By Vic LeBlanc

(Photos courtesy of B&G Landscape Design)

New Jersey-based B&G Landscape Design (www.bglandscapearchitects.com), in owner Bill Vecchione's words, is "not a landscaper company but a full-service design builder firm -- think of what we do as kind of like an 'Xtreme makeover.'"

If you are in the market for such a set of services, he points out, his "one-stop" approach will not only provide a perfectly integrated plan, it will also far and away become your most cost-efficient approach, allowing clients to save cash dollars or opt for what many of them decide: upgrading the plant. These days, he says, in his area of focus (primarily an hour's radius of Westfield, New Jersey, the summit area and environs, although he says B&G will travel just about anywhere for the "right" job), people who are moving up by staying in the same home -- or looking to add perhaps 20 percent to its resale value, are going for "the total makeover."

B&G Landscape Design owner Bill Vecchione.

He explains, "Say your house is worth $700,000 and you put in $100,000 worth of landscaping, that's considered 'cheap' today because you probably would also want to add an in-ground pool, brick coping along the edges, a heater and a cover. Concrete pools can run from $38,000 to a million dollars."

While basic landscape projects with his company generally range from $60,000 to $120,000, "every few years" Bill's company finds itself with a multi-million dollar project or three.

From the drawing board to the dirt

In his region, he says, "(Complete landscaping for) your basic house on a half-acre might be $140,000, and that includes hardscapes, irrigation, some low-voltage lighting."

From the drawing board to the dirt, Bill explains, "We design a client's project on paper and put a plan together as the first step. The second thing is the demolition to remove existing decks, sod, plant material, stone, and rocky soil.

"Then, we regrade the site according to the new design, which could include cut and fill, adding soil, wall systems, maybe natural boulder sets, or concrete block with brick or stone veneer, which we use to help save people maybe $30,000 to $40,000 to put into the rest of the project."

Next is the installation of the drainage system, including leaders to the street systems, and irrigation. Over and around this goes the hardscape surfaces; these might range from a paver drive and walkways, to patios, sometimes multi level, and all the walls.

Bill is quick to note that along with the engineering, design and build of the site and hardscapes, B&G provides top-notch landscape architect-rendered design plans. "We can do any kind of landscape design from formal with boxwood, to the true English naturalistic 'cottage gardens' and everything in between."

Doing what comes naturally

Waxing poetic, he explains, "Capability Brown, an English landscape architect designer in the mid 1800s fought against the standard French design such as that of the castle Versailles, because only nobility could afford that...and he said it's not what nature is all about.

"An English naturalistic garden, with its curvilinear lawn spaces and paths create an element of surprise, 'retreat' areas, and an organized garden without high-maintenance of topiary elements, cut edges, hedges, pea gravel, or fountains. Native and hybrid Rhodes, azaleas, perennials are used along borders to attract people in. Gazebos and screening materials such as hemlock are also examples. Brown used a landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll, who introduced color into his gardens through perennials and annuals. The true English naturalistic or 'cottage' garden is organized, not 'cute.'"

B&G trucks in enough loam topsoil to provide a 4-inch depth for lawns and 6 inches for planting beds, which are bermed up. After sprinkler systems go in, planting begins, with the larger specimens going in first.

"We use Kousa dogwoods because they are resistant to disease and fungus, magnolia stellata, a dwarf form that stays small and adds sculptural effect near seating areas," Bill says. Other plant materials of choice include river birch, hemlock, globosal blue spruce, Colorado blue spruce, American hornbeam, boxwoods, and hundreds of perennials, including ornamental grasses. After planting is done, mulching and sod work begins.

Statues, fountains, waterfalls and ponds, and landscape lighting are popular elements, he says, and built-in pools are getting to be a "must have" for many makeovers, along with privacy fencing.

The Landscape Architect's canvas

Bill, who has a five-year degree in his chosen field, has been in the landscaping industry for over 20 years. Experienced in large-scale commercial and city projects as well as residential work, he says it is the latter that provides him with a more pleasing canvas.

He readily admits, "If we have to explain what a Landscape Architect is, we're probably not for that person."

A typical design plan will run about $1,000 to $1,200 for a quarter-acre project and will include all construction back up details.

Clients are taken on a plant nursery tour to help determine the selection for the plant list and Bill takes the time to create custom color visuals of the design plan, foam board illustrations that he presents before any work begins.

Emerging trends he sees are requests for sun rooms and water elements, which he sees as ways to draw people closer into nature.

"When my brother-in-law comes over and looks at my pond -- he's a fisherman -- he sees the fish, but he connects because he feels he's in nature. We can create an Arizona or an Asian landscape; of course the more authentic it gets, (such as with the latter) getting into bamboo fences, raked sand, lakes, koi, bonsais, and Japanese ornamentals like maples and cherry blossoms gets very expensive."

A natural gift...

As a kid, Bill remembers always growing flowers, vegetable gardens, even re-landscaping his parents' lawn and garden, growing lawn from seed -- at the age of 8 -- foreshadowing a gift he calls "a real green thumb."

A clematis trellis, now mature, multi-color hostas, a specimen-sized Japanese maple over a pond, and a 20-foot bamboo screen are hallmarks of the landscape he created for himself almost 20 years ago, he notes.

Although B&G does not focus on weekly maintenance, Bill is glad to provide his clients' landscapes with essential regular "detailing," such as tree fertilization, rehabilitation, perennial cutting, pond cleaning, to keep things looking "fresh."

"Most people take a home equity loan and use part of it to pay for their makeover, or they just have the money to take out of their savings and when people see one of our jobs going in people think their neighbors hit the lottery because they’ve never seen the kinds of things we do, like put in a tree that's 50-feet high with a crane!

"It's important that people know that people are getting a lot of value for their money when they invest in landscaping," Bill notes, "and they are getting something that is incredible...you can buy a Mercedes that will be gone in seven years or go on vacation from now until doomsday but it won’t give you the satisfaction of a wonderful landscape."