Heinen Landscape has been hard at work throughout the Kansas City area this summer with backyard landscape and hardscape projects in a wide variety of neighborhoods – including Mission Hills, Old Leawood, Brookside, Waldo, Roeland Park, Overland Park and many more! From small scale patio upgrades and drainage projects to outdoor lighting installations and complete backyard makeovers, we’ve redefined outdoor living spaces, installed many hundreds of plantings and designed and built outdoor kitchens that rival some indoor kitchens! Below is an inside peek at a recently completed backyard renovation project!
This past spring and summer on a tree-lined street in the quiet city of Fairway, Kansas a massive backyard transformation was taking place. Actually, some of the transformation started a year prior when a Heinen landscape crew planted a row of trees along the homeowner’s rear property line. A few months after the tree row was planted the real makeover commenced.
It started with a text the homeowners sent to Dave Heinen mentioning some ideas for a backyard patio they’d like to discuss. Heinen met with the homeowners for an input discussion and shortly after set to work creating a design and layout for an expanded patio and outdoor kitchen area – along with lighted seating areas, seasonal planting beds, French drains for effective rainwater drainage and a utility nook for trash and recycling bin storage.
Work at the property began in earnest – as Heinen crews set about removing the existing backyard patio, burying French drains, grading the expanded entertainment area and laying a concrete pad to support the new Techo-Bloc manufactured-stone patio, lighted benches, and outdoor kitchen (complete with grilling station, hidden waste compartment, and outdoor refrigeration). Wiring for outdoor kitchen appliances and bench seating lights was also installed during early stages of the project.
As prep work was completed, the detail work began on a diagonal placement of various-sized Techo-Bloc manufactured stone pavers – saw-cut on site to a precise 45-degree angle from the home. The “crisscross” stone paver-pattern was created to be both visually engaging and as a subliminal way to slow movement of foot traffic on the patio (versus a longitudinal “walkway” pattern which tends to accelerate traffic – after all, the patio was designed as a destination, not for transportation!).
Two inset planting areas were created near the house to break up the broad expanse of stone and to add color and organic life to the patio area. The inset beds were bordered with square, darker Techo-Bloc pavers and included French drain inlets within the beds to easily transport rainwater away from the home’s foundation and out to the street. Plantings within the beds ranged from a variety of hostas, to colorful azaleas, boxwood shrubs and an evergreen (similar to the privacy evergreens at the rear of the property). Darker colored Techo-Bloc entry-steps areas were also installed for backyard home entrances.
The star of the show however is the new outdoor kitchen – which includes an outdoor grilling station, a refrigerator, and a hidden waste compartment all with under counter lighting. (Notice in the photo detail the graphic flame inset on one of the grilling area stones – a fun artistic touch!) Techo-Bloc seating areas with underlighting around the perimeter provide perfect illumination for late evening socializing.
Heinen also sawcut and installed a Techo-Bloc entry pad (with a matching color palette) at the gated entrance to the backyard to create an eye-catching entryway to the new outdoor entertainment area. The home’s irrigation system was reconfigured to adjust for the larger patio and new watering zones were added to properly irrigate the inset flower beds. Thick, new, sod was laid to convert the construction site back into a lawn.
Last (but not least!) were front of the house landscaping projects – including new shrubs, flowers, hostas, sod, and a reconfigured irrigation system (in the photos, note blue flags marking sprinkler heads). One of the more subtle but useful elements of the project was the construction of a utility nook for recycling and waste containers just to the right of the garage exterior. The base of the nook was built with Techo-Bloc pavers (consistent with the color scheme for the rest of the project) and street-side curb-appeal is achieved through decorative fencing, new shrubs and flowers.
Check out the video and photo galleries to see before, during and after photos of this great project!
Ready to make your own vision of the great outdoors at your property become a reality? Give Debbie at Heinen a call at (913) 432-5011 for a complimentary consultation today! Be sure to visit our website for more updates on projects and follow along on social media to see what goes on in between the stunning before and after photos!
