Zone4 Landscapes Ltd.

We were so fortunate to be able to engage Mel and his Zone4 team to work on a hardscaping/landscaping project at our house. From our first meeting, he saw possibilities we hadn't even considered and although only the first stage of our project is complete, we already feel like our property has been transformed. He has a deep understanding of what will work in our area and an encyclopedic knowledge of plants from common to rare. Using native and pollinator plants was a big focus for us - while we want our gardens to look beautiful, we also want them to support all of the incredible wildlife we are lucky to have in our region. He took all of our likes and dislikes into consideration and knows just how to push us out of our comfort zone without going too far. We always look forward to days when Mel and his team are on site because we know amazing things will be happening and can't wait to continue our work together.

Mel did a great job walking us through the steps of our landscaping project, from design, to layout, to the final touches. He has an excellent team of workers who went above and beyond to give us the best possible results. He was easy to work with and patiently explained everything in detail. He is passionate, knowledgeable, and brought a sense of humor to the negotiations when we had to change some aspects of the project to stay within our budget. An a A+ experience overall, and we love our new patio and garden!

About 12 years ago, my husband & I decided to do some modest landscaping for a weekend home we own in the Catskills. After some online research, we found Zone 4 Landscaping. We were drawn to the intelligence of what was written and the beautiful photographs of their work. Mel showed up, with his wife Peggy. Both struck us immediately as warm, sincere, and very creative. After walking our property and learning more about our small project, Mel did not try to upsell us or walk away to take a bigger job. He enthusiastically began discussing what we could do. We were delighted with the finished project. We stayed in touch with Mel and talked about how we would like to do more with our property, but other matters always seemed to take priority. When the pandemic hit, we began spending a lot more time at our country home. We began to see our backyard as a missed opportunity to be able to better enjoy our home. Mel had created a plan for us a few years earlier that we had to put on the back burner. We had him pull it out and dust it off. We made a few modifications, and we were put “on the list” (as Mel’s business has taken off to a point that I could have never envisioned, for a rural county, but he is THAT GOOD). His crew came in and removed what could be salvaged and began to prepare the yard. They were polite and careful about what they did. If they were going to be doing something that was noisy or in any way problematic for us, they always gave us a few days' heads up to make plans to be away from the house, should we want to avoid it. The star of his team is Gus. Gus is a master craftsman who created our patio, built our Pergola and fire pit. We watched the care with which he attended each project, like an artist or seasoned craftsman. If necessary, he re-did sections, until he thought that there was cohesion, that angles and slopes worked, and that aesthetically it was the most pleasing. While Gus was busy with the hardscaping, Mel and his two assistants were busy planting – trees, bushes, bulbs, and more to make the yard look alive with color and texture. I always enjoyed looking out my back door (mostly in hopes of spying wildlife passing through), I am now looking at all the shapes and colors and interesting structures, as well. Our yard was transformed from a mostly open space to a visually pleasing and functional yard that we will be using alot more. He and his team created a finished product that was both sophisticated and rustic, a balance we were not sure could be done. Admittedly, we did end up spending more than we had intended, but we have no regrets. We will be enjoying our yard for years to come. Thanks, Mel!

It has been our great pleasure to work with Mel and the Zone4 Landscapes crew for the last few years. Their good work is one of the best investments we have made in our home. Each visit leaves our setting more honed, more intentional, and more beautiful. I have told Mel many times of the recurring experience of rounding a corner, seeing my house and yard come into view, and being joyful at how great it looks. I appreciate that they listen, make excellent suggestions, and then EXCEED EXPECTATIONS with their implementation and follow-through. I highly recommed these guys with no reservations.

Mel and Gus are super talented and a delight to work with. Their vast knowledge of native plants, design, and topography make them standouts in their field! We are lucky to have gotten the opportunity to have them transform our property. From gorgeous hardscaping using sourced boulders to soft grasses...they do it all. Their level of honesty and their work ethic is eclipsed only by their wonderful personalities. Highly recommend!!!!

We engaged Zone4 Landscape design to help us design and install a garden bed at the entrance to our commercial property in Margaretville. This was not our first time using Zone4 and so we felt confident that they would do a good job. However, they EXCEEDED our expectations and gave our dreary parking lot entrance a much needed facelift. They installed a gorgeous, low maintenance bed that totally transforms our entrance. They were professional, stayed on budget and did an amazing job.

We engaged Zone4 Landscapes to help us figure out how to address a number of issues with the landscaping around our recently purchased home. We hit it off wth Mel, the owner, right away and began a fun journey. We have many issues, but our first concern was to get rid of a silly deck in the back of the house and replace it with a stone patio. We also desperately needed to replace the rickety steps leading from the parking court up the back hill to the porch. Mel worked with us through several iterations to reach a final design that included two flights of handsome bluestone steps leading to a two-tiered patio. The patio is a beautiful organic shape, accented with retaining boulders and some planting beds. It anchors the house and integrates it nicely with the feel of the surrounding Catskills. Mel worked with us to find a solution that fit our budget and he and his crew did the installation in a timely manner. It was a pleasure to work with the Zone4 team and we can’t wait to watch the gardens grow in next year. We hope to tackle more issues with Mel and the gang in the future.

We found Mel and his crew to be highly competent, experienced, creative, and an absolute pleasure to work with. They created a lovely new planting area leading to our front door, reset an old bluestone path, redesigned and revitalized two large planting beds, turned a weedy slope into a new flower bed, and built a wonderful stone wall at the entrance to our property.

Mel is wonderful. He listens, understands budget constraints, and in general was a delight to work with. In addition, he is hilarious, which matters to me a great deal.

Having previously worked with Mel, it was with no hesitation that I hired Zone4 to head up the landscape design for our new modern home in Franklin Lakes, NJ. The project was challenging to tackle for a number of reasons including: the large 3 acre site situated on a rocky incline, the stark modern design of the home, and the numerous "important" sight lines to account for. After a few site visits and correspondences over email, Mel produced a first draft of a design which more or less ticked off all the major elements I was looking for. One of the main elements of Mel's design included organically shaped berms that served to not only break the rigid lines along the property borders, but also help transition the planting beds as they would rise to meet sections of rocky ledge. Mel also designed a fire pit section for the backyard that wonderfully complimented the modern look of the house. More specifically, the design incorporated very large rectilinear blue stones for a stone patio floating within the lawn and beaconing visitors to it from a nearby terrace. One of the most impressive things about Mel's designs is his ability to "get the scale right". This is something that may seem obvious but often difficult to pull off. All throughout the project, there would be times I would become anxious whether the designs would accommodate the scale of the spaces in complimentary ways; they always did. A classic example of this was Mel's design for the entrance to the property. The entrance, being situated within a large cul-de-sac belonging to the property, was too vast an area to cover with just vegetation. We knew right off the bat that we would need to bring in hardscape in the form of large boulders to "fill in" the design. With a combination of technical expertise and first hand experience, Mel delivered a design which called for a very specific set of boulders that were broken down into categories of different shapes and sizes. Despite being intimated by the shear size of the boulders, I agreed to move forward with the design and of course was fantastically pleased with the final result. Both the size and placement of the boulders worked beautifully to transform a large flat boring entrance to one that excited the visitor to enter the property. I can go on and mention other strengths Mel and his crew bring to a project (such as the deep breadth of knowledge of local flora), but I will stop here and just conclude with a very strong endorsement of Zone4 for anybody looking to hire a top tier landscape design firm.

Mel and his crew have helped us to create a beautiful patio and courtyard as well as many other creative gardens around the property. Mel has an excellent eye and often sees things that are not obvious until they are done and then I am awed. His use of various type of stone is particularly creative, unusual and beautiful. He used material from deteriorating walls around the property as well as harvested boulders to make beautiful spaces and terraced gardens mixed in with natural bluestone for steps and accents. His planting style is both lush and naturalistic. It has also been fun collaborating with Mel and his team, as he is reliable, willing to exchange and work with my/our ideas, and generally easy to work with.

Over many years my wife designed a uniquely beautiful perennial garden. She passed away in the spring of 2016. Throughout the balance of the year I attempted to sustain her legacy but lacked the skill and knowledge. This Spring I contacted Mel and asked him and his team to take on the project and offered them free reign with only one objective; retain the ‘spirit’ of Lisa’s garden. Presented with only a bewildering tangle of last year’s growth and a few tender sprouts poking through the previous autumn leaves, Mel accepted the challenge. Mel fashioned a project “In the Spirit Garden” and the team went to work. First they restored the garden to its earlier charm and then they maintained and cultivated that beauty throughout the balance of the year. Each day I see the beauty, smell the fragrance and feel the spirit of the garden begun by my wife and sustained by the caring hands of the Zone4 Landscapes crew. I have been so delighted by the skill and care of Mel and his team that we have moved on to tackle other landscaping challenges around the property.