Completing a partly finished landscape in Papillion

The landscape at this home in Papillion was partly finished when we got there, so we wrote the proposal around what was already in the ground. The job ran from early to late September in phases, each scoped for a 3-man crew.

What was there and what came out

There was river rock in areas the revised plan changed, old edging that conflicted with the new layout, and an unfinished flagstone path right where the new paver walkway would go. All of it came out, along with old landscape fabric and debris as needed, in a demolition phase scoped at 1 day.

Compact equipment handled the rock removal and loading. The proposal offered to stack usable flagstone on site for the homeowner. Everything else was hauled off, and we rough graded the disturbed ground for the new work.

New beds and drainage

We reshaped the beds across the front, west side, east side, rear and fence line to the approved design. Approximately 270 linear feet of Sawn Aqua Black stone edging runs through the main landscape, including the front tree bed.

The buried corrugated drainage came out or was abandoned where necessary. Now 5 downspouts and the sump pump discharge tie into new 4-inch solid PVC, routed to discharge points with fittings and pop-up emitters where they apply. We check where that water goes because clay soil in eastern Nebraska holds water and shifts.

Landscape fabric went down under the rock areas, and approximately 7.5 tons of Zebra Stripe decorative rock went on top. In the west-side bed we set 3 large Black Obsidian accent boulders.

Out front, the old ring around the existing tree became a square bed, edged with two courses of Aqua Black stone on a leveled base, the upper course adhered where needed.

Planting and transplanting

Viable plants from the front beds moved into the west-side foundation bed, placed on site by condition and mature spacing and layered in with new plants.

The plant list, with room for minor substitutions based on nursery availability, called for 6 Annabelle and 3 Limelight hydrangeas, five 7-foot Taylor junipers, 2 large lilacs on standard, 3 California lilacs, 1 PJM rhododendron, 7 feather reed grass, 4 flame grass, 3 blue fescue, 5 purple salvia, 2 Russian sage, and 5 each of Lime Marmalade and Wild Rose coral bells.

In the backyard, a new Ginkgo replaced the existing tree. Along the rear fence we redefined the herb garden area, edged it in Aqua Black, built a modest berm with fresh topsoil and left it bare for the homeowner to plant. From the beds and drainage to the Ginkgo, the main phase was scoped at approximately 5.5 days.

This job's proposal says new plant material includes a 1-year limited plant warranty with proper watering and care. The transplants are not covered, and neither is anything the homeowner plants in the herb garden.

The wall, the pad and the walkway

Eastern Nebraska's freeze thaw cycle lifts walls and pavers that were built poorly, so ask whoever builds yours what goes underneath. On this job the wall, the pad and the walkway each start on a compacted base.

Beside the garage, we rebuilt and graded the trash-can area into a level service area with approximately 27 linear feet of retaining wall, its block and cap matched as closely as reasonably available to the existing wall out front on the west side. It tapers with the grade, with an expected exposed height of approximately 1 to 2 feet at most.

The wall sits on compacted aggregate base with drainage stone and proper backfill. The approximately 4 by 12 foot pad is Belgard Origins 12 pavers in Cheswick on compacted paver base and a bedding layer, finished with polymeric sand. The wall and pad were scoped at 1.5 days.

The walkway runs straight from the existing rear patio toward the street, approximately 6.5 by 35 feet of the same pavers, and the plan carried it past the public sidewalk to the curb for direct street access. It sits on 5 tons of compacted aggregate base and 1 ton of bedding sand, with edge restraint where required and 6 bags of polymeric sand compacted into the surface. The proposal allowed 2 days for the walkway.

What made this job bigger or smaller

Taking out the earlier work made this job bigger. It took a phase of its own, with haul-off and disposal included. Drainage pricing assumed standard trenching conditions and workable discharge locations, so harder digging or a poor place to let the water out can change it.

A partly finished yard can also hide things. The proposal names hidden debris, excessive existing rock depth, unsuitable soils and other unforeseen conditions from the previous installation as possible additional work. It also says any work outside the listed scope gets discussed and approved before we proceed.

Reusing the viable front plants to help fill the west-side bed, and leaving the herb garden bare for the homeowner to plant, kept the job smaller.

If your yard was started and never finished

Call us and Hunter will come out and see it himself before any proposal gets written. Point out everything that was started, down to any buried drainage and how deep the old rock goes.