A spacious, semi-circular patio anchors the outdoor living area at this residence in Ocala, Fla. Low profile, LED lights from Kichler were installed under the wall caps and the steps' treads. Their Radiax floods illuminate the Sylvester date palm and other portions of the landscape. The lanterns on the columns were purchased by the homeowners but the landscape crew converted the lights to 12-volt LEDs. Glass beads fill the center of the fire pit, which has a gas fire ring from RH Peterson.

The covered patio was built from six-by-six, pressure-treated pine posts. All the wood was stained a honey color. The roof is metal but to cover the surface underneath and to convey a Tiki feel, the purlins were capped with half-bamboo, and bamboo thatch was installed in between them. The entire structure was built by Anderson and his team. Boxwoods are planted in black mulch on the backside of the kitchen.

Sierra-colored Mega Olde Towne pavers from Keystone were used in the patio. They came "tumbled," a process that creates a rustic and aged appearance. The seatwalls, retaining walls and columns throughout were built with Stonegate blocks in a Sierra tone and Universal caps of simulated granite. All the hardscape materials were manufactured by Tremron, the local supplier.

The kitchen includes (from left to right) a Pitco deep fryer, a Firemagic barbecue that is a four-burner gas grill on one side and a charcoal grill on the other, a Firemagic ice machine, a Blaze refrigerator, and a True kegerator. A bamboo fan with lights and Kichler pendant fixtures illuminate the area.

When Bill Anderson, who had started in landscaping as a teenager, and his cousin Jason Lyons moved from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to the central Florida town of Ocala where they already had a tree farm and wanted to start a landscaping business, they found that something important was missing – the convenience that they had grown used to of easily finding materials for jobs they landed.

"In South Florida, within a 2-square-mile radius I could buy all the materials I needed," says Anderson. "When I got up here, it would take a day to round them up."

His solution was to partner with his cousin and launch a store that was an all-around supplier for landscapers. That store, The Yard Stop, has been in business for five years and not only provides products to, and installation services for, the local residents and contractors, but also provides a basis for Anderson's and Lyons' busy landscape construction company called Yard Stop's Ultimate Outdoors.

"We do a lot of high-end residential landscaping," Anderson admits. "We fell into that niche and that's where we stay."

From Gainesville to Orlando, his company has installed hardscapes, landscapes, lighting, drainage, irrigation, covered structures, and water features.

Almost all of that came into play at a residence in Ocala that was the go-to spot for family and friends of the homeowner who wanted an outdoor living space to better entertain them.

Flexibility Required
Ultimate Outdoors ultimately provided that, but Anderson recalls a tentative beginning, as the day the work was to start, a change of overall design was warranted.

"Originally the project was really more contained in one area with an upper level planned," says Anderson. "I was standing up at about where the top deck was going to be and I noticed that you could see the neighbor's backyard very easily."

Besides the two Sylvester date palms, the landscapers planted Miami supreme gardenias, river birches, weeping bottlebrushes, dwarf bottlebrushes, lady palms, flax lilies, knockout roses, boxwoods, frost proof gardenias and liriope. In the planters is crimson rock.

The walkways and the two steps up to them are made of the same tumbled pavers as the patio. Granite-colored pavers were used for soldier courses and the steps' treads. which were secured with Liquid Nails adhesive.

They altered their plans and started laying the materials out on the ground. At that point, it seemed too congested so they quickly made some other adjustments and started building.

A spacious, semi-circular patio was constructed using Keystone's Mega Olde Towne pavers in Sierra with a soldier course in granite. Both came "tumbled," a process that creates a rustic and aged appearance.

A side patio, walkways and the two steps up to them, used the same materials. Seatwalls, retaining walls and columns throughout were built with Keystone's Stonegate blocks in Sierra and Universal caps in granite.

A circular fire pit on the main patio matches this look. Its gas fire ring is from RH Peterson. Glass beads fill the center. All the hardscape materials were manufactured by Tremron, the local Keystone supplier with several locations in Florida.

A Culinary Treat
Down another walkway, Ultimate Outdoors constructed a covered patio to house the kitchen. Two columns and the kitchen counter were built from the same materials as the walls. Six-by-six, pressure-treated pine posts support a metal roof. To cover the underneath metal surface and to convey a Tiki feel, the team capped the purlins with half-bamboo and installed bamboo thatch in between them. All the wood was stained a honey color. The entire structure was built by Anderson and his workers.

"I feel that's what separates us," he asserts. "We do everything from the grading to the drainage to the final product."

The kitchen is loaded up with a Pitco deep fryer, a Firemagic barbecue that is a four-burner gas grill on one side and a charcoal grill on the other, a Firemagic ice machine, a True kegerator, and a Blaze refrigerator that was selected for its superior outdoor rating. A bamboo fan with lights and Kichler pendant fixtures brighten the area.

Most of the lights throughout the backyard are the same brand. Low-profile, LED cap lights were installed under the wall caps and the steps' treads. Their Radiax floods illuminate the landscape. The lanterns on the columns were purchased by the homeowners but the landscape crew converted the lights to 12-volt LEDs.

Planting the Right Balance
"I've got big eyes for landscaping," admits Anderson.

But the homeowner did not so Anderson had to be resourceful to create a rich landscape while still satisfying these scaled-back expectations.

"What my customer wanted was lighter than I would usually do on a project of that size," he says.

Two Sylvester date palms flank the patio. Other trees include Miami supreme gardenias, river birches and weeping bottlebrushes. Dwarf bottlebrushes, lady palms, flax lilies, knockout roses, boxwoods, frost proof gardenias and liriope are some of the other plant selections. Later, a raised vegetable garden was added.

Ultimate Outdoors did everything on this job except run the gas lines to the kitchen and the fire pits – and they completed it in about four weeks – adding to their portfolio another example of why they, in Anderson's words, "got to be pretty well known in Ocala for doing really cool landscaping and hardscaping."