OUR SERVICES

Light Dark Landscape is a comprehensive design-build landscaping company working at the nexus of restoration and landscaping. We do it all, from designing to installing and maintaining our projects.

Our integrative approach to landscape design pulls from a range of disciplines including housing, historic preservation, art, and architecture. As a result, we bring a discerning contemporary eye to the visual look, knowledge of the site’s history, and attention to materiality to ensure that the landscape coheres with existing structures. Check out our services and contact us to set up a first consultation!

OUR SERVICES

Looking over a woman's shoulder reading a landscape design to begin installation services.
Four landscape crew members installing new boulders and plants into fresh dirt in front of a modern black and natural wood house on an urban street.

DESIGN: PLAN SETS OR SMALL SCALE RESTORATION PLANS

Our designs address site-specific needs and the shared goals of the client and designers. Designs are illustrated by scaled plans and 2-D drawings with accompanying graphics such as illustrative photo-boards, renderings, and an estimate for our company to install your project. We’ll guide you about determining if a plan set or small-scale restoration is right for your site. Learn more about how small-scale restoration differs below!

We do not provide designs for individual hardscapes like retaining walls, decks, and patios. We incorporate hardscape elements into our designs, but they are not standalone projects.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Our design team includes Project Managers that ensures a smooth installation of each project from start to finish.

INSTALLATION

We have an awesome in-house installation crew that’ll get your project off the ground.

Coaching services and designs for self-installation are not available. Please see our process below for an overview of working with us.

LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE

Maintenance is available for Light Dark Landscape design/installations clients only. During the design process we work with clients develop a maintenance plan to give the new plantings a chance to get established.

Maintenance services include weeding, pruning, plant health assessments, education on identifying good seedlings, and how to protect plants from browsing deer and rabbits for clients that wish to do their own maintenance. All landscapes, including no-mow lawns and native plant landscapes, do require some maintenance.

Light Dark Landscape does not offer landscape services for lawn care, laying sod, or property maintenance only. While we do not offer these services, we highly recommend Organic Bob. He has decades of experience and a deep knowledge of weeds, soil, and turf.

SMALL SCALE RESTORATION

Restoration landscaping differs from our other services in that these landscapes are designed with broader considerations and a longer-time-scale than our residential and commercial properties. Restoration sites are often “wild” landscapes like wetlands, shorelines, woodlands, or prairies. Restoration plans are text-driven management plans involving historical and ecological research, tailored for the site’s evolution for years to come. These plans may or may not include 2-D drawings depending on the type of project.

Our restoration plans include services such as:

  • Invasive species removal plans. We are committed to chemical free-alternative methods such as pigs, sheet-mulching, etc.
  • Maintenance strategies after initial invasives removal, including scouting  and removal of the invasives  and monitoring of introduced natives
  • Planting or reforestation plans to successfully introduce new species
  • Coordination of prairie burns, if needed
  • Erosion control plans

GRANT RECIPIENTS

Have you received a grant from a watershed organization or the Minnesota DNR for landscape services?

The Light Dark design team can help you determine the services you need and next steps.

OUR PROCESS

1

CONTACT US

Tell us about your potential project! Describe the property’s current state, what you’d like to accomplish, and any environmental issues you’d like to address. The best time of year to start the process is late summer or fall as we are preparing for the upcoming season, but we take on projects at all times of the year. After contacting us, we’ll set up a phone call to discuss and see if we’re a good fit to meet on site.

2

CONSULTATION

If it’s a good fit, we’ll get you on the calendar to meet for a complimentary 1-hour site consultation to understand and visualize the project’s needs. We’ll also discuss if your site is a good candidate for small scale restoration rather than traditional ecological landscaping. For more on what small scale restoration entails, see above.

3

DESIGN PROPOSAL

Following the consultation, we’ll put together a project description, a bid for our design services, and a turnaround time for design. At this time we can discuss possible phasing of the installation if needed. Once the design bid has been accepted, we’ll draft and sign a design contract.

4

DESIGN

After a contract is signed, we’ll begin designing! We’ll then present our design, virtually or on-site, providing you with drawings and visuals to envision your new space. Larger projects may require more than one round of design, which will be discussed in the design proposal.

5

INSTALLATION PROPOSAL

Once the design is finalized, we’ll provide a final estimate for approval. Here we can discuss maintenance to sustain your new space. Once approved, we will draft and sign a separate contract for installation and get your project scheduled on the calendar to begin bringing the design to life!

6

INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE

To ensure that installation goes smoothly, we assign a project manager for each project to oversee all the details until it is complete. After installation, we’ll do a final walkthrough together to celebrate and make sure the results are as you envisioned. If desired, we’ll provide a maintenance proposal for you to continue enjoying your beautiful new space!

Two landscapers planting potted grasses along a muddy shoreline of a lake.

Ready to work with us?

Get in touch!

© Light Dark Landscape, LLC. – Minneapolis, MN