Landscape Blogs

  This blog is being written by the wife of the landscape contractor who owns Andrew Landscape Construction. Naturally I have a little different perspective of things in this business. My job is to run the office.  However, from time to time I have something to say about the actual landscape being put in on a job. In this case, that job would be the landscaper’s own backyard.

            Most of you, I’m sure, have heard the story of the cobbler’s children. You remember them, the ones who had no shoes. And why, you may ask, did they have no shoes? That would be because their father was so busy making shoes for everyone else that he had no time to make shoes for his own children. It is a familiar tale, I hear it often from my friends who are married to a contractor of any kind. My friend, who’s married to an electrician couldn’t get a light hung over her dining room table for 6 months. Another friend, married to a general contractor has trouble getting any remodeling done at her own house. Believe me, it’s no different being married to a landscape contractor!

            Our house was built more than 26 years ago. At the time we put everything into building the house and had very little left for the landscape. Over the next couple of years, my wonderful, creative, hard working, landscape contractor husband put in irrigation, grass, hardscape, and whatever plants he could find cheaply. Now, I want you know our yard looked ok, not great, but ok. It certainly wasn’t worthy of having any pictures put on our website. If you’re reading this blog you are already on our website and can see the beautiful work Andrew Landscape Construction does and can do for you whether you live in Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, or Los Angeles County.

            I simply wanted the owner of the company to do the same for his lovely wife, so our backyard would have more in common with those pictured on our site. Well, guess what? He finally realized he wanted his own dream garden and decided to make it a reality. Although the reality would take a lot longer than our jobs, due to the fact that work could only be done here on weekends. Weekend time also was put on hold due to our daughter’s Daddy Do List after she bought a home of her own, though that’s a tale for another time. But with the help of our children, some of the world’s best friends, and our great sub-contractors we were able to start on our own website worthy backyard.

Here’s where I had a little input, and I do mean very little. I don’t have the vision, the way Wayne does. He can see what he wants in his mind, put it down on paper, and make it happen. All I knew was I wanted a backyard that looked beautiful, met our needs, and that we could truly enjoy and use for relaxation, whether it was just the two of us or with family and friends. That meant we would need a complete remodel.

 First things first. Our pool was 24 years old and looking every bit it’s age. Apparently the life expectancy of pool plaster is somewhat less than 24 years, which would explain why it was popping off in places. So that needed to be drained and redone. Here’s where vision comes in handy. Wayne wanted a water feature added so we could listen to the sound of running water while we sat in the yard. He told me how he was going to put a rock waterfall at one end, with a small stream bed and a bridge to get to the other side of the yard. I looked at him like he was crazy, there’s not enough room I thought. So much for my way of thinking. Not only do we have all this but it looks great! Like something that should be put on our website. We also had the plaster done in a dark gray so it would look more like a lagoon, new tile, poured in place coping, and a gorgeous paver deck to replace the old concrete one that was full of cracks. If you haven’t seen all the new types of pavers available today you are really missing out. I had no idea they came in so many colors, shapes, and sizes. And what a difference it makes over that cracked drab gray concrete.

            Because we entertain a great deal and have rather large parties we needed a larger place for people to sit. Wayne wanted to take a part of our sloped yard and put in a large raised wooden deck with a space for a dining room as well as an outdoor kitchen. I’m fairly certain I looked at him like he had multiple heads because I just could not picture this happening. No problem for Wayne, he put it on paper and away he went. Even when he and our son, Tyson, who works for Andrew Landscape also, were putting it in I had trouble picturing the final product. Not to worry, once again, it came out great! If you don’t have an outdoor kitchen and are considering redoing your backyard, I highly recommend putting one in. We use ours quite often. It has a build-in barbecue, a small fridge, and a sink. Many of today’s outdoor kitchens have far more amenities, the choice is yours. A raised bar at one end leaves room for our friends to sit and enjoy a drink and appetizers while talking to my outdoor cook. When dinner is ready to serve, we move over a few feet where we can sit at the dining table covered by a pergola, enjoy a nice meal and a view of the pool and waterfall.

The best place of all, as far as I’m concerned, is the outdoor family room. What a wonderful place!  Now we have a solid covered patio which lets us use the space year around, and keeps rain from coming in every time the backdoor is opened during a storm. At one end we have a fireplace with a television up above, so no one misses an important game. Patio furniture these days is greatly improved from the old plastic stacking chairs of yesteryear. It looks like something that could be inside. With a love seat and two chairs, a coffee table and a little side table we have a great area for family and friends to enjoy being outside. The sound of running water from the waterfall is an added plus.

            My wonderful, creative, hard working landscape contractor husband had one more trick up his sleeve, landscape lighting. Today’s outdoor lights are incredible! They are low voltage, some are LED lights, and come in a plethora of styles. There is something for every yard and every need, whether you want to light a walkway or up highlight some trees. Our yard looks totally different when the sun goes down. Some people even think it looks more beautiful.

            As for the cobbler’s children, I’m not sure they have any shoes yet or if they’ll ever get any but this landscape contractor’s wife has an amazing backyard! It is finally worthy of having some pictures put on our website, as you can see. And I’m told it will look even better when all the planting is done and the plants have a chance to grow and fill in. If you would like to create your own dream garden or entire backyard makeover please give Andrew Landscape Construction a call and see what Wayne, Tyson, and our crew can do for you.

As I drive through a neighborhood and see people sitting in their front yard for a party, I always feel bad for them.  Wouldn’t it be so much nicer to be able to have that party in your back yard?  Maybe provide a little more privacy from all the cars driving by.  Sounds better to me!!!  It’s not all that hard.  Just get back there and cut down the darn weeds.

After you do that, give us a call.  Andrew Landscape Construction can help with the creation of a beautiful patio cover or freestanding pergola to give you a place to set up your table and chairs to entertain and feed your party guests. A patio cover will also help keep your house cooler during the hot Southern California summers.  If you really don’t want to clear out the weeds yourself, you could use us to take care of that too.  There is nothing better than a structure of some sort, be it a patio cover attached to the house or a nice freestanding pergola to help provide that “room” feeling you need to create.  We can do something very simple that may have an open ceiling that let’s a lot of sun in or make it a solid cover that keeps all the sun off of you.  When you have a solid cover, you also then have the opportunity for some potted plant materials that may need a little protection from the sun.  Whatever you decide on, a patio cover or a pergola structure, I’m sure you’ll end up spending most your summer nights there and not in your front yard, unless, of course, you’re waiting for the ice cream man.

First, some questions need to be answered before you’re ready to create that structure.   Among the main things to consider are what type of material you would like to see and how much money you are willing to spend.  Patio covers made with aluminum will give you a very nice “room” and provide the shade you may be looking for.  Wood structures will do the same, but require more work and more expense.  Using wood for your structure opens up the possibilities for all sorts of design options, starting with unlimited colors of stains, rough sawn or smooth materials.  Maybe, that “big beam” look or perhaps a very elegant looking tongue and groove solid cover.  The finished product is only limited to what your dream sees.  Recently we had a client in the Inland Empire who dreamed of a “barrel shaped cover”.  Of course, it was left to us to figure how to make that happen.  It was new to us to create a freestanding pergola that had a solid cover arched roof.  We decided to use steel beams that we had bent into beautiful arches by a steel fabricating company in Los Angeles.  All the steel was then powder coated and installed on top of very heavy wood posts and beams.  Next we installed a shiplap tongue and groove Spruce solid cover that was stained to match all the other shiplap material that was part of the house structure.

As always, don’t forget the landscape night lighting to help make your new patio cover or pergola just that much more special.  Andrew Landscape has added all sorts of lighting to newly created covers.  You can try rope lighting, track lighting, spot lighting, chandeliers, sconces and just about anything else you can think of.  While working on a job in Redlands, California, the homeowner had purchased a very nice looking heavy metal chandelier from Mexico.  She wanted the chandelier to hang from her new dining area pergola we had built in her back yard.  We found it necessary to rewire the whole thing to make it safe, but when we got it up and hanging, it was gorgeous!  So don’t forget, the day time shade providing patio cover will turn into a wonderful night time entertainment area with just the right amount of patio and landscape lighting.

Please give Andrew Landscape Construction a call when you’re ready to turn your back yard into a place to live and entertain.  If it’s a patio cover or pergola type structure that should be part of your yard, we can certainly help.  Let us help you to see what the possibilities can be for your own back yard and to create your dream garden.

Back yard renovation can quite often be a huge eye opener.  Andrew Landscape Construction helps homeowners throughout the Inland Empire, Orange County and into parts of Los Angeles County with their landscape remodels.  We recently completed a small project in the City of Claremont that involved some demolition and a lot of redesign imagination.  In the before photo you can see how someone used railroad ties to build a small retainer wall.  Maybe the retainer looked okay 25 years ago, but now, oh my goodness!  They also had some very interesting concrete things to extend the little retainer wall.  I guess these materials did the job, but they certainly were nothing to look at.  Today’s homeowners want to be able to use their back yard for entertainment and just relaxing after a long day at work.  When it looks bad, you can feel like you’re sitting in the alley behind some industrial building, and that’s not very enjoyable!

Most of us will look at something like that in our back yard and think there is no way this area can ever be anything close to acceptable.  But guess what?  It can be fixed!  You just need to call Andrew Landscape.  This Claremont family was looking at their mess and knew it could be made better, but needed help to make it happen.  Their dream was to make the area into a nice outdoor living space.  They didn’t care about an outdoor kitchen or bar or fire pit, they just wanted to make the useless back yard into something nice looking and usable.

Those old retainer walls had to come down, (before someone got hurt).  Our clients wanted to turn the area into a nice sitting/dining area.  Here again, they weren’t interested in anything too fancy, just making the area clean and comfortable.  Due to the grade changes between the homes, we had to replace the small retaining wall, but this time we used a mortar less stacking block provided by Belgard USA.   For the sitting and dining area we wanted to use pavers rather than concrete. Belgard mortar less stacking block is a nice split face style block that looks a little like the old Celtic walls and looks great next to the pavers.  By the way, the pavers were provided by Orco Pavers.  The retainer wall also provided some extra sitting room in the sitting/dining area since we built the wall at about 24” high along that area.  This paver area wasn’t huge do to space limitations.  But now we have room for a small dining table and chairs and seating for maybe 10 to 15 along the wall.

Of course, we needed to install new plant material.  Andrew Landscape installed plants to provide for color, height and scent. Star Jasmine will provide some wonderful summertime fragrance.  Day Lilies and Agapanthus will have beautiful flowers down at the lower levels of the dining area.  In the back, we have some Hibiscus to provide for a much taller screen and great flowers and don’t forget the Leptospermum and the little Polygala’s.  All the new plant materials and some of the old ones are now being irrigated with a drip irrigation system.  We love using drip irrigation in planters like this.  No more water spraying onto the pavers, concrete, decomposed granite and especially not on the Redwood fencing. This type of irrigation is also far more water efficient.  When we finish installing the drip irrigation that is normally provided by Rainbird Irrigation, Roberts and Netafim we top dress all the planters with a shredded wood.  Top dressing provides a very clean and finished look and, of course, helps hide all the drip tubing and sometimes the landscape lighting wire.  While always looking good, top dressing also helps the soil retain much of the moisture being provided by the drip irrigation.  That sun can be brutal!

Speaking of landscape lighting – please remember that any landscape job, especially when it’s a back yard living space, can be turned into a beautiful night time living space with some landscape lighting.  You will be amazed how the lighting will totally change your day time space into a great night time space.  An entirely new and different area can be created with the addition of landscape lighting.  Recently we have moved to using LED lighting and I must admit the difference is dramatic.  Fixture cost is still higher than incandescent lighting, but the installation cost is a little less because of transformer size and wire size requirement differences between the two bulb types.  You will also find some pretty amazing warranties from some of the fixture manufactures such as Kichler Lighting.  Give Andrew Landscape a call and we’ll help walk you through all the new changes that are happening.  Let us help you create that dream garden or outdoor living space you’ve been

Wherever you live in Southern California, from Riverside, Moreno Valley, Redlands to Irvine, it’s time to clean up your yard, your outdoor kitchen, and be sure all your landscape lighting is working.  Now that we have changed our clocks to daylight savings time, we can spend more time outside in the late afternoon and evening. Don’t have an outdoor kitchen? More and more families are adding outdoor kitchens to their list of must haves. Andrew Landscape Construction has built outdoor kitchens and bars throughout Orange County and the Inland Empire.  Some people want the works.  You know, the refrigerator, the sink, the microwave, the beer tap and don’t forget we also need the barbeque.  And of course, you can do more with storage cabinets and even warming drawers.

 Andrew Landscape has been building outdoor dining and living areas for years, long before it was the “cool thing” to have.  The styles, sizes and accessories can go on forever.  The most important thing is to select a barbeque large enough to accommodate your larger parties and after that, all the rest is up to you.  One client had us build an outdoor kitchen that had a gas barbeque and a charcoal burning barbeque because he used both.  If you have the space, you may want to include a bar top.  The bar top offers a wonderful place for people to hang out and keep the cook company.  You might also consider a cover of some type, at least over the bar area.  If you want company while you’re cooking, you need to provide some shade while they chat and enjoy their drinks and perhaps appetizers.

We prefer to build most our outdoor kitchens and bars with block and mortar construction, but it certainly isn’t the only way to go.  A block and mortar construction will do very well with all the abuse one can dish out.  When we construct a kitchen with block and mortar we are able to install a poured in place concrete countertop.  Colored acid stains can be used on the newly poured concrete to create a very unique and beautiful top.  Each countertop is always one of a kind.  When we finish, you’ll know you will never see another exactly like it.  But, and this is a big but.  Sometimes we just can’t build it that way.  Here in Riverside we are currently building an outdoor kitchen and bar top on top of a wood deck.  We also built the wood deck, so we really beefed up the structure of the deck to accommodate the kitchen and bar.  And of course there’s no way we could build the kitchen with block and mortar.  The weight of the kitchen on the wood structure would be very unsafe. 

This time we built the kitchen by welding together 1& 1/2” steel tubing to create the shape and size we were looking for.  I do have to admit, this method did provide for a very clean look inside the storage area of the kitchen.  After welding together all the pieces we had a big box with openings for barbeque, doors and a refrigerator.  Then it was time to take it in to be powder coated to help it stand up to the weather and rust.  It was then time to cover the whole unit with ½” cement board.  With this kitchen we’re still not sure exactly how the sides will be finished or what type of countertop we’ll put on, but I know the finished product will be beautiful.  The sides could be stuccoed to match the house, or we could stone veneer the sides.  We also like a very nice acrylic stone material finish that doesn’t add as much weight as the stone veneer.  Our countertop can be just about anything but poured in place concrete.  That would be way too much weight for our steel frame and also our wood deck.  When this one is finished I’ll post some photos. Please give us a call if you’d like to have your own outdoor living space.  Andrew Landscape Construction would be more than happy to help you plan your own outdoor kitchen, bar or maybe just a nice living space.  Happy Summer Evenings!

SPRING TIME!! 
Okay, not just yet, but this past week sure felt like that glorious time of year in the Inland Empire.  You know the time I’m talking about.  When the air is clean, the sky so blue and the clouds a beautiful white puff.  I don’t care where you live, be it Riverside, Moreno Valley or on up to Upland and Claremont or Orange County.  We have had some nice weather – for winter time.  Now the problem.  You just spent this weekend outdoors in your back yard, remember, it was a gorgeous weekend!  You’re beginning to remember all the landscape items you wanted to take care of prior to the start of Spring.  I know, the World Series and then we move right into the football season.  It’s tough to find the time our spouse says is available for all the work that needs to be done. 

Speaking of summer time parties.  My wife decided all this back yard remodeling was going a little slower than she felt comfortable with.  So in all her wonderful wisdom she has scheduled a September party – in my back yard!!  I have been told there shouldn’t be any more than one hundred people attending.  And all are excited to see the new back yard and get ideas for their own little private oasis.  Please tell me I’m not the only spouse here that has this kind of landscape pressure put on ones shoulders.  If you’re reading this little blog, send me an email and tell me what sort of stress you may have been put through for the glory of the yard.  Maybe I will share some in future blogs in an effort to make us all feel better.  Life is always a little sweeter when you can laugh at someone else’s problem even though you know it could be you.

I intend for future blogs to provide you with a little more detail on specific phases of our landscape.  For those of you who would like to attempt the work yourself but may need some guidance, I may be able to help you.  Keep looking for new blogs to see when I may get to your construction need.  Andrew Landscape Construction can come into a new job that is just dirt and start the work with all necessary grading, sprinklers, concrete, ponds and waterfalls, patio covers, fire rings, decks and even that occasional tree house.  We would also be happy to remodel your existing landscape to HELP CREATE YOUR DREAM GARDEN.  And of course don’t forget the low voltage lighting, grass and yes, we even install plants and flowers.  If you have a project starting soon, send me an email with information about what you’re going to attempt.  Perhaps my next blog could have information to help you.