Premier Nanaimo Landscaping Company | Creative By Design
Creative By Design has been leading the way among Nanaimo landscaping companies, by designing & building beautiful yards with paving stone patios, and more for over 15 years. We provide everything you will need, from the initial design to the construction and installation. We pride ourselves on creating unique and amazing results for the residents of Vancouver Island, including Crofton, Chemainus, Ladysmith, Duncan, Maple Bay, Nanoose Bay and Shawnigan Lake
Nanaimo & Vancouver Island
WE CAN HELP YOU TO DISCOVER THE POTENTIAL IN YOUR YARD
Our Services include:
Consultations, Design, Paving stone patio’s & Driveways, Flagstone, Irrigation, Garden shrubs,
trees & plants, Turf Installation, Water-features, Drainage, Retaining walls, Fences,
low-voltage lighting, Maintenance services, Lawn care etc…
Professional
Designs
Our professional and certified designer will help you design the perfect concept from the ground up. Our landscapers work directly with you from start to finish.
*Please click on our Design Page to see costs.
Paving Stone
Patio’s and Driveways
We are your one-stop shop for all aspects of landscape construction, from patios, driveways, water features and planting beds.
Garden
Shrubs & Plants
Make your garden beautiful with lawn and plants. We also offer irrigation to keep your landscape alive.
Fixed price Quotes with detailed breakdowns!
Let us work with you to get Better Quality while saving you money!!
Fed up with bills that are more than you agreed on?!
We are NOT a ‘Time plus materials’ Company.
What we Quote, is what you pay
NO HIDDEN FEES!!
We are a professional, responsible, knowledgeable with friendly staff. Our aim is to give you a result that makes you proud and the neighbor’s jealous!
The One-Stop Solution for your yard :
- Professional Dynascape-drawn Designs ($450+) and Consultations ($95)
- Quality paver patio’s, driveways and walkways – ($21.50 sq.ft)
- Allan Block retaining walls and stairs
- Flagstone patio’s
- Natural stone retaining walls and stone benches
- Fully automated irrigation Sprinkler systems ($950 per zone)
- Lawn and Turf
- Shrubs, plants and trees from your local nursery
- Planting beds and garden beds
- Custom Blend Soil and Mulch
- Artificial Turf
- Brick and lawn edging ($12.50 linear foot)
- Rock Gardens
- Decomposed Gravel or Decorative Rock Walkways
- Drainage for driveways, walkways, lawns and walls
- Low-Voltage Lighting
- Fencing and decks
- Maintenance services ($65 per hour)
- Lawn Care
- …..and more!
Professional and Affordable services throughout Vancouver Island.
Before it is possible to turn your outdoor space into a landscape, a concept is required. To make this possible, we meet with you and get a feel for what style of concept you are looking for by asking a series of questions, through this process we are able to create a visual representation for you to look at before we start building your new project. This process also gives you an idea of the cost and time frame the installation will take.
Offering quality and creative yardwork across Nanaimo & Vancouver Island
Yardwork is our passion and working with clients to create that fantastic landscaping is all part of that exciting adventure. Whether your looking for a renovation or have just moved into a new home, we are happy to work with you to create your ideal outdoor living space.
If you have some landscaping ideas and are looking to start on your yard, but not sure how and where to start, then visit our design page for an informative breakdown and what our staff can do for you.
Call us at 250.436.2235 or
“We hired Creative by Design to redevelop our backyard in late Spring of 2017. We needed to fix drainage issues, tear out a rotting patio and manage multiple levels of a very sloped yard. When we met Phil for the initial consultation we were impressed with his attention to detail and quality and how much he cared about doing a quality job that looks great. It was clear he took a lot of pride in his work.
Phil helped us take our vision and make it into reality including stonework, curved garden beds, space for a vegetable garden, irrigation and lighting. He guided us toward practical decisions and was always transparent about cost.
It was easy to work with Phil throughout the project – he was very respectful of our yard and space, communicated openly and was patient with our many questions. The work is excellent and looks outstanding. I am in awe of the attention to detail that Phil gave our project. I would hire them again in an instant and will recommend them to anyone who asks.”
K Noriega – Nanaimo BC
When it comes to choosing a landscaping company, this can be harder than it sounds. Just searching online alone will give you nearly 500,000 search results. Trying to navigate through the minefield of web sites that all have fancy pictures along with well-worded text, only leaves you more confused. Every listing that you look at, seems as good as the last.
How do I choose a landscaping Company?
Firstly it is important to know what you’re looking for in a contractor, so you can use those criteria to find someone.
One way is to take a look around your local neighborhood to see what your options are, and what your local businesses are offering. By doing this, you can see what level of quality, different people are offering.
What should I look for in a landscaping company?
- Hardscapes
Does it slope away from the house?
> Any hard surface should always be sloped away from the house as you don’t want surface water sitting up against your foundation.
Are there any low points?
> Low points in brick work can mean puddles in wet weather and ice patches in winter.
> If its an old patio/walkway, it could mean poor prep or installation techniques.
> Driveways can give a telltale sign, which is sunken tracks where the tires of the vehicle enter the garage everyday. Another sign of poor installation techniques
- Turf
Is it all green?
> Lawns with yellow or brown spots in them usually mean two things, either theres not enough soil under the turf or there’s poor or no irrigation.
Is it graded nicely?
> Hollows and low points aren’t easy to mow and visually don’t look too nice. You don’t want a lawn that you dread to cut each week.
- Planting Beds
> Beds that are mounded high usually mean the landscaping contractor was too lazy to dig them out to add good soil, as its quicker to mound on top of the existing sub-grade.
> Higher mounded beds make watering plants tough as the water just wants to run away.
> Dead plants are a good give away. This can be number of reasons; poor planting techniques, poor irrigation, poor soil or disease.
> Mulch doesn’t like to stay on steep sloped surfaces.
- Irrigation systems
Are the heads equal distance apart?
From a distance, it can be hard to tell if an irrigation system is installed well or not
> Dead or dying plants and shrubs are a good telltale sign
> Brown spot on the lawn are also signs of poor heads spacing
‘Over’ or ‘under’ watering?
> If the beds smell ‘marshy’ and your foot sinks into the lawn, then check for over watering
> Plants wilting and a brown lawn are signs of a drought
> A river of water in the gutter is another great sign of over watering. No one wants to pay to waste water, even less for a landscaper to do it for you.
Are they sinking or pushing out?
> If the base isn’t prepped properly, then walls have a tendency to sink
> Walls without drainage can sometimes push out and crack due to hydrostatic pressure
> Depending on the type, some walls should also lean back by a certain percentage to help deal with pressure
- Custom Blend Soil
Is there any good quality soil?
> Turf installed on no soil or poor quality soil will show signs of stress very quickly.
> Is the lawn ‘spongy’ or very thin/thatchy. A good sign of poor soil
> Plants will remain small or have a hard time growing if the soil doesn’t provide them with enough nutrients.
> High clay soil doesn’t take water very easily. This makes watering plants a problem.
> Good high quality soil can be the difference between a sick or a healthy landscape.
- Mulch
Mulch is decorative as well as functional
> It can help to reduce weeds (as long as you stay on top of it)
> Fabric under mulch doesn’t work! Mulch should be topped up every few years and turned over every few months. Fabric makes this hard. Also when you are looking to do a top up, turning the old mulch into the soil can help boost the soil for the plants. With Fabric under the mulch, it makes it impossible to do.
> Mulch won’t stay in place with fabric, and it doesn’t take long after the initial installation, for the fabric to show through and make the bed look untidy.
Creative By Design Landscaping ……”Building with Quality, Installing with Pride”
These are just a few pointers to check when looking at someone’s handiwork. If they claim to be a professional, then none of these issues should be occurring.
We believe that a professional installer should have nothing to hide.
Many people will tell you that a cheaper quote should not be considered. I would look at what they offer, before throwing them out.
Unfortunately, a lot of businesses will charge you a fortune and still give you a very below average result. The focus these days, is about getting the job done quicker and not necessarily done right.
Asking ‘how’ they install their products, maybe getting a demonstration, should be another way to weed out poor quality as well.
As a homeowner already paying a premium for work around your home, don’t you at least deserve to have it done right, and for that matter ONCE!
Just because more and more products around us are becoming a throw-away commodity, does that mean landscaping should join it.