Past, Present and Future

One of the many reasons I love working in the trades

Don't even know who to thank for the blistering economy but we are sure getting our share.  This reminds me of the boom days seems people are most interested in how soon we can get it done rather than what it costs, lots of new construction and heavy remodels, having fun again. 

Steve lives next door to a job site where we are working, he hand feeds two squirrels who reside in the tree in front of his house.  The squirrel are male and female mates he has been feeding them for about two years, they only eat cashews, pretty sweet to watch.

I have been digging the concrete work that Gregg Richhart at Star Homes has been putting out lately, not afraid of form and curves, makes my job easier.  Don't imagine he is making any friends with the team that does his flatwork.

Straw flowers have always been one of my favorites, color, texture and that great crunchy noise when you touch them, doesn't get much better than that.  Of course having several colors to choose from does not hurt either.

We landscaped this house a few years ago and with the homeowners finishing touches charm abounds. Perennials, hydrangea and summer annuals burst with color making this lakehouse  an inviting spot to chill in summer.  If we get to landscape the new house next door it will be three in a row on Clear Lake.

Another fine Star Homes is well under way.  The homeowner says several natural wells were located on the property, the one I observed running steadily filled the bottom quarter of a 4" drain tile.  This side of Clear Lake has many natural wells that must be channeled into the lake to even make building possible.  Capturing water and making it flow where you want is not always easy often the water reroutes itself and must be dealt with again.

We installed this natural stone staircase several years ago while it has become a tad bit overgrown it is still on of my favorite stair treatments.  It is fun to go by some of the older work we have done and see how it has held up and talk with customers from years ago, beautifying Steuben County one house at a time, hi, ho.

When blue lobelia is growing well it is hard to beat this little jewel of a annual.  When the sun hits it just right it looks nearly florescent, sure is cherry and bright.

Pouring the driveway is generally the last step before landscaping a new house.  I took photos of this house last Thursday and have it on my drawing board right now.  Really I need to quit blogging and get back to drawing and bidding this one today.  Customers really get anxious once the house nears completion especially those living on the lakes and hoping to capitalize on their first summer of fun.

Life is blooming all around, summer in Indiana means flowers and flowers are happiness for me.

Something Old, Something New and Get Well Wishes

The patient here is Jan our wonderful manager of the yard and nursery she went through a traumatic operation last week but she is strong and healthy.  She had an ugly tumor removed which she texted to me as a photo, I would put that up here but it is way too gross, speedy recovery Jan, I miss you smile.

 This project will help Travis get his credentials as a certified paver installer and wall builder, training is all part of the program that sets us apart from other installers.  We are fortunate that most of the employees really like what they are doing and are happy to attend training classes.

They actually finished up this project today, the plant material really sets off the hardscape nicely.  We transplanted the shrubs from the original beds and put them in beds we created around the yard trees, looks really sharp, I will have to get some additional photos of the finished product.

 We were are pleased with how this newly remodeled house turned out on Clear Lake, the landscaping gives it a cottage style flair.  I planted several flats of blue salvia around the cylinder yews should be really stellar in a couple more weeks.

The job on Lone Tree Point where we had the engineer is progressing as well.  A new concrete retaining wall is being poured over the old wall and still anchor posts are inserted into the old wall as dead men.  A difficult task but a necessary start for a solid foundation.  We will be slinging boulders on this hill before you know it.  Likely we will install nearly a hundred ton of material on this hill, should be interesting.

Finally this is a new house on my drawing board now, over on Lake James, should be a fun project a bit easier than normal on flat ground and already graded, yippee. 

What To Do Under Your Deck Stairs

A Moment of Levity Downtown Angola, IN

The jackets are off, shorts on and we are in full swing the weeks flying past with our busy pace. Since starting this blog I have always enjoyed the chance to sit back and reflect upon our work a bit, when I look over the jobs each week I can not help but be so proud of the men who build the visions.  Once again hats off guys a great start to 2014.

Ryan & Scott at The Top on This Hardscape

Custom Cut Bluestone Walk, Yeah Baby

Last Friday we installed most of the plants on this job, Monday comes the sod.  We are a bit ahead of schedule on this one but since we were out on Clear Lake opportunity arose, the homeowners seem pleased to see us early.  I really enjoy designing for small spaces great

reward for those who like immediate gratification.  This job was virtually drive right up to it space only real danger was crossing the road.  Gonna be super sweet.

Hemlocks, Butterfly Bushes & Hibiscus, Nice Combo on Lake George

 There was only one side of the house left to do at Tom & Patti's on Lake Gage and I must say I am very pleased at how it turned out.  For the first time I used 3 Columnar Sweetgum close to a house, they are a new tree for me and wonderful.  They only get about four feet in diameter and can grow up to 50' tall.  They do fruit and are a bit messy there but they have great fall color and lovely form, yippee a new tree.  Jim from Plant Center brought in several narrow varieties of trees with me in mind, we have been planting away.  Discovered new narrow tulip tree only grows about 15' diameter we have already planted five.

A New Variety of Sweetgum, Wonderful

Streambed in Progress

Finished Streambed, A Custom Fence to Block AC is Next

These Steps Match Those of the Waterfall on the Opposite Side

I  made some new friends on at Crooked Lake Beach club when we made our deadline for new landscaping before their weekend graduation party.  We got a late start on the project but I always knew when they wanted it done so we hit it with a big crew for two days, wham just like some TV show it went from a blank slate to a sweet retreat.  We also got invited to the party, wish we could have went but Bruce and I spent the weekend working on a rental property, not what we wanted to do.

This is a Big House Sitting on a Hill

What to do With That Space Under the Stairs

A big sod job on Clear Lake took a bite out of the week, 30 pallets down a step hill is never much fun, the first day it rained super hard by about 11:00 so the men had to quit at 8 pallets.  The sod cutting machine broke down the next day which put us behind a little bit, ended up what I planned to take two days took three to complete.  Actually the result was good since we did some other work on Clear Lake ahead of schedule.  Sod is another immediate gratification task, instant green.  We built two glacial stacked stone walls here as well.

30 Pallets of Green

Dirty Caleb, Summer Helper

Thought Joe Was Going Down, Just a Slip

Been a solid couple weeks got lots done, still have much to go.  Looking forward to 4th of July we will have friends visiting.  The nursery is developing nicely and is open seven days a week.  Seems to be selling a variety of goods, moving lots of mulch.  My time and Bruce's is spent in the field, with customers or doing paperwork.  We sure miss the benefits of having employees our grounds need lots of work, two mowing tractors are down and we still need to get plumbing the bathroom in the pole barn.