Inspiration for a large traditional landscaping in Detroit.

A thoughtful lawn area of 'Cavalier' zoysia grass, buffered from the street by a stand of Big muhly grass (Muhlenbergia lindheimeri). Photographer: Greg Thomas, http://optphotography.com/

Reset a concrete block, brick veneered retaining wall, with Limestone caps and new concrete steps
Inspiration for a huge contemporary front yard stone formal garden.

Photo of a craftsman landscaping in Minneapolis.

Firefly Garden Design created a welcoming front door entrance
Inspiration for a traditional landscaping in Milwaukee.

This updated front yard entry utilizes poured in place concrete for the main pathways and Indiana limestone for accents. Landscaping and color are used to accent the walkways and decorative pottery is used at the front entry for added visual interesting and an inviting feel.

Because homes in historic German Village are required to be respectful of some of the original characteristics and features, the old limestone steps at the original front door of the historic part of the home had to be left in place, and a nod to their purpose with the placement of the brick walkway. The limestone walk was allowed in order to interrupt the visitor's attention and direct them to the new front door.

A Beautiful Meandering Custom Staircase Creates a Stunning Impact A steeply graded front yard is transformed with a beautiful custom meandering staircase down to the front entry that provides a true sense of arrival as it lulls guests through the landscape, allows for enjoyment of the space, and helps ease runoff flowing toward the house. Planted with beautiful natives and dressed with Texas hardwood mulch, large chunk blackstar gravel, and accented with limestone boulders excavated from the site, this blend of hardscape captivates the eye, adding visual interest all year 'round. A custom, contemporary metal hand railing adds a touch of modernity and a ton of safety, while the stairs themselves visually marry to the stone of the front porch. Landscape lighting accents the hardscape and landscape of this project while providing safe lighting for maneuvering the stairway at night, and extended enjoyment of the entire property.

A Beautiful Meandering Custom Staircase Creates a Stunning Impact A steeply graded front yard is transformed with a beautiful custom meandering staircase down to the front entry that provides a true sense of arrival as it lulls guests through the landscape, allows for enjoyment of the space, and helps ease runoff flowing toward the house. Planted with beautiful natives and dressed with Texas hardwood mulch, large chunk blackstar gravel, and accented with limestone boulders excavated from the site, this blend of hardscape captivates the eye, adding visual interest all year 'round. A custom, contemporary metal hand railing adds a touch of modernity and a ton of safety, while the stairs themselves visually marry to the stone of the front porch. Landscape lighting accents the hardscape and landscape of this project while providing safe lighting for maneuvering the stairway at night, and extended enjoyment of the entire property.

Cool, Contemporary, Curb appeal now feels like home!!! This complete exterior home renovation & curb appeal now makes sense with the interior remodel our client had installed prior to us gettting started!!! The modifications made to this home, along with premium materials makes this home feel cozy, cool & comfortable. Its as though the home has come alive, making this same space more functional & feel so much better, a new found energy. The existing traditional missized semi-circle driveway that took up the entire frontyard was removed. This allowed us to design & install a new more functional driveway as well as create a huge courtyard that not only adds privacy and protection, it looks and feels incredible. Now our client can actually use the front yard for more than just parking cars. The modification addition of 5 stucco columns creates the feeling of a much larger space than what was there prior...who know that these cosmectic columns would actually feel like arms that wrap around the new curb appeal...almost like a vibe of protection. The contrasting paint colors add more movement and depth continuing the feeling of this great space! The new smooth limestone courtyard and custom iron "x" designed fence & gates create a weight type feeling that not only adds privacy, it just feels & looks solid. Its as if its a silent barrier between the homeowners inside and the rest of the world. Our clients now feel comfortable in there new found outdoor living spaces behind the courtyard walls. A place for family, friends and neighbors can easliy conversate & relax. Whether hanging out with the kids or just watching the kids play around in the frontyard, the courtyard was critical to adding a much needed play space. Art is brought into the picture with 2 stone wall monuments...one adding the address numbers with low voltage ligthing to one side of the yard and another that adds balance to the opposite side with custom cut in light fixtures that says... this... is... thee, house! Drystack 8" bed rough chop buff leuders stone planters & short walls outline and accentuate the forever lawn turf as well as the new plant life & lighting. The limestone serves as a grade wall for leveling, as well as the walls are completely permeable for long life and function. Something every parapet home should have, we've added custom down spouts tied to an under ground drainage system. Another way we add longevity to each project. Lastly...lighting is the icing on the cake. Wall lights, path light, down lights, up lights & step lights are all to important along with every light location is considerd as to add a breath taking ambiance of envy. No airplane runway or helicopter landing lights here. We cant wait for summer as the landscape is sure to fill up with color in every corner of this beautiful new outdoor space.

A Beautiful Meandering Custom Staircase Creates a Stunning Impact A steeply graded front yard is transformed with a beautiful custom meandering staircase down to the front entry that provides a true sense of arrival as it lulls guests through the landscape, allows for enjoyment of the space, and helps ease runoff flowing toward the house. Planted with beautiful natives and dressed with Texas hardwood mulch, large chunk blackstar gravel, and accented with limestone boulders excavated from the site, this blend of hardscape captivates the eye, adding visual interest all year 'round. A custom, contemporary metal hand railing adds a touch of modernity and a ton of safety, while the stairs themselves visually marry to the stone of the front porch.

A steeply graded front yard is transformed with a beautiful custom meandering staircase down to the front entry that eases guests through the landscape, allows for enjoyment of the space, and helps ease runoff flowing toward the house. Dressed with blackstar gravel and accented with limestone boulders excavated from the site, this blend of hardscape captivates the eye, adding visual interest all year 'round. The highlight here is on the custom metal handrail that follows the gorgeous angles of the staircase all the way down to the front landing.

Stone walkway a mix of natural cleft stones.
Beach style limestone floor entry hall photo in Charleston

A Beautiful Meandering Custom Staircase Creates a Stunning Impact A steeply graded front yard is transformed with a beautiful custom meandering staircase down to the front entry that provides a true sense of arrival as it lulls guests through the landscape, allows for enjoyment of the space, and helps ease runoff flowing toward the house. Planted with beautiful natives and dressed with Texas hardwood mulch, large chunk blackstar gravel, and accented with limestone boulders excavated from the site, this blend of hardscape captivates the eye, adding visual interest all year 'round. A custom, contemporary metal hand railing adds a touch of modernity and a ton of safety, while the stairs themselves visually marry to the stone of the front porch.

Spitting lion water feature terminates one of the clay walkways. Custom lattice screens were places around to allow neighbouring vines to grow up and around the feature.

The goal was to build an oasis for the homeowners’ young children that could be enjoyed for generations while preserving the architectural integrity and historical features of their home. We designed and built the front landscaping at the home, and did the building at the back of the home. The pool and pool cabana were already existing on site. We added multiple retaining walls, a pergola, a patio, staircases and landings, walkways, privacy walls and privacy plantings, and significant gardens to this project. We re-used existing brick from the site, as well as the existing water feature. The water feature, driveway walls, and front pillars were all made of Reclaimed Brick. Indiana Limestone was used for the water feature cap, wall copings, front walkway, and front stepping stones. The profile of the coping stone was custom-made for this project to mimic the molding details on the exterior of the home. All backyard retaining walls were made of Ebel Riada Natural Walling Stone, and Owen Sound Brown Flagstone was used for all backyard walkways, patios, and stepping stones. The joints in the flagstone pool patio were filled with artificial turf. We built a new pergola, which we installed below the Wisteria before removing the existing pergola. Lifting the plant and structure opened up the back-patio doors of the home, transforming the view inside and out.

The goal was to build an oasis for the homeowners’ young children that could be enjoyed for generations while preserving the architectural integrity and historical features of their home. We designed and built the front landscaping at the home, and did the building at the back of the home. The pool and pool cabana were already existing on site. We added multiple retaining walls, a pergola, a patio, staircases and landings, walkways, privacy walls and privacy plantings, and significant gardens to this project. We re-used existing brick from the site, as well as the existing water feature. The water feature, driveway walls, and front pillars were all made of Reclaimed Brick. Indiana Limestone was used for the water feature cap, wall copings, front walkway, and front stepping stones. The profile of the coping stone was custom-made for this project to mimic the molding details on the exterior of the home. All backyard retaining walls were made of Ebel Riada Natural Walling Stone, and Owen Sound Brown Flagstone was used for all backyard walkways, patios, and stepping stones. The joints in the flagstone pool patio were filled with artificial turf. We built a new pergola, which we installed below the Wisteria before removing the existing pergola. Lifting the plant and structure opened up the back-patio doors of the home, transforming the view inside and out.

The goal was to build an oasis for the homeowners’ young children that could be enjoyed for generations while preserving the architectural integrity and historical features of their home. We designed and built the front landscaping at the home, and did the building at the back of the home. The pool and pool cabana were already existing on site. We added multiple retaining walls, a pergola, a patio, staircases and landings, walkways, privacy walls and privacy plantings, and significant gardens to this project. We re-used existing brick from the site, as well as the existing water feature. The water feature, driveway walls, and front pillars were all made of Reclaimed Brick. Indiana Limestone was used for the water feature cap, wall copings, front walkway, and front stepping stones. The profile of the coping stone was custom-made for this project to mimic the molding details on the exterior of the home. All backyard retaining walls were made of Ebel Riada Natural Walling Stone, and Owen Sound Brown Flagstone was used for all backyard walkways, patios, and stepping stones. The joints in the flagstone pool patio were filled with artificial turf. We built a new pergola, which we installed below the Wisteria before removing the existing pergola. Lifting the plant and structure opened up the back-patio doors of the home, transforming the view inside and out.

The goal was to build an oasis for the homeowners’ young children that could be enjoyed for generations while preserving the architectural integrity and historical features of their home. We designed and built the front landscaping at the home, and did the building at the back of the home. The pool and pool cabana were already existing on site. We added multiple retaining walls, a pergola, a patio, staircases and landings, walkways, privacy walls and privacy plantings, and significant gardens to this project. We re-used existing brick from the site, as well as the existing water feature. The water feature, driveway walls, and front pillars were all made of Reclaimed Brick. Indiana Limestone was used for the water feature cap, wall copings, front walkway, and front stepping stones. The profile of the coping stone was custom-made for this project to mimic the molding details on the exterior of the home. All backyard retaining walls were made of Ebel Riada Natural Walling Stone, and Owen Sound Brown Flagstone was used for all backyard walkways, patios, and stepping stones. The joints in the flagstone pool patio were filled with artificial turf. We built a new pergola, which we installed below the Wisteria before removing the existing pergola. Lifting the plant and structure opened up the back-patio doors of the home, transforming the view inside and out.