A mountain renovation fails when everything existing is treated as leftover. Mature spruce, a flagstone patio that still drains, and a drive edge that already works for a plow are expensive to replace and slow to re-establish at elevation.
Neils Lunceford has built and maintained landscapes in Summit and Grand counties since 1980. We start with what is worth keeping, then edit.
Inventory before you demo
Walk the lot with a notepad, not a mood board. Mark trees that still have a sound leader and a clear root flare. Mark stone that is level and not heaving into a walk. Mark walls that hold grade. Those items stay unless they block a required access or a documented failure.
Photograph each keeper with a wide shot and a close shot. A design meeting goes faster with that packet than with a Pinterest board of plants that will not take the first winter.
Snow and construction access decide more than style
A pretty bed that occupies the only snow stack from snow removal will not survive January. A tree you keep has to leave room for equipment that built the patio. If a spruce sits on the only crane path for a future roof job, say that now.
Construction and planting should share one sequence. Drainage and utilities first. Stone elevations next. Plants last, with irrigation adjusted after the hardscape is locked.
Nursery stock has to match elevation, not the catalog
Our garden and nursery yards in Silverthorne and Tabernash exist because high-country plant lists are not Front Range lists. A renovation that keeps a healthy aspen and then rings it with tender shrubs is not a keep-and-edit plan. It is two projects fighting.
Plant health care on keepers should start before demolition so the remaining trees are not an afterthought once soil is compacted.
What stays in the written scope
Name the keepers, the removals, and the items that need a decision after excavation. Do not hide a “we will see” tree in a lump-sum planting allowance.
Call 970-468-0340 or contact us when you want a renovation scoped from what already works. Related reading is on the blog.
Questions about your landscape? Contact Neils Lunceford