When many people think of landscaping, they think of back yards. But front entry makeovers are one of the most popular requests Villa designers get these days. You can give your home a fresh look with something as simple as a paver sidewalk or patio in front.

Covering a traditional concrete front stoop with pavers eliminates the labor-intensive task of removing it. Adding broad scalloped steps to this renovated front stoop gave the home an elegant new look.

Or you can go with a more elaborate design that includes retaining walls and columns. The owners of this new front entry patio say it never takes long when they're sitting out there before someone in the neighborhood stops by to chat.

Stop in and talk with a Villa landscape designer this fall. There's still time to get your project going, or you can work up a plan over the winter and be at the top of our installation list next spring.

Hey Folks!

It’s springtime, so it must be Super Saturday Sale time!

Break out your shovels and rakes. The ground is thawed, there are yard projects to be started,.and Patio Pete is here to help you with our first Super Saturday Sale of the season May 14!

All day Saturday, we’ve knocked <strong>10% all VERSA-LOK retaining walls, Willow Creek pavers, and decorative rock, flagstone and mulch.</strong> We’ll not only get you going on your project, we’ll feed you too. Me and my assistants will be serving free hotdogs and beverages at all three Patio Town locations on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bring the whole family!

Villa Landscapes welcomes two new landscape designers—Peter Friend and Lonny Sekeres—to our staff.

PETER FRIEND

Peter Friend joined Villa Landscapes after running his own Twin Cities landscaping business for 12 years. Following his attendance at Hennepin Technical College’s Landscape Design & Horticulture program, Peter assembled and managed crews that designed and installed the full range of landscaping features, from retaining walls and patios to lighting, irrigation and pergolas.

This backyard in Grant had little going for it until Villa Landscapes took over.

A steep set of wooden stairs led from a three-season porch down to a nondescript exposed-aggregate patio underneath. River rock edged the patio and back of the house, and a flat strip of green lawn extended to the woods.

BEFORE

AFTER

Villa Landscapes Designer Andy Lofboom replaced the concrete patio with a Willow Creek Cobblestone paver patio that sweeps away from the house in graceful curves and transforms to twin interlocking Willow Creek Circlestone patios. A VERSA-LOK seat wall rings the perimeter of one Circlestone patio, which features a raised VERSA-LOK firepit in the center. Short columns cap each end of the seat wall and sport a carriage light on top. A double soldier course of pavers edges the patio in two colors. Large stepping stones provide access to the patio from either side.

A stylish spiral staircase replaced the wooden stairs and freed up more space on the patio for a hot tub. Support posts for the porch were wrapped in stone veneer that complements the pavers.

If you're thinking of putting your house on the market, you may want to consider some landscaping improvements to beef up your sale price.

Landscaping is a good investment, according to a recent study by the Journal of Environmental Horticulture. For every dollar you spend on landscaping, your home will see a $1.35 increase in value.

Results of the study were reported in the September 2010 issue of Lawn & Landscape Magazine: 

In a crowded and depressed real-estate market, homeowners may be best served to undertake exterior home improvements like landscaping in order to increase the value of their homes and to help their property stand out to prospective buyers, according to the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC).

A study in Lubbock, Texas, published in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture, evaluated 75 homes and concluded that every dollar invested in landscaping returns $1.35 – or a 35 percent return on investment. The same study found that having high-quality landscape compared to an average home increases the sales price of the home by 5.7 percent. This number jumped to a 10.8 percent increase in the value of a home when comparing an excellent quality landscape to an average landscape.