Beyond lawns
by Debi Boucher StetsonNot long ago, landscaping on Cape Cod was limited to seeding and mowing lawns – maybe some sod, if you wanted to get fancy – and trimming hedges. And it was reserved for front lawns; back yards were by and large left alone, with pine needles providing a carpet for bare feet.
Like the $250,000 house, those days of letting nature take its course are over. Record-high real estate prices have pushed landscaping to the forefront of a homeowner’s consciousness. That well-groomed lawn is part of your investment.
Cape Business talked with many landscapers to get a close-up view of local trends.
Chris Joyce, owner of Joyce Landscaping in Marstons Mills, said that 20 years ago an elaborate landscape consisted of a small stone project and an irrigation system for the lawn. Today that has changed, mainly due to the increasing value of real estate and the numerous resources that homeowners have available to educate themselves. Joyce reports strong trends toward cobblestone-edged aprons for driveways, outdoor living spaces with patios and barbecues enclosed in stone, and lots of color – perennials and annuals.
“We now find that today’s landscape projects help create a self-contained destination for the homeowner. The popular trend seems to focus more on outdoor living and outdoor entertainment.” Some of the more elaborate projects consist of detailed stonework, gunite swimming pools with vanishing edges, spas, golf greens, outdoor fireplaces and stone barbeques. “Most homeowners realize that investing in their landscape will not only beautify their property, but also increase its value and offer the enjoyment they are seeking. Many of our clients are second-home owners and consider their Cape home their oasis; therefore the landscaping needs to match that same expectation.”
Rockwood Clark, owner of Gardens By the Sea in Harwich, said homeowners are thinking more creatively when it comes to landscaping. “We’ve had some very interesting projects lately. In one back yard we’re putting in a fire pit, with a wall all the way around it, gaining seven or eight feet of grade. There’s beach sand around it, and beach grass, ornamental plants.”
Beyond its creativity, the project reflects another trend he sees: the natural Cape Cod look. “It’s kind of a recharge of the Cape Cod cottage feeling. More beach sand, beach grass, ornamental grasses and roses.”
People are after a Cape Cod identity. “They want to have incorporated into their yard something that says beach,” said Clark. For that look, he uses plants such as silver spray, dusty miller, beach peas and, of course, beach grasses. “With all the ornamental grasses available, it can be quite beautiful, with different heights and shapes.”
At one home in Eastham, Clark’s firm designed and installed a mahogany deck walkway surrounded by lavender and beach grasses. At a waterfront property in Harwich, they built a walkway of the new recycled Trek decking material – which he describes as “fantastic” – and “kind of snaked it through” a dune for a natural look that pleased both the client and the conservation commission. “It looks very Cape-y and it doesn’t squish the grass – we even added some beach plums.”
Julie Hammer, owner of Gardenscapes in Orleans, also sees a trend toward a more natural look. “We’re trying to steer people toward using native plants and having a more naturalized setting, and I think it’s catching on,” she said. One tack she’s used is to create a wildflower garden in the back of a property, using plants that blend it into the woods behind.
More and more, people are concerned about how their landscaping will look in winter – and that applies to both year-round residents and second-home owners who come down frequently and well past the summer season. “They want an increased season of blooms – they’re not just hoping for that July and August show,” she said.
She said it’s important for consumers to have a realistic idea about what they can do with their property and how much it will cost. “A good rule of thumb is to shop around, and have a plan drawn up,” she said. “That communication and comparison is key.”
Frequently, she encounters landscape plans drawn up by off-Cape architects who might not understand soil and conditions here; ditto for clients who insist on having certain varieties of plants and trees, despite the fact that their soil is too sandy or has too much clay. Excavating and replacing soil can be done, but it is costly.
As to cost, Hammer said, “It’s all over the map. You could spend $4,000 for a couple of focal points; you could spend $50,000; you could spend $100,000,” depending on how far you want to go.
Craig Whitten, owner of Whitten Landscaping in Yarmouth, also sees clients thinking “Cape Cod” in their landscape preferences – although he sees more of a trend toward old-fashioned rather than natural-look landscaping: “A lot of cobblestones, Nantucket colors for flowers.”
“Right now, what’s hot in landscaping is anything that will last,” Whitten said. “Stone walls are a big thing, and plants that have longer lives. If they’re going to spend their money,” he said of clients, “they want it to last. They don’t want a plant that’s going to break in a snowstorm.”
At the same time, most homeowners are not stingy when it comes to landscaping, he said. “They’re definitely willing to pay as long as they’re getting bang for their buck.”
They’re also comparing prices before settling on a landscaper. “They’re doing a lot more shopping around now,” said Whitten. “One thing we’ve found is that people are very cautious. They’re really thinking about exactly what to do, getting three or four quotes.”
Michael Neath, owner of Michael P. Neath Landscaping in Centerville, said people care more about their landscaping than ever before.
“There’s a lot more education – gardening magazines, TV shows,” he noted. “The consumer is becoming more and more educated over the years and I think they’re starting to value the outside of their homes as well as the inside.” In terms of landscaping, “They’re doing more; the landscape is becoming an extension of the architecture.”
Neath, who works largely in the town of Barnstable, particularly in the villages of Osterville and Centerville, said his firm does mostly high-end, residential landscapes, “and most are second-home owners.”
However, those homeowners are using their Cape houses more than they once did, coming down for Thanksgiving and off-season weekend getaways. In many cases, that means upping the landscape maintenance so their vacation home always looks welcoming.
Landscaping, he said, is definitely linked to real estate value. “You hear the term ‘curb appeal’ all the time; people want the front of their home to be presentable.”
By the same token, they want their back yards to be lovely havens where they can spend time – as Neath puts it, “Private areas, where people like to grill and cook and eat dinner.”
Originally published in the March/April 2007 issue of Cape Business.
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