken just after the project was finished in late fall.

Wauwatosa Front Beds Redesign

The overgrown shrubs at this Wauwatosa home (24) prevented the owner from seeing out of their windows! We replaced the old plantings with a newer design which was asymmetrical and utilized tiers on just one side.

Milwaukee Retaining Wall Flower Beds

The owners of this Milwaukee home (25 & 26) wanted to create more curb appeal by adding retaining walls around the home's flower beds and accent them with beds surrounding the front light fixture. We added to the existing plantings and created a custom look by matching the brick of the home.

New Berlin Update

The owners of this older New Berlin home (27 - 31) wanted to update their landscaping. The beautiful trees were thinned and the lower branches were removed so that more light could reach the plants below, and to create interest in the beautiful front porch. In the back yard the deck was accented with plantings and a brick edge to match the red brick of the home, and a small patio was built for the water hose.

The original front walkway and patio were cracked and dated the home. The new walkway and patio blend with the home’s exterior siding, and the focal point of the patio is the matching grill, complete with marble top. We also added a concrete segmental retaining wall to stabilize the driveway.

North Prairie Walls & Patios

North Prairie is the site (32 - 36) of this beautiful new home. The owners have a two acre lot, and they planned to landscape it over several years. Wisely, they chose to install the hardscapes first. You can see that the patios and retaining walls required many tons of traffic bond to minimize settling. As this was completed mid summer, the owners chose to wait until fall to hydro seed the large yard.

Hartland Two Tiered Wall & Sod

A two tiered retaining wall takes time to build if done properly. The next door neighbor in Hartland had hired people to build a similar wall and it has failed twice. The owner wanted to avoid this costly mistake! We took lots of pictures so that we could demonstrate the steps that we take to make sure the wall will last.

The materials are delivered (39) and the area behind the wall is excavated. (40)

The lowest part of the wall is laid after 6 inches of compacted traffic bond is put down. The first course of the wall must be buried underground. (41 - 43)

The first course is the most important. It must be placed on hard compacted TB and it must be absolutely level. The area for the steps must be left open. The first layer of the wall is then buried and the earth is compacted around it. (44 - 46)

Next is the back breaking job of properly laying the Keystone blocks, making sure the pins are properly placed and any necessary gluing is done. (47)

Drainage pipe is laid and surrounded by larger stone to keep water from collecting behind the wall. Geogrid is cut and laid behind the wall to add strength. The foreground what the grid looks like after cutting. It is then turned and incorporated into the blocks as shown in the background with the farthest two grids. (48 & 49)

If the first level is installed properly, the wall will be straight at the top. Then it is time to begin the second level which follows the same installation steps as above. (50 - 51)

The wall is complete (52) and in the spring the wildflower mix that was planted behind the top wall will help the wall blend naturally into the background. Note that the brick wall blends very well with the color of the brick in the home's facade. The homeowner received a written warranty that gives her peace of mind knowing that if she does have a problem with her wall we will be there to help her.

New Berlin Project

Muskego Two Tiered Retaining Wall

The original owner of this expansive Muskego ranch home was a cement contractor, and built the original masonry retaining walls. Later the walls started to crack, so they were covered with wood, so it looked rather like a wood fence in front of the house.

Eventually the wood aged and the new owners decided to replace the walls with a concrete segmental retaining wall system. The project was complicated by the fact that we could not remove the concrete walls in back because they were part of the home!!! So we faced the existing rear walls with the new wall, which were held in place by metal facing. The resulting new walls are beautiful because they match the home’s lannon stone siding!

Milwaukee Patio

We do small jobs too!

The owners can enjoy their beautiful backyard gardens from their new patio.