Dreamscapes Landscaping & Design

Today, driveways are considered part of the landscaping and upgrading them can improve a home’s curb appeal.

Curb appeal. It’s that good impression that a prospective buyer receives when looking at a home for purchase. It starts at the curb before the buyer even walks into the home.

As more homeowners recognize the value of improving such first impressions, there’s a growing interest in landscaping — with plantings, stonework and the creation of points of interest, such as fountains or enclosed spaces. As some designers have said, “the garden is the new kitchen.”

Lately, the desire to improve

The right path to impressing guests and prospective buyers for your home may be right in front of your eyes — the driveway, walkway and front porch.

More than ever, homeowners are discovering, the best material for such things may be concrete pavers for several reasons.

Concrete pavers:

• Are beautiful. They come in many shapes and colors. Suppliers stock rustic stone-like pavers and others that look like clay brick. Light colored pavers can offer a cooler surface around patios and pool decks.
• Don’t crack like asphalt or poured-in-place concrete. Each unit has joints that allow for a small amount of movement without cracking.
• Are easy to repair. You can

Homeowners can not only help protect the environmen, they can improve the curb appeal of their home with interlocking concrete pavement. Interlocking concrete pavement (ICP) is not only visually appealing, it lasts longer than other conventional pavements such as poured concrete or asphalt. A study by Applied Research Associates (ARA) finds life-cycle costing for Interlocking Concrete Pavements is 29 years. This is longer than other conventional pavements.

This ability to last longer makes ICP the sustainable pavement of the future. Sustainable means using methods, systems and materials that won't deplete resources or harm natural cycles. Interlocking concrete pavement’s longer life-cycle means less of an impact on resources. Every homeowner can do their part to protect the earth with the use of sustainable products around the home. An added plus for the homeowner with ICP is less maintenance and

Using interlocking concrete pavers to create an exciting, durable driveway relies on a technique that the Romans used to build their roads.They are often used in walkways, patios, driveways, plazas and downtown renovations.

Many homeowners desire the high-end look of stone on their property’s walks and driveways at more modest concrete prices.

One way to do this is with interlocking concrete pavers — a pavement type that is growing in

The day you realize your walkway or patio is starting to look like an obstacle course is the time to think about replacing it.

Replacing a walkway, driveway or patio is known as hardscaping, and finding a hardscaping contractor who can design and install one that suits your house, your sensibilities and your pocketbook often requires diligent research and some price comparison to get the best value for your money. Not surprisingly, the best value is not always the cheapest.

A growing number of homeowners have discovered that one of the most versatile and customizable pavement options is interlocking concrete pavers. That said, the next step to a new walkway is finding the right person to install it. In order to ensure a quality installation, you should ask questions of the contractor like:

• How long have they been installing pavers?
• Have they been trained by a manufacturer or the ICPI? Are

Raised patios can boost family togetherness and add to your home’s beauty.If it’s time for the deck in your backyard to walk the plank, you may want to look into replacing it with a raised paver patio.

It’s not surprising that the addition of raised concrete paver patios in the backyard is a growing trend. Raised patios using segmental concrete retaining walls and interlocking concrete pavers give homeowners the beauty of natural stone at surprisingly modest prices. They’re also maintenance free.

There are a number of practical reasons why raised patios have become a favorite family gathering place

Several years ago we contracted with Dreamscapes Landscape and Design to install pavers and turf stone to replace our driveway. Jacob and his crew did a fantastic job.

Two years ago when we moved to our new home we again went to Dreamscapes to install a Japanese garden and water feature. The result is a beautiful, functional, low maintenance space where we spend as much time as we can. Dreamscapes work has resulted in many compliments from our neighbors and several of our neighbors have contracted with Dreamscapes to landscape their yards. You cannot go wrong with Jacob and his staff.

Alan & Pat Himsl
Projects: retaining wall, irrigation planting, lawn installation