Axel Landscapes

Serving the greater Minneapolis and St. Paul metro areas

WINNER: 2010 MNLA Award for Residential Rear Yard

Winner: 2009 Angie's List Super Service Award

Phone:
612-819-2828

Fax:
612-605-1938

Email:
sales@axe...

(click for full email address.)

Whew!  It always seems like the whirlwind of spring turns into summer and then fall before we even know it.   It's been a great landscaping season, and we're excited to share some photos of some of the projects we've been working on.    Also, feel free to check out projects from previous years by clicking in the green box to the right--- there are lots of video tours on those pages, as well.

<< page may load slowly as there are a LOT of photos... but it's worth the wait. >>

Completed late October:   The previous owners of this house had an extensive berm and garden area that had some rotting wood, and didn't offer the new owners the usable land space that we were able to gain during this landscaping project.    We also replaced an old deck that had a lot of levels and angular dead space with a new two-layer patio with a single larger patio space that is more open to the yard. 

Before:   a large berm and overgrown trees and shrubs leave a smaller back yard lawn area
After:  Several old thinning evergreens and all of the shrubs/scrub brush was removed and we pushed the front line of the berm back 12-20 feet to gain lawn space.   A new boulder wall with a patio with fireplace is nestled in the berm, and we completely leveled the lawn area to the back left to make space for a play area.
Before:   an old deck had a lot of layers and angles that took up a lot of space, but left a cramped table area.   Also a lilac tree that is too large for the area was growing into the house and blocking the bedroom window.	After:  A raised patio area joins the back door and gazebo and is lined with raised planters.   The larger patio at ground level includes a grilling nook and space for a larger table, and is more open to the yard.

Completed Early October:  2010 MNLA Award Winner --- just announced!

This project in Edina took about four weeks, and involved managing and cooperating with several other contractors. We totally reshaped the back hill at this house. The clients had about a 10x12' deck, and that was it for usable back yard flat space.

We used Fondulac Limestone to build terrace walls and a LOT of compacted fill to make flat areas for patios, sitting walls, and an outdoor gas fireplace. We needed 14 limestone steps with paver landings to get back down to the side yard. The sitting walls have custom Indiana Limestone caps.

This was an amazing transformation. We will submit this project for awards this winter. Even the clients said, several times, they wouldn't have believed it was possible to make something like this on their hilly property. It was tough work, but we did it!

I'm posting a lot of pictures of this one, because it's a really special project.

 

Upper area before	Upper area after
This is the boulder wall which holds up the upper patio and fireplace. (Don't worry, the fireplace is on 8-foot footings, so it's not going anywhere!)
Hill Area Before	Hill Area After--- Uhh, just a slight improvement. :-)
Here is the middle area where the small deck used to be	Again -- Bit of an improvement, wouldn't you say?
The pillars have PVC pipes running up them so they can add lighting in the future if they want.	Looking uphill from the side yard
Here's an idea of the mayhem involved in building something like this. We were constantly working off eight different pallets of stone (different sizes, colors, etc.) s
Limestone requires an incredible amount of cutting to get it to fit tightly.	It also requires lots of extra shaving.
It's a ton of work and a ton of dust, but we love the results.
We have to make exact templates for the custom cap supplier.	The caps fit perfectly on their curves

Video Tour of this project.
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Completed Mid September:   We were able to design a patio/firepit space which integrated perfectly with the existing pavers and wallstones in this backyard. These are Virginia Slate boulders, with granite steps, a patio, and firepit. We used ~18" high Virginia Slate boulders to also make a sitting wall behind the patio. We had somewhat limited access to the back yard, so we did this entire project with just our small Bobcat machine. The big Bobcat sat out front moving pallets around, waiting to join the fun on the next job.

 

Before	Installing a granite step
Getting ready to cut the border row around the firepit.	After
Here is the completed border around the firepit, and a view of the sitting wall boulders.

Video Tour of this project.
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Completed Late July:   This house in Minnetonka is nearing completion of a large remodeling project. They got two new patios, one under a pergola and one in the back of the yard with a sitting wall and firepit. They tell us they've been getting a lot of use out of that firepit!

 

Before	After
Sod Repair Immediately After	Sod Repair Three Weeks Later Blends right in with the old yard!

Video Tour of this project.
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Completed Mid July:  This new construction home was a great "blank palette".  Rather than have steps out immediately from the door that would have led to a very large flat patio, this design worked with two patio elevations to define the "table and grill area" separate from the lounging area.

Completed Late June:  A new patio and small retaining wall make room for a new hot tub!

Complete Mid June:  An 'unduplexing' renovation turned this duplex into a single family home, and the new homeowners got a beautiful home, but one without landscaping.    We added a larger planting area and some trees off of the existing concrete patio, which when grown in will give some privacy from the open yard to the neighbors front yards.   Adding a garden wall with a slight berm in the planting bed helps to break up the very flat space.

Completed Early June:   We call this the "M.C. Escher" project, reminiscent of the Escher's "Relativity" drawing that joins many staircases together .  In Escher's design there is a trick of perspective and you can't tell what plane they are on or going to, but in landscaping the real world they all lead somewhere!   Working around the trees and with the slope of this Eden Prairie backyard, we created a backyard with living spaces flowing amongst the trees.

Before	After

 

Video Tour of this project.
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Completed Early June:  Wooden tie retaining walls and an old patio with some drainage issues are removed and replaced with a nice multi-sized retaining wall block and random-patterned pavers.

Completed Late May:  This home originally had a very large deck that had some footing issues, and a backyard with a steep grassy slope to get to the backyard which didn't have any living spaces to take advantage of the space they had.   The previous deck, footings, and rock came out, and a new deck went in with paved living space underneath it.   To the side of that we added a gas firepit, and reshaped the hillside and boulder wall to add granite steps and extend the boulder wall which allowed us to lessen the steepness of the grassy slope down to the yard.

Before
After
After: View from under deck	Design Drawing

 

 

Completed in April and Planted in May:  A garage addition needed a retaining wall and steps to the house.  The landscape was completed with a new patio, planting design, and the concrete steps down the side hill are replaced with a softer limestone stepper pathway.

 

Completed Mid May:  New limestone raised planter boxes frame the front entry of this great Hopkins home.   We also added a new sidewalk and patio, and veneered the old concrete stoops.

Before Photos	After Photos

Completed Early May:   This St. Paul home had an old concrete area between the clients garage and back door that filled up with water and ice every winter, and the homeowners had reached the end of sand-bagging the area so they called us.   We regraded the back yard to work the drainage around the house, and installed a new back entry and wrap-around sidewalk area with proper slope to drain away from the house.

Before

After

More pictures coming - we went back and planted this area later in the spring!

Completed mid-April:  An old square deck was removed, and a new patio with sitting wall and pillars went in it's place.   A large curved stoop gives easy access to the patio door, and also gives extra room for potted plants and informal sitting space for the kids.

Want to see more?  Check back later as we add more photos from 2009 projects, or click here to see our Recent Projects from 2008!

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