We use 3D design whenever possible to design outdoor living spaces. Here are some reasons why designing with 3D design models provides much more value compared to simple 2D plan drawings. Figure 1 – 3D Deck & Patio Layout
Elevation Changes and Heights of Plant Material
We do all of our designing to scale with your property. When we do the drawings, we can make sure that each element of the design will fit precisely into the space you have. This helps prevent getting a plant that is too big for the space or missing areas where retaining walls may be necessary for the design.
Figure 2 – Plan View Design Drawing
Designs Are Clearer
In larger-scale hardscape projects, there are often a lot of details that can not be easily communicated in a plan view drawing. Line drawings may be hard for our clients to understand and visualize how the finished product will look. With a 3D design, you can see exactly what each view of the landscape will look like. Seeing a realistic view of the design helps our design team figure out the details and show our clients how everything will look in much greater detail and help them to see the vision we have for their spaces.
Figure 3 – 3D image of Same Design
Saves Time with Improved Communication
A clear 3D design gives both the clients and the Blue Crew a good idea of how details are intended to look. Our team can see what plants, stones, and pavers will work best in the design, and we can choose the most appropriate materials to fit the project. The installers can see every elevation, paver color, and future plant size, to help make the construction phase much more efficient for the customer. This helps avoid questions and changes mid-stream during the construction process, which can really put a strain on the production process. When installers have to switch materials and re-order, there can be significant delays in the process. There will also be change orders that add to the cost of the project and sometimes even tear out work that has already been completed because the vision was not clarified enough in the design phase.
Keeps Track of Versions
Have you ever made a list, then revised it several times, only to be confused as to which of the revisions is the latest one? 3D designs automatically keep track of which version a particular design is, so that never happens to us. We know which version you have approved and will not accidentally use an older version. In addition, each time the design is updated, the list of materials needed is automatically updated, so we don’t order anything you don’t need or fail to order needed materials. This keeps the installation process running smoothly.
Figure 4 – 3D Curb Appeal Design
Easy Add-Ons & Outdoor Lighting
Once we have a 3D model of your landscape, we can easily go back to that model and add on new projects. We have a record of the exact stones, cement, pavers, and other materials used, so it is easy to match materials in new additions. There is no guessing about matches or problems with the older components not matching the newer ones. The most common add-on to our designs is outdoor lighting. If we invest in the time to build the 3D Model, then we can quickly add lights into the plan to help both the client and installers see the intent of the project. This is a very powerful tool to portray the vision, as it virtually impossible to show what the lights will look like at night without actually installing a demo which can be costly and time-consuming.
Figure 5 – 3D Curb Appeal with Lights
Permitting and HOA Reviews
Often times we work in neighborhoods that will have a design review committee that must approve your design before work can begin. There are also certain types of projects that will require a city permit for building as well as inspections during the project. When 3D images are included with the plan, these committees can easily see exactly what is planned for the project. This can eliminate a lot of back-and-forth questions as well as speed up the approval process.
Figure 6 – Swimming Pool Memorial Design
Let Us Help You Visualize your Space with a 3D Design
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can create a 3D design of your landscape. Right now, we are busy designing landscapes and scheduling installations for this spring. We are beginning to fill up our Spring install calendar. Schedule a consultation with us today to get your landscape design in the queue and begin the process of envisioning a space for your family to spend time together outdoors.
Composting is the process of using microbes to break down organic matter into a rich, fertile, humus. This composted material, referred to as compost can then be used to enrich your landscape and encourage your plants to grow.
Organic Matter
Compost adds organic matter to the soil. This organic matter becomes fertilizer for the plants around it. In addition, mixing compost into the soil makes room for water to trickle in and soak the soil instead of running off. Adding organic matter to the soil each spring keeps it fertile and loose.
Aeration
Compost also helps aerate the soil. The irregularly shaped particles make space for air and keep the soil from compacting. Roots need oxygen to grow, and adding organic matter makes sure there is enough oxygen in the soil for the roots. Compacted soil, on the other hand, doesn’t have many spaces for air to penetrate.
pH
The pH of finished compost is usually between 6-8. The “finished” is important. Compost that is unfinished can adversely affect your plants. How do you tell if compost is finished? Grab a handful of it. There should be a uniform brown color and no lumps. It should smell like good earth. If you can see a leaf fragment or piece of manure, the compost is not finished. If the compost has an unpleasant smell, it is not finished.
How to Use Compost
Compost can be used in two ways. When first developing a landscape bed, you should till the soil to a depth of twelve inches. Layer three inches of compost on top of the soil. Mix the compost throughout the tilled soil. Now you have rich, aerated soil full of organic matter.
If your landscape bed is older, with plants already in it, you can top-dress the soil with compost. Layer about an inch of compost over the soil in the landscape bed in the early spring. Cover this with three inches of mulch. The compost acts like a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer. You can top-dress turf grass with an inch of compost if you then rake the grass with a leaf rake to make the compost fall to the ground.
How To Make Your Own Compost
Making compost is not hard. You are essentially farming microbes that will turn your food and yard waste into rich organic matter. The best way to make compost involves a three-bin system. Make three bins with the front open. In the first bin goes the raw food and yard waste. Once a month, you turn the contents of the second bin into the third bin. You then turn the contents of the first bin into the second bin. The third bin should contain the finished compost after three months. Each compost pile should be between three and five cubic feet. Smaller piles do not have the mass to stay warm and larger piles do not have enough air for the microbes.
Recipe for Compost
The best compost piles come from a simple recipe. You want browns and greens plus moisture. Browns (carbon sources) are dry leaves, wood chips, straw, hay, newspaper, and sawdust. Greens (nitrogen sources) are grass clippings, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable waste, fresh hay, manure, and seaweed. Do not compost meats, oils, and bones, as they will attract rodents and other vermin to your pile.
Pile 3-4 inches of hedge trimmings and branches that are roughly chopped to allow air to circulate around the base of the pile.
Pile 6-8 inches of mixed browns and greens.
Pile one inch of dirt to inoculate the pile with microorganisms.
Add 2-3 inches of manure or one pound of urea fertilizer per yard of the pile.
Repeat steps one through four until the pile is big enough to compost.
We Can Help
Making a compost bin and composting your waste can take time. Turning and spreading the compost can also be labor intensive. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can help. We develop landscape beds and mix in compost, so you do not have to. We even provide the compost, made where it gets hot enough to sterilize any weed seeds or pathogens in the pile. Our Garden Care Team will also come out in the spring and top dress your landscape with compost, then mulch, to keep your plants growing well and your landscape looking sharp. Contact us today to schedule our services.
December is the time of the year that many people decorate their houses and outdoor living spaces for the holidays. We love decorating for the holidays and have some suggestions for what you can do.
Lights
Lights really brighten up the outdoors this season. There are two ways you can go with holiday lights: temporary lights and changing your permanent lights to suit the season.
Temporary lights can be very energy efficient if they use low-voltage LED lights. These can be plugged into a photovoltaic cell that automatically turns them on at dusk and off at dawn. You can also use a timer to turn the lights on and off, but you will have to adjust the timer as the season progresses, and it gets dark earlier and light later. Of course, temporary lights have to be installed and removed, which means someone gets to climb on a ladder.
If you have a low-voltage LED light system to light your yard, you can probably change the colors of the lights to be more seasonal. You simply adjust the color on your smartphone, and voila, you have holiday lights. You can read more about automatic low-voltage LED light systems in our previous post on them.
Christmas Planter Pots
Christmas plants can if chosen carefully, brighten up the outdoor living area. Putting pots on wheels makes it easier to move them around for your holiday parties. If you have heating, your poinsettias can make a statement in a large pot. You can also use Christmas cacti, which bloom starting a few weeks before Christmas for about six weeks. Neither of these plants are cold hardy. They need to be in a warm environment.
Holly is relatively hardy and has bright red berries. Place holly shrubs near your doorway to greet your guests. These can be inground permanent shrubs or container shrubs brought in just for the holidays. If you plant them in a container, it helps to have the container on wheels so you can move it after the holidays.
We also like to include items like white birch branches, pinecones, and large ornaments to “spruce” up our winter arrangements for our clients.
Wreaths
Another use for holly is to make a seasonal wreath. Many people also use grape vines or willow branches. You can weave the green foliage into a wreath shape and tie it to keep the wreath together. Adding holiday decorations such as Christmas tree balls and lights will make the wreath stand out. Using evergreen boughs can add a nice smell to your wreath. Many people decorate with mistletoe but be careful because the berries are poisonous and may pose a hazard to children and pets.
Christmas Figures
There are a wide variety of Christmas nativity scenes, from tabletop versions to life-size versions for the yard. These can be placed in the backyard for private viewing or in the front yard for everyone to see. Of course, you will want to install temporary low-voltage LED lights to light the nativity scene in the yard. More details on such a system are mentioned above.
Winter Seasonal Figures
Driving around Kansas City, I see lots of inflatable Santas, reindeer, snowmen, and other winter figures. If you want to use these, be sure to anchor them well, so winter storms don’t send them bounding down the road. You will also want to light these figures so everyone can enjoy them. There are a wide variety of these figures available from big box stores.
Happy Holidays
We at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping want to wish you Happy Holidays. We hope you get to enjoy some time with your family decorating and making your winter wonderland a special place together. If you need help with any projects, please don’t hesitate to reach out, We do installations of hardscapes, patios, and lights during the winter, and design many other projects for implementation in the spring. Schedule a consultation today, so we can help you design a landscape that meets your needs.
You might think that since Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping is a landscape design and construction company that winter is our down season. We actually do keep busy in the winter. In fact, we are running the following special for winter.
From now through Dec. 15th, any new installation contracts will receive a 5% discount if the contract is signed by the 15th. Any new design contracts will receive a 25% discount through Dec 15th. Use discount code “Winter Work” when you schedule your consultation.
Here are some of the types of projects that we work on in the winter.
Hardscape Installs
Winter is a good time to install hardscapes. As long as we have dug out the foundation before the ground freezes, we can still build retaining walls and paver patios in the off-season. These are items that do not require pouring concrete, so as long as it is warm enough for the Blue Crew to work, we can do it. Most of our hardscape installations are considered a flexible installation and are set on a base of open-graded aggregate. We have found that this method works best for drainage, compaction, and settling. If the temperature is above freezing for several days, we can even pour concrete for patios, sidewalks, and bases to set stone on.
Landscape Lighting
Landscape lighting is another activity that is not dependent on warm temperatures. As long as we have dug the ditches for the wires before it freezes, we can put in lighting wherever you want it. For some great ideas for what type of lighting to put in, see our articles on lighting innovations for 2022 and automatic low-voltage LED lighting systems.
If you have an existing lighting system, now is a great time to update it. We can swap out fixtures, re-aim lights, and add more lighting fixtures to your outdoor living area. Since the sun sets so early, you can really see the areas that need more light or other help.
Planning Projects for Spring
Everyone thinks of new projects in spring when the growing season starts. However, new projects take time to plan, and our spring schedule fills up quickly with overflow from the previous year’s projects and the rush of new projects that come in with warmer weather. We typically can get booked out between 8-12 weeks once spring arrives. Now is one of the best times to plan a new project. In addition to having time to think about what new features you want and work with us to design them, planning now lets you schedule yourself on our project calendar. The sooner you do that, the sooner we can build your new features. Our project calendar is already filling up, so contact us to get an early slot.
Remember to claim your discount of 5% for new installation contracts or 25% discount for new design contracts through Dec 15th. Please share with friends or family who may be interested in sprucing up their property. Use discount code “Winter Work” when you schedule your consultation.
Recently, some clients have inquired about why Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping quotes for landscape design and installation are higher than our competitors. Here are some reasons why we provide more value.
Experienced Team
Our company’s founder Andrew L. Wright (Andy), has 25 years of experience in designing and building residential landscapes of all shapes and sizes. He has a degree in Landscape Architecture and is a Certified Landscape Professional and Licensed General Contractor while also certified for paver and wall installation from the ICPI and NCMA. Andy not only has the education but also has spent half of his career in the field, gaining first-hand real-world experience of what works best for installation techniques and design considerations.
Our field construction manager, Henry Thompson, has 30 years of experience in construction, specializing in residential landscape projects. Henry leads the field operations and is responsible for quality control. He helps train our staff and manage the projects. Henry is continually communicating with the customers and checking on details of the installations while supporting our field staff.
We also have a full-time office manager, Tammy Panarisi, who is responsible for all the behind-the-scenes action keeping track of the details of accounting, human resources, fleet management, material procurement, customer service, and a whole lot more.
In addition, our firm has completed over 1,000 successful landscape projects in the last 10 years. Ask yourself this question, “Do I want someone to learn what to do while working on my landscape project, or do I want someone who has done this 1,000 times before?”
Good Business Practices
We follow good business practices. We are a licensed general contractor, and we work with specialized subcontractors such as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians who are also licensed in their fields. If we are not licensed to do something, our employees will not do it. We will contact the proper professional to take care of the task. Not every company is as scrupulous as we are.
We are fully insured. This means that if someone gets hurt on the job, materials are defective, any property is damaged, or anything else happens while we are working on your job, we have the insurance to cover it. Not every landscape company can say that because such insurance can be expensive, and they are competing on price and not value. We care enough to invest in the proper insurance to protect our clients, our workers, and our company.
Taking Care of Our Employees
Our employees speak English and are legally allowed to work in the United States. We pay top-of-the-market wages to attract the top talent and create a strong team that embodies our C.R.O.W.N. values of Communication priority, Respectful attitude, Ownership mentality, Willingness to serve, and Never-ending pursuit of our potential. In return, we give our employees a clear career path and pay for continuing education, health insurance, retirement benefits, a first-time home buyers program, and profit sharing. We don’t exploit people because we don’t want to be exploited.
Quality Materials and Professional Construction Techniques
Many times, clients compare our proposals to those of competitors without realizing they are different in scope. Because of our experience, our proposals are often much more comprehensive than our competition. We consider the details upfront and minimize extra work to be completed after we leave or unexpected change orders to come up in the middle of the project. We often use better materials and construction techniques to provide a higher quality product to last longer and lower maintenance. Sometimes, those construction methods can be fairly complicated to achieve the desired results. We strive to present a final product that includes all the details to make your new outdoor space livable and ready to use. Not every company offers a full-service landscape design/ build concierge service as a general contractor who can handle any outdoor design/build project from start to finish.
Relationships
Our commitment to our customers is to provide an excellent customer experience throughout the process of your design/build project. We will have your best interest in mind and act as a steward of your resources throughout the project. Oftentimes we have to consider alternative solutions and work through value engineering of the master plan to get to the appropriate solution for our clients and their budgets. We work through the design/build process, and we develop an enduring relationship with our customers that lasts far beyond the design and building phase of the project.
Throughout the design process, we provide value to our clients by not only creating design plans for their property but also helping them through the material selection process. We often even hand-pick materials with our customers at the stone yard or plant nursery.
We keep our clients informed throughout the stages of the project with estimated timelines and e-mail updates as we work through the process of design, construction, and maintenance. If the timeline changes, we will promptly send updates. We are always here and happy to answer questions not only during the design and build but also any time after it is finished. We help many of our clients with continual specialized maintenance and implementing additional phases of the master plan over time.
Compare Apples to Apples
Our experience, business practices, employee care, better materials, and better construction techniques all go into our proposals. Sometimes that means they look more expensive than our competitors. However, if you break them down, you will see we give you much more for the price. As a homeowner, there can be a lot of risk in hiring the least expensive service provider. Our passion, expertise, and core values of our team are worth the investment.
