How the Plantings, Stone Edging & Retaining Wall Came Together
After contacting several landscape companies, the homeowners selected Excel Landscaping for a project that involved much more than installing a new retaining wall. The work extended across the front landscape and along both sides of their long driveway, combining new planting areas, stone edging, driveway definition, and the wall into one coordinated installation.
The retaining wall was still an important part of the finished design. Joe worked with the homeowners to select the stone for the new front wall, giving them input on one of the most visible permanent features being added to the property. But rather than allowing the wall to become an isolated hardscape element, the surrounding landscape work helped connect it visually to the rest of the front yard.
Stone edging was incorporated through the landscape, while both sides of the long driveway were neatly edged. Those defined boundaries helped organize the different parts of the front yard and established cleaner transitions between the driveway, lawn, planting areas, and retaining wall.
With those more permanent elements in place, the planting installation could bring the larger landscape together.
Approximately 50 plants were installed across the property, including ornamental grasses, dwarf crape myrtles, trees, shrubs, and perennials. Instead of relying on one repeated plant type, the installation incorporated a mix of plant forms and sizes throughout the front landscape.
The completed project included:
- Approximately 50 new plants
- Ornamental grasses and dwarf crape myrtles
- Trees, shrubs, and perennials
- Stone edging incorporated throughout the landscape
- Both sides of the long driveway neatly edged
- New front retaining wall
- Retaining-wall stone selected with the homeowners
- Coordinated front-yard landscape installation
- Completion in approximately two working days
The amount of work completed within that timeframe stood out to the homeowners. In their review, they specifically noted that the Excel crew arrived at sunrise and continued working through the day, including during rainy conditions.
More importantly, the work was completed as one landscape project rather than as several disconnected improvements. The retaining wall gives the front yard a permanent structural feature, while the stone edging carries definition through the surrounding landscape and along the driveway. The new plantings then soften those harder elements and fill out the broader front-yard design.
For the homeowners, the project brought them together into one front-yard design. The homeowner described the final result as exceeding expectations, with the new wall, stonework, and approximately 50 plants creating the finished appearance they had hoped to achieve.