Gary in Calgary

Both my front and back yards were in a sorry state after years of neglect. I contracted with Doug Bourgoyne of Natural Landscapes to create an entirely new and fresh vision. The main feature in the front yard was a dry river bed surrounded by Rundle rock boulders, grass, trees and perennials. My neighbours were wowed by the new look, which now exeeds the appearance of many of their front yards. My back yard was initially worse than the front yard, which I tried to keep up for the neighbours' sake. I just couldn't control the weeds in the back as the previous landscaper just did not do a professional job. I fought with the resulting landscape for fifteen years until I couldn't stand it any longer. It was so bad that I didn't want to look out my kitchen window at the back yard every time spring arrived as it was depressing. So, in the back yard, Doug designed and executed the following: • a new deck made with composite • a new and beautiful patio shaped with grey pavers • a hillside (since my property descends from the back lane) with large Rundle rock boulders as retainers, some considerably larger than in the front yard • a waterfall that flows down diagonally across half of the yard ending in a pond • various shrubs, grasses and trees placed strategically across the landscape • steps leading up from the patio to the back fence/lane I also had an irrigation system installed both in the front and back of my property in order to minimize maintenance. Doug excels especially at 'hardscape'. You can call him a master landscaper but I could easily categorize him as an artist. He wanted to deviate from the original plan for the back yard while he was in control of his bobcat. He told me he had a better vision to place the boulders and waterfall in real time. I could not visualize what he had in mind but from my experience with his creativity in the front yard, I held my breath and agreed to let him do what he wanted. The final concept was much more beautiful than the original design, although I would have been very satisfied with the original plan as well. Doug also has a savvy group of young, hard-working and affable helpers that do the planting and help fashion the landscaping, but Doug himself is the one in charge of the bobcat as he carves out his vision. I could easily compare Doug and his bobcat to an artist with his brush and canvas. Those neighbours and friends that I welcomed into my backyard were astonished at its transformation into a little Garden of Eden and I received numerous accolades. When the landscaping was finished, I mostly saw green, green, green among the black and white Rundle boulders and brown mulch, but as the summer progressed, I began to see various plants flower with reds, pinks, yellows, whites - the gamut. It was especially exciting to see new colours almost every other week. There are some minor adjustments that will have to be made, as with all projects, but that is being left till next spring and that is fine with me. All in all, Doug is a master landscaper with an uncanny artistic bent.