An Experience Tailored to Fit Your Needs
We see outdoor spaces as an extension of your home and an opportunity to project your lifestyle into the outdoors. As an in-house Gabriel Builders department, Landscape Design is seamlessly integrated with the overall design and build of your custom home. Through the entire design process, we work to balance your aesthetic preferences with practical considerations such as grading, retaining, drainage, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, plant materials, and budget.
Determining the location and orientation of your home on your lot sets the stage for many of the site and landscape design decisions. Capturing available views is a primary factor affecting house placement, along with practical considerations of existing topography and septic system requirements. Our expert home-siting can prevent unnecessary site costs and keeps your project moving forward without repositioning delays.
Many of our clients seek to build on properties with moderate to steep topography, eliciting the particular considerations of grading and retaining walls early in the design process. While grading solutions are generally more cost-effective than retaining walls, often times the extents of grading must be limited in order to preserve existing trees, native shrubbery, and natural features of the land. Retaining walls then become helpful in confining the site disturbance to acceptable limits, while also presenting many opportunities for interesting focal points in the landscape. We employ this method to find the right solution for each project.
A landscape without purposeful spatial definition and structure is, at best, a cultivation of plants. That’s why, before we begin landscape design, we first determine the function, shape, and arrangement of its outdoor spaces in order to support how you live inside and outside of your home. Perhaps there is an opportunity for an outdoor dining terrace or an overlook which places you closer to a breathtaking view. We consider how you will move around your property, capitalizing on opportunities for natural discovery.
We know that most drainage issues can be prevented by thorough site analysis and proper design, so we take care to grade and drain your property using methods that protect your home from water intrusion and your landscape from improper hydration. Erosion control is a top priority, and we employ a variety of best practices to stabilize the soil on your site and foster healthy plant growth.
Our region boasts an expansive palette of plant materials, and we recognize that each client’s tastes are different. In order for us to make the proper plant selections for your plan, we like to start the process by reviewing options with you, whether in person at a local nursery, or via a video conference call. Many of our clients create their own list of desired or taboo plant selections, which we appreciate and incorporate gladly!
Our Director of Landscape Design, David Van De Water, works integrally with all aspects of Gabriel Builders to create beautiful solutions that enhance the overall design of your home. From the very beginning of a project, David is on site for site analysis, involved with the residential design meetings, and participating in interior design conversations. It goes without saying, a collaborative team environment comes with clearer communication. Along with beautiful and seamlessly-integrated landscape designs, our turn-key in-house services have a positive impact on your schedule and budget.
