December 20, 2017 By Landscaping

Landscaping Contractors: Winter is a Great Time to Get These 5 Tasks Done

The storm windows are up. You’ve stockpiled wood for the fireplace and weather-sealed around the doors. You’ve dug out your wool sweater, the balaclava and your warmest gloves and you’re ready for winter’s onslaught to begin. Time to call the landscaper.

Working Through the Winter: Toronto’s Landscaping Contractors

Most folks assume landscapers call it a year sometime around Halloween and hibernate until late March. Few things could be further from the truth. Landscapers – even in the often brutal winter environment of Toronto – are year round sorts, and in fact it can make great sense to hire a landscaper during the winter months. “Why’s that?” you say. Well, for starters…

They’re far less busy – While landscaping contractors work year round there’s no doubt demand for their services is greatly reduced during the winter months. Instead of waiting weeks for them to show up after you call (like you may have to do in summer), you may see them the next day in December.
So is their design staff – Most landscaping contractors have one or more landscape designers on the payroll. They also see a significant reduction in their workload during the winter. So if you have big plans for your yard next summer now’s the time to arrange to meet with the landscape designer and lay it all out.

Besides having the time to sit down with you and plan your project for next year here are 5 other rock-solid reasons for hiring a landscaping contractor during the winter months.

Pruning – Winter provides the perfect opportunity to prune much of the late season overgrowth and damage from your trees and shrubs. It’s also a great time to have rose bushes shaped or thinned out. The bare branches of winter also provide an opportunity to have your landscape contractor check for insects. Telltale signs like egg masses will be laid bare in the winter and easy to remove.
Blowing out sprinklers – Even if a few frosts have come and gone it’s not too late to blow out your yard’s sprinkler system. Many of the pipes are sunk well into the ground, insulated (for a time anyway) from the cold that descends in early winter. While it’s advisable to have your sprinklers blown out in mid-fall don’t assume that just because it’s early December that it’s too late.
Creating dry-stack stone walls – Since there is no mortar involved in a dry stack stone wall there is no reason they can’t be built during the winter months; as long as the snow is not too deep. Stones don’t care what the temperature is so putting off building dry stack walls until winter is something many busy landscaping contractors will do as a matter of course.
Demolition – Like dry-stack walls demolition is a process that doesn’t require any temperature sensitive materials. If a client is planning a major overhaul of their backyard landscaping in the summer the winter can be the perfect time to do any necessary demolition to lay the groundwork.
Snow removal – Many landscaping contractors are as busy during the winter months removing snow as they are during the summer months reshaping your flowerbeds. When you have the landscaping contractor at your home in the summer make arrangements for them to come clear your driveway when necessary during the winter.

M.E. Landscaping serves the needs of our clients in the Toronto area 12 months a year. There’s no long hibernation either for our world-class landscape designers or our hardscape professionals. Whether you need your sprinklers blown out, a decorative stone wall built on your property or wish to schedule demolition work or snow removal give us a call on 416-455-9296. We’re here to help all year round.

November 11, 2017 By Landscaping

How a Landscaping Company Can Make Your Home More Valuable this Year

If you’re looking for a project that will result in maximum ROI or one that will increase the value of your Toronto home because you plan to sell it you’re probably kicking around ideas like kitchen or bathroom renovation, or perhaps even renovating the basement. While these are all good ideas that will increase both your home’s worth and livability the fact is if it’s maximum bang for the buck you’re after you need look no further than your own backyard.

Hiring a Landscaping Company is a Good Investment

When landscaping companies try to sell you on the value of their service they’re not just fishing for extra business. Real estate agents have long known that great landscaping can add as much as 20% to the value of a home and that even upgrading from ‘fair’ to ‘good’ landscaping can bump up your home’s value by 4 or 5 percent. The landscaping truth is that…

Color matters – When it comes to color it’s important to know how to balance what you want with what will work, and your landscaping company are experts at doing just that. Color encompasses more than just blooms on flowers or blossoming trees, it includes everything from the mulch to the color of the pavers in the driveway to the different shades of green on various plants, bushes and trees.
Trees matter – Speaking of trees; studies have shown that having a single large, leafy tree in front of a house can increase its value by as much as $15 – $20,000. Having a landscaping company place the right broadleaf tree in your front yard also adds immediate curb appeal and gives the appearance that the home is well-established on the site and more fully integrated into the overall environment. Two things most buyers are looking for.
Size matters – DIY landscapers often fail to take size into consideration when choosing plants for their yard. A plant may look great in the nursery but be completely overwhelmed once in place and seem nearly invisible from a distance because it’s just too small. Landscaping contractors view every possible addition to a landscape design through many different lenses, including that of proportion, in order to achieve balance and harmony.
Lighting matters – Nearly half of all home buyers want landscape lighting to be part of the landscape design of the home they buy and are willing to pay more to get it. Landscape lighting creates focal points, highlights elements of the landscape design that may not be apparent during the day, provides a higher level of safety and significantly enhances a home’s security profile all at the same time.

Hiring the right landscaping company is crucial to enjoying the high returns possible on a landscaping project. While renovating your bathroom may ultimately create an ROI of 70% top notch landscaping can return well over 100%. Conversely those who attempt to landscape their property themselves often find that their efforts ultimately lead to a decrease in home value. This is not for lack of effort but simply because they are not well versed in the fundamentals of landscape design including balance, proportion, unity, rhythm and the creation of focal points.

M.E. Contracting is the GTA’s premier landscaping company. We’ve help homeowners all over the Toronto area enhance the value of their property by creating landscape designs that best serve the particulars of their lot and home design while adhering to the fundamental principles noted above. If you’re looking for an affordable way to beautify your home while adding value and enjoying an outstanding ROI call us today on 416-455-9296 and speak to one of our landscaping experts.

October 22, 2017 By Landscaping

Driveway Paving: The Difference Between Good and Bad

Driveway paving can take many forms including concrete, gravel, asphalt, and interlocking pavers. It would be nice if everyone who does driveway paving for a living did the job right the first time but sadly that is not always the case. Still, it can be difficult to tell when you got your money’s worth and when someone simply took the money and ran. In this post we’ll try to provide you with some things to look for before you hand over the final payment to the contractor.

Proper Driveway Paving Means Proper Base Preparation

When it comes to good vs. bad driveway paving it almost always comes down to making sure your chosen material is laid down on a proper base. It’s the base that provides stability and drainage and the base where unscrupulous contractors will try to save money; typically by avoiding it altogether.

Concrete – Concrete driveway paving has long been the economical choice for homeowners nationwide. If done right a poured concrete driveway will last for many years. But how do you know the contractor did the job properly? A good indicator that you might have problems down the road is if the contractor used sand or dirt as a base for the concrete. These materials will absorb moisture and push up and down during freeze/thaw cycles creating cracks.
Gravel – Installing a gravel driveway requires more than dumping the gravel out of the back of a truck and spreading it out nice and even. There is actually quite a bit of prep work that comes first. A well built gravel driveway will have a sub-base of large, crushed stones with another layer of somewhat finer material above that, then a layer of landscaping fabric and then the gravel. This combination allows for maximum stability and proper drainage.
Asphalt – Asphalt is prized for its smooth, easy-to-shovel, easy-to-maintain surface but it must be laid according to well established methods. If it’s not, you’ll have problems. The base and sub-base layers are key with asphalt just as they are with other forms of paving. If there is no course sub-base or macadam base over that your asphalt will be left to the mercies of the bare earth and that’s not good.
Interlocking Pavers – Interlocking pavers create maybe the most beautiful, durable driveways you’ll find anywhere. They come in a variety of colors, shapes and textures and can be mixed, matched and arranged to create compelling, one-of-a-kind looks. If properly installed pavers last for generations. A proper sub-base is crucial to the longevity of an interlocking driveway, as is proper edging. Cut corners on either and your interlocking driveway will lose integrity.

Any one of these paving materials will look great right after installation, even if the contractor has bypassed the base. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months or more before you to begin to see problems. Because of this it’s important that you make the installation of a proper base part of the paving contract. It’s also key that you enlist a reliable, well respected contractor to do the work for you.

M.E. Contracting have paved scores of driveways for homeowners across the Greater Toronto Area. We never cut corners, use cheap materials or rush the job just to make a few dollars more. On the contrary we sweat the details and make sure your new driveway paving job is one that will provide you years of dependable, trouble-free use. Whether you’re in the market for a concrete, asphalt, gravel or interlocking driveway, we can create one for you that will stand the test of time.

October 15, 2017 By Landscaping

Driveway Paving and the True Impact that It Can Have on Your Home

As it is typically the first thing people see from the street the driveway sets the visual tone for the entire property. Should the driveway be in disrepair it will drag down the impression of everything else, including the house itself, no matter how dazzling it might be. Should your driveway have fallen on hard times you should not hesitate to arrange for it to be repaved. But beware, the new driveway will only be as good as the driveway paving company that does the work.

The Importance of Selecting the Right Driveway Paving Company

The driveway plays an important role in determining ‘curb appeal’ and by extension the market value of your home. It does so in a variety of ways and in this post we’ll go over the how’s and whys of driveway dynamics.

Driveway vs. no driveway – The very existence of a driveway will enhance the value of your home because it allows you to remove your car from the public road where it may be susceptible to accidental damage, vandalism or theft. Even if the driveway is in generally poor repair or doesn’t lead to a garage your house will still be more valuable for having it than if it did not have it.
Increased market value – So your house is more valuable with a driveway than without one. But how much more valuable? The answer depends on the type of paving, the quality of the paving job and the state of the pavement. If you have a gravel driveway in need of resurfacing any increase in value will be small. But if your driveway is newly finished with interlocking pavers done by real professionals the bump in home value can be significant.
Types of paving – When you decide to pave your Toronto driveway you’re faced with an array of choices. Which one you choose will be a matter of budget and taste.

Concrete slab – Functional but prone to cracking.
Brick – Durable but must be matched to the right style of house.
Stamped concrete – Beautiful and functional but prone to cracking.
Asphalt – Easy to install and relatively affordable but prone to cracking.
Gravel – Cheap and quick to install, drains well but don’t try to shovel snow from it.
Interlocking pavers – Beautiful, durable, low maintenance, easy to shovel, high ROI.

Intangibles – If you install interlocking pavers with an eye toward selling and use a highly experienced driveway paving company like M.E. Landscaping the boost in curb appeal alone may be enough to elicit offers you otherwise wouldn’t have received. So if the newly paved driveway is responsible for selling the home then what is the real ROI? Even if you don’t have plans to sell your home the new driveway will make it more attractive and easier to maintain.
The right paving company – It’s in your interest to avoid fly-by-night operations to repave your driveway. If you choose an unproven company offering you a substantial discount to install interlocking pavers, for instance, they’ll likely cut corners on the underlying layers that are essential to the long term stability of the interlocking system. Problems may not become noticeable until after the check has cleared and then it will be too late.

M.E. Landscaping is one of the Toronto area’s most experienced driveway paving companies. We’re able to handle any type of driveway surface you have in mind and specialize in the design and installation of interlocking pavers. If you are unsure which type of driveway paving system is right for your home give us a call on 416 455 9296 and speak to one of our paving pros.