There were undoubtedly lots of things you loved about your home when you bought it. Unfortunately, some problems only become apparent after you’ve spent some time living on your property. For instance, it may not be immediately apparent that you’ve got a landscaping drainage issue on your Kensington, MD property.

Over time though, the evidence begins to mount. If you’re seeing areas of standing water for days on end after a hard rain, it’s a sure sign that there’s a problem.

If you’ve already had some landscaping work done, your investment to this point is at risk, because in the absence of a robust landscaping drainage system on your Kensington, MD property, you’ll see increased soil erosion, and many of the plants you’ve placed on your property to improve its aesthetic are at risk of dying due to the excess of water.

It gets worse though. In addition to that, standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and a variety of microbes that can pose a real threat to your family’s health. Plus, if the standing water is near your house, it could be working silently and relentlessly to damage your foundation, which could lead to staggering repair bills in very short order.

If you’re seeing anything like what we described above, you’ve basically got two choices.

First, give us a call and have us come out to assess your existing landscaping. It may be the case that when the initial landscaping was put in place, a landscaping drainage system was installed on your Kensington, MD property, but in the intervening years, something has damaged or clogged it.

If that’s the case, it’s usually a fairly easy problem to fix. We identify the source of the damage or clog, fix that, and everything’s fine.

Of course, it’s also possible that when the initial work was done, no landscaping drainage system was added to your Kensington, MD property. If that’s the case, we can design one for you to fix the problem.

In some instances, however, it may be optimal to simply start over. We can work with you to design a new landscape to transform the aesthetic of your property and be sure that we include a proper landscaping drainage system on your Kensington, MD property from the get-go.

That’s obviously a bigger project, but it ensures that you get exactly the aesthetic you wanted and gives you greater peace of mind knowing that once the project is done, you won’t have to worry about drainage issues going forward.

Also note that it may be of value to create a master landscape design document. Basically, that’s a centralized document into which you’ll feed all your landscaping goals and desires.

It’s a valuable document for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, because it allows you to look at your larger landscaping goals objectively, and to make sure that all the elements you want to eventually include will hang together to form a cohesive whole.

There are few things worse than putting the last of your landscaping in place only to discover that two or more elements clash with each other, requiring you to rip something out and rethink. That’s expensive and totally avoidable with a bit of planning!

Second, the master landscaping design document allows you to organize and prioritize your landscaping projects, breaking them into bite sized, budget friendly chunks that make it easier to achieve steady progress toward your goals.

Plus, by having an organized list, you’ll be able to spot certain landscaping projects that are dependent on the completion of others, which allows you to approach the process in a more logical, methodical way. That saves you both time and money!

Of course, such a document is unnecessary if you don’t have a long list of landscaping you’d like to do, but the reality is that once people start making improvements, they quickly realize that they want to do a lot more than they initially imagined.

We can not only help you put the document together, but make professional recommendations relating to prioritizing your list.

If you know you’d like to transform your property into the showplace it was always meant to be, but you’re struggling to put your vision to paper, be sure to spend some time checking out the photos section of our website.

Not only will this give you tons of great ideas for your own project, but it’ll also give you an opportunity to see the quality of our workmanship for yourself.

Most people want more than just a place to hang their hat at the end of a long day. They want more than just a house, but a true home. A place to escape life’s often frantic pace. The right landscaping can turn even a modest home into a private paradise for you and your family to enjoy.

Under the leadership of Mark Simpson, we’ve been transforming ordinary lawns in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington DC into spectacular showplaces for more than twenty-five years. Whatever your landscaping ambitions, we have the skills and experience to help you achieve your landscaping goals.

Since the day we first opened our doors, we’ve built our reputation by exceeding the expectations of every client we work with, and we’d love the opportunity to impress you.

When you’re ready, just give us a call. If you can dream it, we can design and build it!

Are you seeing standing water somewhere on your property after a heavy rain? Does it linger for days on end, to the point that it starts smelling bad? Do you have places in your yard that seem perpetually soft, soggy and squishy? If so, it sounds like you could benefit from the addition of a landscaping drainage system on your Gaithersburg, MD property.

While standing water anywhere on your property is problematic, some instances are worse than others. That’s especially true if the water is collecting quite near your home. In that case, if something isn’t done to address the problem immediately, it could cause thousands of dollars of damage to the foundation of your home.

As bad as that sounds, there’s an even worse possibility. If your home has a basement, and you’ve got standing water collecting close to your home, then it’s not draining because the soil around your house is already supersaturated. It simply cannot absorb any more water, which means that the soil packed around the walls of your basement is much heavier than it otherwise would be and is exerting tremendous pressure on the walls of your basement.

Left unchecked, the walls will start to crack and leak, and eventually cave in. If that happens, you’re looking at a staggering repair bill.

Even if the water is pooling at a safe distance from your home, it’s still problematic because:

• It’s a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
• It reduces the amount of useable lawn space you’ve got, meaning less room for planting and entertaining.
• And it’s a breeding ground for a variety of bacteria, which are potentially hazardous to the health of your family.

Whatever the case, a well-designed landscaping drainage system on your Gaithersburg, MD property is the answer!

Of course, it’s possible that a previous owner had a landscaping drainage system installed on your Gaithersburg, MD property. That’s’ especially likely if at least some prior landscaping work has been done. If that’s the case, then the problem could have a simple solution. The existing drainage system may have simply become clogged or damaged. We locate the drainage system, find the problem, fix it, and you’re all set.

Note that even if a former owner didn’t do any landscaping work, it’s still possible that they had a landscaping drainage system installed on your Gaithersburg, MD property. The only way to know for sure is to do some investigating, and we’re happy to help with that.

If there’s not one already present, we can design and install one for you, which will decisively fix the issue and give you one less thing to worry about.

This, however, brings up another, related topic: The importance of a master landscape design document.

If you’re not planning on doing much in the way of landscaping on your property, then you won’t see much benefit from the creation of a master design document, but if you’re like most people, once you start making improvements on and around your property, you’ll be hooked and want to do more.

In that case, a master design document is useful for a couple of reasons.

First and foremost, it enables you to check each of your landscaping goals against all the others to be sure that the various elements you plan to introduce on the property all hang together to form a cohesive whole. It can be quite costly to finish all the landscaping work you want to do, only to discover when the last piece is dropped into place that the various elements clash with each other, causing you to have to rip something out and try again.

Second, it’s useful because it allows you to create a prioritized list and break larger projects down into smaller, bite-sized projects that are more budget friendly, enabling you to make steady progress toward your goals.

Finally, it allows you to spot dependencies, which brings us back to the landscaping drainage system on your Gaithersburg, MD property. You wouldn’t want to strategically plant trees and flowers, only to see them washed away or killed by excess water because you didn’t put a good drainage system in first.

If you know you want to do some landscaping, but you’re having trouble putting specific ideas on paper and fleshing out your design document, be sure to spend some time checking out the extensive collection of photographs on our website. Not only will this give you plenty of ideas for your own project, it will also give you an opportunity to see the quality of the work we do.

That bottom line is, whatever your landscaping goals and ambitions, we can help! Under the leadership of Mark Simpson, our company has been proudly serving the region for more than twenty-five years, turning ordinary lawns into spectacular showplaces and exceeding the expectations of every client we serve.

We’d love to add you to our growing family, and help bring your landscaping dreams to life, so when you’re ready to get started transforming your property, just give us a call. We’ll work with you to understand what your goals are, help you prioritize your landscaping goals, and if money is an issue, we may be able to suggest lower-cost alternatives to some of the ideas you have in mind.

When you’re ready to begin your first landscaping project, before the work begins, we’ll provide you with a no obligation quote so you’ll have a firm understanding of exactly what it will take to bring your project to completion. Give us a call today and let’s get started.

Do you have a problem with standing water in your lawn after a heavy rain? If so, it’s a bigger issue than you might realize. Sounds like you could benefit from the addition of a landscaping drainage system on your Bethesda, MD property!

There are a number of possible causes to the problem, and we’ll outline the major ones below. Odds are that one of these will accurately describe your situation:

Possibility #1 – Prior Landscaping, Drainage System Non-Functional

It’s possible that one of the previous owners of your home did a bit of landscaping. If that’s the case, it’s probable that whatever company did the work installed a landscaping drainage system on your Bethesda, MD property, but in the years since the landscaping was done, that system has become damaged or clogged, which is leading to the drainage issue you’re experiencing right now.

If this is the case, the problem is fairly easy to solve. It’s just a matter of locating the landscaping drainage system on your Bethesda, MD property, identifying the source of the blockage or damage, and addressing that.

If you’re not sure whether this describes your situation or not, we can send one of our experienced landscapers to your property to survey and assess the situation, and let you know for sure.

Possibility #2 – Prior Landscaping, No Drainage System Installed

This is similar to the first possibility, but in this instance, for whatever reason, no landscaping drainage was installed on your Bethesda, MD property. It’s unfortunate, but it does sometimes happen.

In this case, assuming you’re happy with the landscaping work that has already been done, we can design a drainage system and install it retroactively, with minimal impact on the existing landscaping.

Possibility #3 – No Prior Landscaping, No Drainage System Installed

If the previous owners didn’t do any landscaping work, then it’s unlikely they bothered to install a landscaping drainage system on your Bethesda, MD property, which is the reason you’re having trouble now.

In that case, the solution is simple. We can design and install a system for you, without having to worry about running afoul of any existing landscaping, since there isn’t any.

Even better, if you plan on doing additional landscaping work on the property later on, installing a robust drainage system is a great first project to embark on, because it will set the stage for all the landscaping projects you have in mind down the road.

This brings us to another topic, related to the above. The importance of the master landscaping design document. We’ll have more to say about that in just a moment, but before we do, let’s talk a bit more about this drainage problem you’re having.

If you’ve got standing water somewhere on your property, it’s a problem, to be sure, but some flavors of the problem are more severe than others.

For instance, if you have standing water quite close to your home, that’s incredibly bad, because that water is undoubtedly seeping into and causing damage to your foundation.

If you’ve got a basement, the problem is even worse, because the soil around your house is undoubtedly supersaturated with water. That increases its weight exponentially, which exerts tremendous pressure on the walls of your basement.

Leave that unchecked long enough, and it will cause your basement walls to start to crack and leak, ultimately leading to them caving in, creating a nightmare scenario for you that will cost you tens of thousands of dollars to fix.

Even if the water is pooling at a safe distance from your home though, it’s still a problem for a number of reasons, including the fact that:

• Sans proper drainage, you’ll be facing steady soil erosion
• The pooled water reduces the amount of useable space you have to work with in your yard
• In addition to that, the pooled water will serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and a variety of bacteria, which can be a genuine health hazard.

All that to say, whether the water is collecting close to your home or quite far from it, it’s still a problem.

Now, about that master landscaping design document. This is simply a centralized document into which all of your landscaping aims and goals are fed. There are some compelling reasons to consider creating such a document including:

• It enables you to check the various landscaping elements you have in mind against each other, to ensure that they all hang together, creating a cohesive aesthetic that’s pleasing to the eye.
• And it allows you to prioritize your landscaping projects in a way that makes sense, for example, starting with a robust drainage system so you don’t have to rip later landscaping out to install it down the road.

Of course, if you don’t plan on doing much in the way of landscaping on your property, then such a document is not necessary, but if you’re like most people, once you start making changes and improvements, one project inspires another, and before you know it, you’ve got a long and growing list of things you’d like to do.

If and when that happens, the master design document can save you time and money, in addition to keeping your organized and help you break larger projects into smaller, budget-friendly sub-projects that will see you making steady progress toward your goals.

With more than twenty-five years in the business, we can help you put the design document together, and help you achieve all your landscaping goals, whatever they might be. If you can dream it, we can design and build it!

It would be amazing if we lived in a world of perfect information. If you knew, from day one, every problem or potential problem you’d have with your home and property.

Unfortunately that’s just not the case, and although there are undoubtedly lots of things you love about your home, there might also be some issues with your property that may have only become apparent a bit later on. Drainage problems, for example. Unless you went to see the house you purchased on a rainy day, you may not have had any idea there was an issue, and now, you’re seeing things like:

• Evidence of erosion, every time it rains.
• Persistently soggy or muddy areas in and around your property
• Yellowish patches of grass and unhealthy looking, waterlogged shrubs and trees
• Or standing water that lingers for days after a hard rain

If you are, then you could benefit from the installation of a landscaping drainage system on your Beltsville, MD property.

While all of the problems mentioned above are serious, the worst of the bunch is standing water, especially if it’s collecting quite close to your home.

Standing water will damage your property faster than just about anything else, and you can bet that a portion of it is seeping into your foundation where it will ultimately cause cracks and an expensive repair bill.

Things are even worse if you have a basement. All that standing water is a clear sign that the soil beneath it is supersaturated, which means its immensely heavier than dry earth. That, in turn, is exerting tremendous amounts of pressure on your basement walls.

Left unchecked, it’ll lead to cracking and leaking. If you still don’t do anything about it, ultimately, the walls of your basement will start caving in on you, and at that point, you’re looking at staggering repair bills.

Even if the water you see is at a safe distance from your home, you’re still not out of the woods. After all, it reduces the amount of useable yard space you’ve got, and is a breeding ground for both mosquitoes and harmful bacteria. Not good.

If you have a home septic system and you’ve got water pooling in or around your drain field, that can cause serious problems too, because your septic system relies on percolation to safely process waste. All that water is interfering with the process, which could cause your septic system to back up in your house, which is a real nightmare.

Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for all of that. The installation of a robust landscaping drainage system on your Beltsville, MD property!

Note that unless you had your home custom built, it’s possible you’ve already got one. One of the former owners may have done a bit of landscaping, and that may have included the installation of a landscaping drainage system on the Beltsville, MD property.

If so, then the reason you’re seeing drainage issues now is simply that over time, that system has become clogged or damaged. In that case, the solution is simple. We locate the source of the blockage or damage, fix it, and your problem goes away.

The only way we’ll know for sure is if we send one of our experienced engineers out to your property to survey and assess the situation. Once he’s done his work, we’ll be able to give you full details and recommend a course of action.

If there’s not an existing landscaping drainage system on your Beltsville, MD, we can design and build one for you. Before we do so, we will, of course give you a no obligation estimate so you’ll have a firm understanding of what it will take to fix the problem once and for all.

While we’re on the topic, have you given any thought to how much and what kinds of landscaping you’d ultimately like to do? Are you content with making a few minor, cosmetic changes, or do you have grand plans of transforming your yard into a lush pocket paradise for you and your family to enjoy?

In either case, the installation of a landscaping drainage system on your Beltsville, MD property is an excellent first step, although if you do have a long list of improvements you’d like to make, then you’d be well served by the creation of a master landscaping design document.

This document is a way of capturing all your landscaping goals and ambitions under a single umbrella, which provides you with three important advantages:

One, it helps keep you organized, and helps to ensure that all the landscaping initiatives you have planned will hang together to form a cohesive whole when you’re done.

Two, it helps you identify dependencies. Projects that need to be completed first, before other work begins, like the drainage system example we just mentioned.

We can not only help you with the creation of your master landscaping design document, but also make recommendations about alternate, most cost-effective ways of achieving your vision, which will save you both time and money.

If you’re struggling to come up with a cohesive vision for your landscaping, be sure to spend some time browsing the extensive photos section on our website. It will not only give you a chance to see the quality of the work we do for yourself but will give you tons of great ideas for your own project.

When you’re ready to begin, just give us a call!