Residential Construction: Your Chance to Win Applause

By Erik Skindrud, regional editor

The pool is the centerpiece of this backyard retreat created by North Carolina’s Greenscape Inc. at a home in Chapel Hill, just east of Raleigh. The pool is lined with gunite. Chocolate-colored triple-shredded mulch holds the soil around the pool in place. Markas residence photos courtesy Greenscape Inc.

For this month’s Residential Issue, LCN checked in with two award-winning residential landscape contractors on opposite sides of the country. Greenscape Inc. of Holly Springs, North Carolina and R.A. Kirtley & Associates of San Jose, Calif. both do expert work, weaving stone, pavers and plant material with naturally-wooded surroundings to produce pleasing results. Greenscape and Kirtley also draw on experience and an ability to improvise to solve problems at tricky sites.

The Markas project at Governor’s Club in Chapel Hill started back in 2005. (Construction finished in November.) This is because the Architectural Review Board (ARB) requires that the landscape plan be submitted and approved by the board before any construction could start on the site. In addition, landscaping could not start until the house was dry walled and completely closed up. For Greenscape, careful planning and communication with the homeowner was required on all projects, often at least a year before the landscaping actually starts.

A view up the 160-ft. concrete driveway leading to the Markas home near Chapel Hill, N.C. The raised channel gutters on each side of the drive are due to stringent restrictions intended to prevent runoff. Community rules guided the landscape architect and contractor through each step of design and construction.

The Markas family wanted a place to call a retreat in the backyard that they could use for all four seasons. This was accomplished with the pool and patio protected from wind and the residents able to view the different plants blooming each season.

The project took five weeks with a crew of six men from start to finish. Attention to detail by the crew improved efficiency and knowledge of the job site. Weekly meetings with the homeowner, onsite project manager and the sales person also enabled Greenscape to address all problems and concerns before they became unresolveable issues. By working closely with the homeowner, Greenscape was able to satisfy all the needs of the client—and actually doubled the project size from its initial estimate.

Visible at the left of this photo is a natural stone swale designed to limit erosion of the hillside at left. Not visible here is a French drain that runs parallel to the concrete drive. The facts of erosion here were learned during construction, when a weekend storm washed away close to 60 cubic yards of backfill in this area.

The site had some serious issues; first there was only one entrance to the property. The driveway, it turned out, had one foot on each side to the property line. Second, the site had a 30-degree slope with large rock formation outcroppings and the fifth hole of the golf course hugging the back property line. Third, the driveway split the yard by 1/3 one side and 2/3 on the other.

Add on to this the requirement that work could only be done from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday due to homeowners association restrictions.

Emerald zoysia turfgrass helps form this retention basin at the hillside’s base. A drainpipe entrance is placed at the lawn’s low point; it leads to a 4-inch line that joins the main 8-inch NPS drainage network. The site’s red clay soil is vulnerable to erosion and required extensive erosion control measures.

With the limited access to the site, planting required Greenscape to plant the property from back to front. Trees and plants were completely installed in one section before moving to the next. Once a section was complete, there was no way to get back to it with backhoes or other heavy equipment.

The tight areas required the use of a compact Ditch Witch SX850 and a Takeuchi 130. The Ditch Witch had a backhoe and trencher attachment used for lighting and irrigation. With the Takeuchi 130 we used the boom attachment to move 600 lb. trees on a 30-degree slope.

A closeup of the hillside and its plantings, which include (from left) crepe myrtle, river birch, redbud and Japanese maple. The trees above are part of the native beech forest that surrounds the development. Stone for the retaining wall was collected on site.

While pouring the driveway, a gutter drain was set to prevent erosion from down-slope flow. Also, concrete pads were poured and the flagstone was veneered to prevent shifting. A laser level was used to insure pitch and drainage of pipe. All drainage had to go to one spot on the NW corner of the property in accordance with the board rules. Eight-inch smooth-wall pipe was used for drainage; this was required to move the volume of water displaced from the roof of the house.

The clay soil, of course, required the entire property to be amended. Work on this job took place in late July and early August, during several 100-degree-plus days.

A view to the home’s right, where the hillside slopes towards other properties. The lot’s drainage system has its outfall behind the tower seen here; the community association required another diversion swale at the outfall to prevent down-slope erosion.

The majority of the plant material came from the company’s own nursery. The turf was emerald zoysia grass, at the request of the homeowner.

Sub-contractors included James Conner Backflow and Alexander Concrete.

The loose-stone retaining wall at left was completed by the home’s general contractor. Built without a reinforcement system, the wall has since shown signs of movement, disappointing the landscaping team (Greenscape Inc. did not build this wall.)

By Robert Kirtley, R.A. Kirtley & Associates

California-based R.A. Kirtley & Associates created color and variety on this site, which is much drier than the forested hillside seen on the opposite page. The distinctive shape of a Himalayan Deodar cedar (left) marks the Morrical home approach. At left foreground is a newly-planted redbud; impatiens lend annual color to the bed at right. Photos courtesy Bob Kirtley

The first project is the Morrical residence in Atherton, near San Jose, Calif. We’re quite proud of this project, which won last year’s California Landscape Contractors Association —Bay Area Chapter Sweepstakes award for installation. Another project shown here, the Link residence, brought us a 1st Place for large residential maintenance. We include another, unnamed residence (the property owner is a bit publicity-shy) in neighboring Los Altos for review too.

The Morrical residence photos show the entry at the “main gate” and along the street side wall (we installed the planting, irrigation and rock with house numbers). The view at top, above, shows the front of the house from the double drive gate showing the lighting we installed, along with the trees, shrubs, pots, and flowers.

Kirtley’s crew filled this and other plantings with shrubs like camellia, daylily and cotoneaster, as seen here. An engraved boulder marks the address of this Atherton, Calif. home. The mortared ledgerstone wall was completed by the housing contractor. Red-leafed photinia peeks over the wall.

Another view shows the front corner of the house toward the street wall, again showing the lighting, pots, trees, shrubs, lawn and flowers we installed.

The home’s rear shows a portion of the back yard between the guesthouse and cabana with the tennis court in the background. Additionally, you can see the back yard with the guesthouse on the left and the cabana on the right with some of the pots and back lawns. A subcontractor completed the fountain. Another view angle shows the back of the house with the 36-inch boxed birch (‘jacquemontii’) and flowers and shrubs, and part of the lawn.

This back yard is part of the Morrical residence job that took the 2006 Sweepstakes award from the California Landscape Contractor’s Association’s Bay Area chapter. Careful soil prep ensured the health of this lawn—a 90-10 ryegrass–bluegrass blend.

The Link residence views show the extensive back lawn area. The owner wanted plenty of room to play with his children and to install a 25×50-ft. pool in the future. The lawn extends beyond the flowering cherry tree divider. The total lawn area is over 17,000 square feet. Please note that the ground cover on the left side is Cotoneaster dammeri ‘Lowfast,’ and the ground cover in the flowering cherry area is star jasmine. The cotoneaster is kept in a manicured fashion as well as the jasmine.

This home is in an open area, and quite susceptible to grazing by the local deer. This is a big problem in the area, one solved in the back yard by fencing. For the front yard, tedious trial-and-error eventually produced a short list of deer-resistant plantings. This is tricky, we learned, because deer in different areas have different feeding preferences.

Annual snapdragons with yellow blooms line the bed around a back yard window at the Morrical home. Dwarf pittosporum and dwarf escallonia complete the bed planting. The trunks of white birch (Betula utilis ‘Jacquemonti’) add interest along the fence at right.

Another view shows the lower portion of the back lawn, with the jasmine groundcover and cherry trees. The backyard also has a manicured cotoneaster groundcover in the back lawn. Note the separation of ground covers in the back yard as well as maintaining clearance around the valve boxes, so that irrigation maintenance can occur. The final angle (not shown here) shows the front of the hose from the opposite side with the boxwood hedges and star jasmine on the slope, and the cotoneaster on the opposite side of the steps.

The team installed the project as well in 2000, and have maintained it since.

An irrigation valve cover can be seen in this view taken along the Link property line border. Spray nozzles on risers ensure even watering along the shrub line. The rear yard is completely enclosed to protect plantings from hungry deer that inhabit the area; a portion of black, vinyl-coated chain-link fence is at left.

The next set of photos is from the Los Altos residence. We installed this project in 2003, and were responsible for the demolition, clean up of construction debris, soil preparation, grading, low voltage lighting, patio arbor with lights, barbeque center, bocce ball court, “tee” arbor with lights, interlocking-paver drive, planting and irrigation.

The view on page 46 here shows the back yard looking back toward the house with one side of a double-sided row of 36” boxed Lagerstromea indica. The arbor and patio area are also visible along with the rose garden on the right side. The next photo shows the bocce ball court and arbor (with its lights).

Charcoal-tan Old Towne Cobble stone makes up the circular approach to the Link home. A jacaranda is planted at the center of the circle. A number of native coast live oaks were retained at the property.

The backyard has a custom arbor (with lights centered on the cross beams) and a barbeque center and flower pots that the owners had us install after construction was completed.

(Otherwise, we would have provided irrigation and drainage for these pots as an integrated part of the patio-which was completed by the general contractor.)

A gingko tree (‘Autumn Gold’) peeks into this view of a 2003 Kirtley project in Los Altos, Calif. Note the tree’s extensive shadow on the lawn; the landscape contractor has had good luck with a shade-tolerant mix of ryegrass and bluegrass.

The barbeque center has stucco finish, stainless steel doors, and a granite counter top with a sink. The counter top is cantilevered some 16-inches beyond the support base. This created a problem for us to support the structure without causing possible staining. A wagon-wheel-like support structure was custom made from stainless steel to support the granite.

R.A. Kirtley & Associates, Inc. provides an integrated landscape experience for its clients.

This bocce ball court at Los Altos, Calif. is topped with two inches of decomposed granite and a dusting of crushed oyster shell—which lightens the tone. Low-voltage downlighting placed on the arbor at left lets residents use the court after the sun sets.

The company utilizes its broad range of experience and resources to complete entire landscape projects from the ground up. The combination of its construction and maintenance divisions enables close attention to the proper development details of the landscape, resulting in the client’s maximum enjoyment of the garden. R.A. Kirtley & Associates also provides maintenance services for residential contractors who don’t have a maintenance division, but want to have well maintained projects for future references.

After receiving a CCN designation by the California Nurseryman’s Association, Robert moved to the wholesale nursery industry. In subsequent years, he deepened and broadened his industry and customer service experience by holding positions as a Sales Manager at two large wholesale nurseries, managing the maintenance division of a large commercial landscape contractor and in roles as Sales Manager and Marketing Director at a large commercial maintenance firm.

Japanese boxwood lines the formal rose garden at the Los Altos residence. Dwarf Alberta spruce pruned into a spiral shape is just visible between the foliage at extreme right in this view.

Kirtley says he feels blessed to have worked with some of the great names in the horticultural field across the country. It is the generosity of these people that has given him deep knowledge and a passion for the landscape profession and industry.

Kirtley’s father’s words always stuck with him: “Do good work, and you’ll always be busy.” It is, after all, the reaction of the client, and their excitement for the project that is the real payoff.