Design/Build Services: Tracking Trends

The design/build segment of the landscape contractor industry has always been highly demanding as far as meeting the customer’s expectations and digging for what is truly important to them.

Today, with a greater number of professional landscape firms vying for the high-end dollar, leading companies are noting trends in the market that are helping them anticipate the customer’s desires and giving them an edge over the competition.

Some leading design/build contractors provided insight into some of these market trends.

THE VISUAL THING. One of the keys to getting the client to sign off on a design is giving him/her a vision of what their landscape can become. In the highly competitive landscape contracting market, it can be difficult to provide a complete vision of a landscape in a short time frame.

Some design/build firms are gaining efficiencies by using computer aided design programs to a greater degree. Eric Keesen, executive vice president, Allen Keesen Landscape, Denver, Colo., said that by using such software the designers can work with a greater number of customers and more flexibility.

“There are always changes to the design, and the programs allow you to make changes so easily,” explained Keesen. “Before, the designers were drawing all the changes in by hand. It’s so competitive out there, you need to be able to react and make changes quickly.”

Matthew Stano, president, Stano Landscaping, Milwaukee, Wis., recently purchased a design imaging product. “Hopefully, it will help customers visualize and accept the design we are trying to provide,” Stano said. “And, hopefully, we’ll ultimately close more deals.”

Steve Coughlin, landscape architect, Barnes Nursery, Huron, Ohio, sees the trend and understands the benefit, but says he “hates to give up the individual touch. It’s a double edged sword, because (hand-drawn plans) do take a lot longer.”

Morris Newlin, president, New Garden Landscape, Greensboro, N.C., said the video imaging is appropriate for a percentage of the clientele, but he still maintains that the personal touch is critical to selling many of his clients.

New Garden has found success in selling and drawing client interest using an area of its retail garden center for demonstration gardens. The site contains eight fully landscaped “rooms” that depict different landscape schemes and uses of plant material. Clients are asked to come to the garden center for the second meeting, so the architect can show clients the plant material designated for their designs.

LOVELY TO LOOK AT. Every design/build contractor interviewed mentioned the ongoing emphasis on low maintenance landscapes. Busy working couples who are spending money want to enjoy the landscape, but they don’t want to spend a lot of time maintaining it.

“The number one trend continues to be low maintenance,” said Coughlin. “Customers have less and less time to maintain their properties, which is changing the selection of plant material and the way sites are prepared.”

“Most residential customers are looking for low maintenance in their landscapes,” admitted Stano. “But that can be tough to define. Usually, it means a diversity of color and a variation of plant material – especially perennials – and installation techniques such as using landscape fabric in beds (to reduce weed intrusion).”

“We wil include annuals into the mix on a limited basis for color,” Stano continued, “but we use perennials more extensively because we don’t have to replace them year after year and they provide seasonal color interest throuought the year.”

The use of perennials continues to be popular and challenges the designers trying to create the low maintenance design. Perennials present the classic “Catch 22” — they don’t need to be replaced each year but most can’t provide season-long color.

Stano said that mixing perennials and annuals to create seasonal color interest has made it possible to create distinctive gardens that are low maintenance.

“Everyone is looking for a lot of seasonal color, so we use a number of perennials and evergreens as part of our plans,” Newlin said.

Of course, using annuals is still a big item for many companies that design landscapes. Bill Davids, president, Clarence Davids & Co., Blue Island, Ill., said that annual color has been one of the strongest growth areas of the company, especially for commercial clients.

Davids also noted that company designers continue to favor turf as an element in the landscape. “Some companies have gotten away from turf and gone to wildflowers and native prairie, but nothing really ties the landscape together and is as functional as is turf,” noted Davids.

Another low maintenance consideration is the use of shrubs. Stano recommends and uses dwarf or slow growing conifers in plantings to reduce the amount of growth and pruning requirements. He also recommends using enduring plants for harsh sites, such as salt tolerant species near walkways and roadsides.

“The average lot size is also getting smaller, so smaller and lower-growing plant material is necessary,” Coughlin observed.

On sites where low maintenance may at some point mean no maintenance, such as some large commercial sites or remote areas, Stano has specified products such as root stimulants and polymers that hold water near the roots. After a year of what he believes has been successful use, he plans to continue to use these products in 1998.

“They are not inexpensive products to use, but when compared to the cost of replacing plant material under warranty, they pay for themselves if the plant survives,” Stano noted.

Coughlin said that Barnes Nursery has been educating its customers on the important benefits of proper soil preparation using organic amendments, as well as the use of mulches in beds.

The low maintenance trend has pushed along another commonly mentioned customer desire — the “naturalistic” garden design. “We’re seeing more and more prairie style landscapes instead of the areas of bluegrass we’ve seen over the years,” noted Keesen.

This also has meant more interest in drawing nature into the landscape, Coughlin said. “Customers are requesting more plants that look nice and attract nature, such as butterfly bush,” he noted.

HOLD THE WATER. Xeriscaping is a trend that hasn’t been a hot topic of discussion lately, but Keesen said is slowly picking up steam in Colorado. “Our capacity to supply water to this region is not going to improve in the future,” he stressed.

Many office parks and major corporate headquarters are planning now to save water for restrictions and higher costs that are surely around the corner. A renovated or replaced landscape needs to have the irrigation system evaluated and either updated or replaced to save water.

“Homeowners’ associations are especially interested in spending money now to have a system in place that will save them water expenses for the next 10 years,” said Keesen. “Generally, it’s installed in two or three phases to spread out the cost.”

“Irrigation is almost a must in 90 percent of the upscale residential clients in our area,” Newlin noted.