In July 2018 Details Landscape Art, an east Santa Rosa landscaper, was called by a homeowner who had seen our work in the neighborhood. At our first meeting with the young couple and their small children, I was immediately impressed with how nice they were, and how easy they would be to work with.
We are constantly getting calls from people who have seen our work, either on our website or in person, and try to meet with everybody. Our primary criteria in deciding which projects to accept is how nice the people are. As an east Santa Rosa landscaper, we are fortunate in being able to be selective.
This project, however, had many issues to resolve, and was definitely going to be a challenge. There was a substantial amount of demolition to be done, and the homeowner wanted to take on as much as he could possibly handle. The problem was, he and his wife had full time jobs, and were only available to work on the demolition Saturdays and Sundays.
There was invasive Bermuda grass to be eradicated. There was an old rotting deck and arbor to be dismantled. There was a giant liquidamber tree (one of the messiest trees of all, dropping spiny balls). Additionally there was a mature curly willow tree, two large privet shrubs, and two very large old tree stumps. We knew an arborist would be required to remove these trees and grind the roots. But before the arborist could be called, the yard was filled with pots, statuettes, bricks lying around, paver squares, and wall to wall bark and landscape fabric, all of which needed to be removed first. The homeowner had a lot on his plate before we could even begin.
He needed an east Santa Rosa landscaper to design and build his yard once the demolition was done. So we agreed to draw a design
and wait a few months before scheduling the work. As part of the design process, the owners wanted several elements to be included: a patio, a place for a hot tub, an area for a play structure for the kids, a spot for their barbecue, and hopefully somewhere to place a garden shed. And all these elements had to be identified (if not purchased), so that we knew the dimensions of these elements for the design. This all required the homeowners to go shopping for a hot tub, a shed, etc. in addition to the demolition time needed on the weekends.
So the challenge for us on this project was waiting for the homeowners to get ready for us. Fortunately we were backlogged with plenty of work, and were able to be patient. The process was slow, and we had to stop by frequently to check on the progress. Upon removing the deck/arbor they discovered an old cracked concrete patio underneath, and they asked us to take on the jackhammering and removal of this pad.
Eventually all these demolition projects were completed, all the garbage was hauled away, and Details Landscape Art, an east Santa Rosa landscape contractor was able to install a beautiful garden for these lovely people in October 2018.