At Peer Landscaping one of our favorite kinds of projects is when we get hired to do a large-scale landscape installation. We love to have a blank slate to create a new and exciting look for your yard. Once you’ve signed the contract, the real work begins on both of our parts. A landscape installation takes time and can be messy. While on our end we will be creating a plan and a timeline, there are certain things you can do on your end to ensure your project goes smoothly and is completed on time and on budget. Once we give you a solid date to begin your project, you should follow this plan starting at least 3 to 7 days before installation begins. Taking these early steps will make everything easier on you and on our crew.
Discontinue All Lawn Treatments
This is something you need to do at least two weeks prior to installation. When we are both excavating and installing your new landscape, our crew is down on the ground digging through the soil and touching your plants. The herbicides and pesticides used in fertilizer, pest control, and weed control applications are poisonous. It takes at least two weeks for these products to disintegrate, and be washed away by rain, making them less harmful to our landscaping crew.
Identify Underground Utilities and Irrigation
Most major utility lines like the main plumbing and sewage lines are far enough underground that they won’t interfere with our landscaping excavation, but cable lines, internet connections, and phone lines are a different story, and are usually only a few inches under the ground and are not encased in a protective pipe. All landscape installation requires digging, so if you know where they are, please mark them for us, or one week prior to installation, plan to have your underground utility lines marked by the utility companies. It is usually a free service.
Clean Up, Clear Up, Pack Up
Before we begin your landscape installation, you’ll want to go through your yard and remove any obstacles that are in the areas that are to be landscaped. Some examples include large potted plants, bird baths, playground equipment, or statuary. Get rid of anything that won’t be used in the new design, and put away anything that has personal value to you. Move potted plants so they won’t be damaged. If you can’t move it, or don’t have a safe spot for it, simply let the work crew know about it and ask them to take extra care. It is important that our crew has clear access to the work area for fast installation.
Stop Irrigation Prior to Install
One of the first steps our landscaping crew will likely do is excavate soil and grass from the proposed area to be able to create a new garden, lay new sod, or dig to install hardscape elements. Wet dirt and sod is much heavier, approximately three times the weight of dry dirt, making it much more difficult and time consuming to remove. Dry sod can be removed quickly in nice even sheets. We request that you stop irrigating or watering your lawn three to four days prior to our install date, to ensure our timeline.
Mow the Yard
Just as a wet lawn will slow the progress of your landscaping project, an overgrown lawn means our team has to take extra time with it. We don’t bring lawn mowing equipment or trimmers with us for an install. So please be sure your lawn is not overgrown. Keep your regular mowing schedule in the weeks before your install.
Remove Mosquito Systems and Dog Fences
Both mosquito systems and dog fences have lines that run just under the soil line making them easily pierced with the shovels or spades we use for excavating. Mosquito control systems include lines and heads, as well as the pesticides that are in the lines. Prior to installation we request that you drain the system and remove all heads and lines from the area designated for installation.
Make a Plan to Ensure Safety
Here is where you want to think about your everyday use of your yard. Do you have children and pets that typically play outside in the yard all day? During our installation, your yard is essentially a construction site with all kinds of equipment and other dangers. It’s not a good combination with children or pets. So please plan your everyday life around the fact that they will not be able to go out into the yard as usually. Plan on using a different exit and entrance into the house. Plan to take children and pets to a nearby park instead. We don’t want either your pets or your children getting hurt, or unintentionally damaging the ongoing work we are doing for you. The new plants we put in will be fragile and need some time to establish themselves in their new location. Do your best to keep pets and children away from them for a few weeks after they are planted.
Create a Staging Area
In a large install, we may have to start dropping off the materials for the project before we begin the installation. Let our crew know where in the yard you would like designated as a staging area to store all of these materials so they will be available to the crew to use, while being safely out of your way, in a place where they won’t be stolen or broken.