Planned Environment Associates

There is no one better than Stu!!!!! He designed a beautiful landscape for our house as if he could see the pictures I had in my head! Building a house is difficult enough when trying to envision how all the finishes you have selected will all come together.....then developing a landscape vision to showcase the exterior curb appeal of your new home can push to the brink. Stu's professionalism, experience, and attention to detail takes all the stress and worry away. He knows what the HOA's want. He takes the time to learn what you want. There aren't too many people you can turn a project entirely over to and expect a superior result - but you can with Stu!!! Our family will spend many hours outside enjoying our beautifully designed yard. Our MANY THANKS!!!!

We had the great pleasure of meeting Stu Franzen early on in our new home building process. Our desire was to create an outdoor environment that complemented both the cottage we were building and the neighborhood we were joining. Right from the beginning, it became apparent that Stu was a great listener as he quickly grasped our vision and was able to help us bring it to reality with his extensive experience and knowledge. He was instrumental in helping us find the right sub-contractors and stayed very close to the project throughout construction. His suggestions on refining the plan as we proceeded were invaluable and the final results far surpassed our expectations.

In addition to reaching out to Stu to address stormwater management challenges on our Lake Michigan sited property, we also had Stu design our landscaping plan. Stu, taking into account the strategic placement of the drywells, designed a beautiful assortment of plantings to enhance the appearance of the property as well as to address the slopes of the finish grades. Everything from stormwater management and coordination with subsequent landscape design was very well thought out while using native plantings consistent with a beach type environment. The design consisted of Alliums (Millenium), Rozanne Geraniums, Karl Forester Grass, Black Eyed Susan, Blue Wonder Catmint, Prairie Dropseed and a Dwarf Mugo Pine. In reaching out to businesses for the procurement of these plantings, comments were "what a beautiful compliment of plantings and we can procure all of these". I highly recommend Planned Environment Associates if you are interested in a person and firm genuinely focused on addressing your challenges and interests.

While I did not end up working with P.E.A I did have an initial consultation with Stu. After taking a look at my property and assessing the scope of work, Stu realized I did not require his services. Rather than make an attempt to oversell me, he was upfront and honest with me and steered me in a different direction. Since he had made the trip out to my property, he did provide me with some high level recommendations and even sketched out a quick design for me at no cost even though he knew we wouldn't be working together. He also gave me some good background information to have when talking with other landscapers about what I was looking for. Overall Stu is very knowledgeable and I learned a lot from our meeting. I would recommend contacting him for his services.

Ours is a small backyard (approximately 30 x 40 feet) and when the previous owner's playset became rotted, it was time to redo the use of our yard at our home in Long Beach, IN to make it more inviting and functional for our family. The backyard was almost 100% hardscape with the exception of 3 large hostas, so we knew that we needed to soften the look. I am active user of Houzz and used it to find possible landscape designers in the Michigan City area. As I scrolled through Planned Environment Associates' project gallery, I recognized many homes with landscaping designed by Stuart Franzen that I admired on my walks in Long Beach. I knew then that Stuart was the right choice. We gave Stuart a wish list and he was able to incorporate all of our "must haves" into our plan and budget within a quick turnaround. The scale of the project and variety of plants was perfect and despite the yard's small size, we were able to easily fit in an outdoor kitchen, an eating area, a curved low wall, a fire pit area with room for large chairs, as well as a planted border. The design development, bidding and installation were all done long distance and I had no concerns as Stuart was a great communicator, provided options as the project progressed and worked with the contractor. He was able to recycle a large amount of existing pavers into a seat wall to surround the fire pit, which was a win/win in that it saved money by reusing the existing pavers and kept them out of a landfill. The low wall also adds an interesting vertical element and additional seating. The yard looks spacious despite its small size and numerous functions. It is a low maintenance yard that suits our second-home time constraints perfectly. We couldn't be happier.

Stu developed a great landscape plan to update our house. He listened to our ideas and came up with a nice plan that we could implement over time. He was very flexible in making some changes as we got into the actual work. I highly recommend his services.

I've worked with Stu on a number of projects and plan on continuing to welcome those opportunities. His knowledge and ability to read clients to create a design that fits their needs. From the plants and hardscape materials to ordinances and construction specs, I trust and respect his knowledge, design elements and professional opinion.

My husband and I contacted Mr Franzen on the recommendation of our architect to create a complete site landscape design for our newly constructed home in Sawyer, MI. After his first tour of the site, Stu was able to create a detailed vision of our dream, incorporating all elements requested: hardscape of bluestone pavers, inground pool layout, fire pit ,lighting, tree and planting beds. His careful design considered our unique terrain and native habitat, including wildlife! Plus, Stu's expertise and knowledge of the landscape craft are wide-ranging. He displayed an ultimate professionalism and responsiveness at all times. Stu respected our budgetary framework, submitted and reviewed bids to contractors and continuously monitored the progress and quality of each installation. The detailed plan incorporated our preferred plants and materials in an easily read and artistic fashion. We heartily endorse Stu for projects of all scope and will definitely call upon his services again!

Stu was our landscape architect and primary point person in the planning of our major yard project, which included excavation and retention of a 20 foot sand dune. My wife and I found working with him to be an enjoyable and highly professional experience. At the outset of the project, even before we retained him, we started a candid dialogue regarding project feasibility and continued the evolving dialogue throughout our project. Stu listened to our ideas and designed a plan to meet all our needs. He also met all deadlines as promised. He was very collaborative throughout the process, revising the plan as new ideas came up and was always willing to go above and beyond any of our requests. The bottom line is our project was a home run and we have Stu, who was in our corner throughout, to thank for a great design and high-quality finished product (he was involved throughout the project from a quality assurance perspective). Thanks, Stu!

Stuart Franzen was recommended by our architect, Heidi Hornaday. Heidi had never steered us wrong before (see our review on Heidi Hornaday), so we gave Stuart a call. We were looking for a master landscape design for approximately an acre around our new house, constructed in the country and surrounded by meadow and woods. Our first question for Stuart was where to put in the sprinkler system for the lawn, as it was late winter and we wanted to get the lawn in as quickly as possible once spring arrived. Stuart surveyed our property and suggested that rather than a traditional lawn, we go with a "no-mow fescue". He felt that this would flow more naturally into the surroundings and would be a much easier "lawn" to maintain, being hardier than grass and requiring less water, little mowing, and being more resistant to pests and pet excrement. Stuart provided us information on the "no-mow fescue" and it was clearly the way to go. Not only was it a better fit for our property, but avoiding the installation of a sprinkler system and the maintenance of a traditional lawn has more than offset Stuart's fees! We then spent a good deal of time discussing the look we wanted in the gardens. We wanted lots of perennials, to reduce the cost of planting annuals each year, lots of color and were even specific about the colors we preferred, lots of flowers rather than just green shrubs, and trees that would provide flowers in the spring, color in the fall, and berries for the birds we wanted to attract. A week or two later, Stuart brought us a spectacular landscape design. It incorporated everything we requested and we were impressed with the attention to detail. It was clearly laid out and listed every plant we would need to purchase to complete the design, including the botanical name, common name, size, quantity, and additional comments such as "one male" or "multistem". We worked with Stuart on the design, tweaking a few areas. As we made changes, he always quickly provided us an updated design. Stuart does not do the installation, but is able to provide recommendations for pros in the area who can. We hired a company recommended by Stuart to put in the stone patio and install the no-mow fescue. We were very happy with their work. He has also recommended nurseries in the area, that he trusts, where we can buy the plants and trees, as we intend to do most of the garden installation ourselves. This is a long-term project for us. We are adding the plants and trees as we can. We refer to the master plan constantly and bring it with us to nurseries when purchasing plants from his list. From time to time, we email Stuart with more questions - for example, when we see a tree we like that's not on his plan, we will check with him as to whether it would work or not. He is always quick to respond with a thoughtful and thorough answer. It has been one year now since we installed the no-mow fescue and it has been great. It took hold quickly the first year and looks great already this year. We cut it only 2 or 3 times the first year and plan to do the first cutting for this year in June. It indeed looks very natural in our setting, blending in well with the surrounding meadow and woods. The gardens will take longer, but the master plan gives us the blueprint we need and we can see that the final product (is one's garden ever final?) we be the colors and the look we wanted. Stuart has been a true pro and a pleasure to work with. We highly recommend him to our family and friends and to you.

We used Stu to draw up and detail the plantings for our new pool deck expansion. The landscape contractors I talked to only provided some sketches and they weren't very comprehensive. Stu provided us with a wonderful CAD drawing that gave the hardscape contractor, the landscape contractor, the general contractor, the fence contractor and the irrigation/lighting contractor a detailed plan that enabled them to properly coordinate their work. His choice of plantings was very sensitive to sun exposure, color and size.

Fortunately, our architect recommended Stu Frazen for our recent remodeling project. We could not have chosen a better Landscape Architect. He met with us, listened to what we had in mind and worked with us to design a plan for both our front and back yards. Stu checked in with us as the plans developed and tweaked the plans as we reviewed the various aspects of the design. We appreciated the fact that Stu often stopped by the house to see how the project was progressing. making sure that the landscaper was executing the plans to Stu's high standards. The hardscapes and the plantings not only compliment the new design of our house, but give us outdoor living spaces that we had never even imagined were possible.. We could not be happier with the finished product and highly recommend Stu Franzen to anyone looking for a talented professional that sees the job through to the end.