Work Together, Make It Better

Not only does it allow the designers to present themselves as design-build companies, but the specifications allow A Yard & A Half to offer a lifetime guarantee on its work.

Click photo to enlarge“That has generated a lot of loyalty,” Edsell-Vetter says. “We have several[CEV4] designers who use us exclusively for their installations, and we almost feel like we’re an extension of their companies.”

For clients who may not feel they need such an extensive design process, Edsell-Vetter provides many of the designs herself.

“One of the project managers or I will meet with them and help figure out a budget and their decision-making process,” she explains. “We then develop an estimate for them, and if we need to flesh it out with drawings, we do. We’re pretty customer-led in terms of what will be most helpful for their process and expectations.”

And, if the job appears to be one that is too large or complex to be designed in-house, the client is referred to one of the designers with which the company works.

Referrals and jobs from designers make up the biggest share of A Yard & A Half’s work at this point. Edsell-Vetter says the company is still doing pro bono work, partly for the publicity, but also to provide feel-good opportunities for its employees.

“There’s a local organization called Hope in Bloom that does gardens for women with breast cancer,” she says. “This year we worked with them, and it’s a neat project because it’s somebody’s home. We did the garden and she (the recipient) and the crew really connected.”

Maintenance remains about a third of A Yard & A Half’s business, handled by a manager and three two-person crews, and while Edsell-Vetter says clients appreciate a timely reminder to plant their bulbs, or an e-mail blast about how to save their plants from a late-season freeze, that also extends to hardscape.

“One of our projects this year is putting together what we’re calling owners’ manuals for hardscape,” she says. “That includes for lighting and ponds, because the maintenance can be a big missed opportunity on some of those items.”

For instance, rather than fielding calls about leaf stains in the fall, she says A Yard & A Half will suggest sealing a patio after it’s been installed.

“Of course, we also tell them how to take care of it,” Edsell-Vetter adds. “It’s just that extra opportunity based on our extra experience.”

It’s that type of opportunity that Edsell-Vetter believes will help grow the company as it moves into the future. Other items on the wish list include bringing some items the eight-person construction crew currently subs out – such as lighting and irrigation – in-house.