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The Landscape Construction Process

If you’ve been planning and dreaming about a new landscape for a long time, there are few things more exciting than actually signing off on your Final Landscape Design and moving into the construction process. You’re literally about to watch your vision become reality.

So what’s landscape construction like? The process is often both more difficult and more rewarding than some homeowners imagine. Here’s what to expect after you sign on the dotted line.

Before Landscape Construction

Once you’ve approved your Final Landscape Design and signed a construction contract with Hursthouse, we’ll open up the calendar and schedule a rough date to begin construction at your home. Our target start date might be anywhere from several weeks to several months after the date you sign your contract.

Why the wait? Your start date depends on the schedule and availability of our construction crews – but also on factors like your local permit requirements, the availability of materials and the involvement of subcontractors for non-landscape specific jobs like carpentry, pool-shell construction or large concrete pours.

We coordinate every bit of this and keep you notified, so all you have to do is wait. But the length of that wait can vary depending on the specific needs of your landscape and your municipality.

The Landscape Construction process

Once construction begins you’ll begin to see big changes in very little time. Demolition is the first phase, and the most noticeable. We often start in the back of your lot and work our way toward the street, removing plants and structures that won’t be part of the landscape. It’s exciting  to see your old patios go or your overgrown plants disappear as we make room for the new.

The transformation continues as our crews begin hardscape work, followed closely by any large plantings like trees or shrubs. You’ll begin to see decks and patios take shape and realize the shape and outline of your outdoor living areas. This stage often gives the clearest sense that what you saw on paper in your design is becoming reality in your home.

Landscape details come last, and require a lot of work. During this stage we’ll install lights, plant ground cover and add other features that make your landscape a finished living space. Like hanging art on the wall, this is the phase that makes a construction project into a home.

What to expect during construction

There’s no question that landscape construction can shake up your life as a homeowner. Often the biggest surprise is the amount of time it takes: It might seem like crews transform a home in days on television, but that’s far from realistic. Expect construction to last a long as 3 months for a significant landscape project.

During that time, we won’t be in your house or directly interrupting your routines. You may have to park on the street if we’re doing driveway work, but for most homeowners the biggest inconvenience is the presence of dust and noise. We’ll deliver flyers to your neighbors’ homes ahead of time, so they won’t have to wonder about the saw and tractor noises coming from your yard.

Of course biggest changes to your life come after construction is complete. When the dust clears, that’s when you’ll get to enjoy life in your landscape – not just for a few months, but for years to come. We know you’ll enjoy a lot of living.