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Landscape Articles

Yard Landscaping Ideas to Enhance Your Summer Enjoyment

The pandemic has forced many homeowners to spend a lot more time at home, contemplating their property and thinking of ways to improve it to add both value and enjoyment. For some their yards have become a refuge from the stress and anxiety of these uncertain times, and they’re considering how to make their backyards an oasis of calm and a more comfortable place where they can relax with family and friends.

5 Super Easy Ways to Fix a Bad Home Builder Landscape Job

A skilled builder can add features like decks, hardscaping, and other attractive structures that make your home better both aesthetically and functionally. Ideally, you want your home’s construction features to complement a healthy, natural garden. However, there may be times when the work of a builder or contractor interferes with your yard.

Poor landscaping techniques can have a negative effect, but landscapers will often unintentionally damage the health of your yard as well. Here are five simple steps to overcome the problem:

A Creative Low Maintenance Native Garden Idea

Native ornamental grass will give your garden four seasons of interest and a low-maintenance option for garden design. Creating a unique garden to fit your needs can be a challenging task, but with the help of native plants and especially ornamental grasses, it becomes enjoyable.

4 Things to Know Before Your Next Hardscaping Project

When looking to achieve a balanced, peaceful yard, remember that hardscaping is just as important as natural features. These man-made components, such as walkways, patios, and divider walls, are an important part of the perfect outdoor living space. Hardscape elements can add a great complement to your organic space, but creating them comes with a whole different set of concerns than building a vegetable garden or flower bed.

Here are the top four elements to consider before you commit to a hardscaping project:

Clever Ways to Use Stone in Your Landscape Project

Stones are a beautiful addition to any garden — they evoke a feeling of permanence and strength. By uniquely arranging rocks and boulders in your landscaping, you can enjoy not only the aesthetic benefits but also the healing, grounding nature of rock’s mountain-like properties.

Here are some interesting ways to incorporate stone hardscapes into your property:

5 Fun and Creative Ways to Increase Your Home’s Curb Appeal

The front of your house is the first thing that people see. What does yours say about you? Creating a warm entryway makes your house feel welcoming and gives a great first impression.

A home with great curb appeal isn’t just for guests or neighbors to enjoy. When you return to your house after a long day at work, a well thought out and intentionally designed entry will make you glad to be home. Here are five ways you can create a beautiful front yard.

8 Questions to Ask About Backyard Landscape Designs

If you’re in the process of landscaping your property, you may not be sure where to start. You know hardscapes can add value to your home — but maybe you’re struggling to figure out exactly what features to include. These eight questions will help you make a plan to create your ideal yard.

Patio Materials- Price of Pea Gravel Patios

More information on Patio Materials! The least expensive patio material to buy and install is pea gravel, also know as pea stone.

Patio Materials- How Much Does a Paver Patio Cost?

Judith Lipson- Rubin | 15 July, 2016 | Hardscape

PATIO MATERIALS- concrete PAVERS!

Patio Materials- The Cost of Bluestone Patios

Anne Marie DiMatteo | 15 July, 2015 | Hardscape

This is part 2 of the Patio Material blog series- Understanding the Cost of Bluestone Patios.

4 Reasons Why You Should Leave Your Patio Remodel to the Professionals

Anne Marie DiMatteo | 6 October, 2014 | Hardscape

When you need to give your patio a makeover, you might be tempted to do it yourself. After all, you can save a lot of money on labor if you do not have to pay a professional. But, when you want a beautiful patio that will stand the test of time, you need to seriously consider how hiring a professional makes the process easier for you.

You must have the skills to build a good foundation for the patio, grade it properly, choose the right material and ensure solid work. In the long run, an expert will give you the best investment. Here's four reasons why you should leave your patio remodel to the professionals:

Reasons to Consider a Custom Landscape Design

Before making any major decision regarding a home, any homeowner should do their due dilligence by researching their problem as well as all the possible solutions. Deciding what to do with your yard and then choosing the right landscape design can be very daunting and exhausting. We like to encourage potential customers to think about how they want to use their yard and the aspects of their existing conditions that they don't like.

3 Different Ways to Customize Your Patio

Anne Marie DiMatteo | 5 July, 2014 | Hardscape

Learn about 3 of the most common customizable characteristics of patios while deciding what you are looking for in your yard. Professional landscape designers are trained professionals to help you get the most out of your space and money, but it is important for you to understand how they can custom design a patio for your home.

Personal Landscape Design and Installation- Needham, MA

Job description: Moodscapes designed and installed plantings for the front of the house, including the beautiful ornamental tree on the left. We also installed a 330 sq ft bluestone patio in the backyard with a granite step from the back doors, which also included new plantings. The project consisted of demolition work done in the back in order to remove a small deck and steps, as well as running two downspouts to a dry well. We helped coordinate and hire an irrigation contractor to install drip irrigation for the new plantings.
 


Throughout the design process and even during the installation, our team worked closely with the homeowners regarding plant and color decisions. The clients requested a few changes to plantings throughout and asked for certain colors of the natural cleft bluestone be removed. We hand picked the bluestone pieces to match the exact color preference of the homeowners. This job is a great example of how we customize everything to the homeowners desire. It is important to have a personal landscape designed and installed to be one that you will love to look at and be in for as long as you live in that home.

Customized Bluestone Patio for Outdoor Living

An unspoken rule of thumb for living in New England, is that, when it is nice outside, you stay outside.

Front entrance landscape design- one year later..

Above is a picture of a natural field stone walkway and front garden bed our team installed last year. Plants, trees, and shrubs are growing well together and the field stone walkway adds an element of elegance and simplicity to the front yard design. To view this yard last year, read, Natural Field Stone Walkway.

Paver Walkway into Private Winchester Massachusetts Backyard


A personalized landscape design in Winchester Massachusetts to lead guests into their new backyard. Our team customized a wooden arbor to lead the way along a paver walkway and along side the newly planted perennials and shrubs. The plants were selected to enhance the walkway during all seasons with various bloom times, colors, and textures.

Customized Patio Designs

A new trend is starting with homeowners in Eastern Massachusetts- circular patios. Homeowners are looking for custom patio designs that give them space for a table and chairs and lawn play space. The solution professional landscape designers across Massachusetts are designing for their clients are circular patios, which can be built with almost any patio material. The below patio was designed for a client in Lexington Massachusetts who wanted a shaded patio tucked away in the corner of her property. 

Side Yard Natural Field Stone Walkway


Create an elegant and easy to follow path in your side side by choosing a natural field stone walkway. Flat field stone is the most natural looking stone and when installed correctly, can become a smooth surface to follow along. Often times field stone comes in varying heights and widths and therefore finding the correct stone is very important for creating a smooth, safe walkway. It is important for side yard walkways to be continuous from the front to back yard without imposing on the look of either space.

Small Backyard Sitting Area in Winchester Massachusetts

A small backyard sitting area for the entire family to enjoy!

Winchester Massachusetts Personal Landscape Design & Install

We were approached by a family in Winchester Massachusetts to design and install a new front and back yard that encompassed three very specific needs. The family wanted to use their yard to entertain family and friends, access the outside directly from their house, and enhance their new front entrance and porch.

Front Walkway with Pavers in Massachusetts

 











Watertown residents wanted to enhance the front of their home with a walkway that would invites friends and family into their beautiful home. In collaboration with the homeowners, Moodscapes designed a paver walkway with a variety of pavers to increase curb appeal and aesthetics. We used Millstone Vineyard Blend quarry pavers, edged on the inside with a standard cobblestone. A half circle was designed right before the steps to mimic the architecture of the circular patterns on front porch and throughout the house. This enhanced and complimented the unique features of the home while increasing their front yard curb appeal.

Lexington Massachusetts Driveway Design

Natural Field Stone Walkway

Field stone walkways create a natural, elegant, and easy to follow front yard entrance way. Flat field stone is the most natural looking stone and when installed correctly, can become a smooth surface to follow along. Often times field stone comes in varying heights and widths and therefore finding the correct stone is very important for creating a smooth walkway. Front entry walkways are very important for curb appeal and adding an edged garden bed with various plants and shrubs will enhance the natural look of field stone.

How to Extend Entertainment Space Outside

For many homeowners here in the Northeast, having enough space for entertaining guests can be a bit challenging. A good cost-effective alternative to full-scale home additions or remodeling is creatively extending your entertainment space outside.

Through professional landscape design and master planning, common yards can be transformed into both practical and highly aesthetic entertaining areas, ones that compliment the look and flow of your existing home.

Regardless of how big or small your yard space may be, an inspired, well-conceived design plan can determine the most effective and attractive use of your space.

Something as simple as a walkway made of pavers, and a bench, can be used to create a quiet garden retreat. Or resurrecting that long neglected lawn into a thriving, safe organic grass play area for your family and pets.

Outdoor kitchens have become increasingly popular, offering an enjoyable combination of grilling space and garden beds. Space heaters can extend the use of these areas well into the fall months.

There are a wide variety of design elements to choose from to create a relaxing space that is uniquely your own and reflects your individual lifestyle. From plush gardens and blue stone patios, to decks and arbors, your yard can become the envy of the neighborhood!

Whether you do the work yourself or have it professionally done, begin with a design plan that is custom-tailored to your specific needs and desires. To better understand the design process, please download our free guide.

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