Even if you live inside of your home, what your outdoor space looks like can often make or break your house’s value, your entertaining experience, and your daily activities living in a place! Having a strong plan for what your landscaping and outdoor setup is going to look like can be the difference between a good yard and a great one, and that’s where landscape design companies like Visionscape Design come in! We got the chance to speak to Greg Imhoff, founder of Visionscape Design, about what he offers to homeowners in the Northwest Bergen area.
“We are solely a landscape design company,” Imhoff said, “so we provide 3D images and construction plans for homeowners, contractors and pool builders. I've had over 15 years of experience working for landscapers, pool builders, and garden centers in the area, so I kind of culminated all of the skills before I started my design company, which was five years ago now.”
“I grew up in the landscape industry,” he continued. “I worked at a big garden center since eighth grade, riding my bike down to the center, working there, and dealing with landscapers, so I had a good network that I've kept up over the years. I ended up just cold calling landscapers that I knew, trying to reach out to them and telling them that I was opening up my own business and that I'd be happy to start designing for them. That happened pretty fast, and then my name kind of got around, so we hit the ground running. I'd say we’re one of the more popular landscape design companies in northern New Jersey, especially as far as pool designs go.”
When asked what sets Visionscape Design apart from other landscapers and design companies, Imhoff said, “We always try to design within our client budgets, and since we are solely a design company, we're not trying to upsell someone on more expensive things, like a pool or patio. We solely look out for our clients’ interest, keeping budget in mind, and we pay attention to details like the dynamic of their family, how they entertain, and of course, the layout of their yard and what design is going to work out the best with that yard.”
As to what trends are popping up a lot right now? Greg Imhoff is a man with his finger on the pulse of what people want in their landscaping, and he says that he sees the same things staying consistent over time. “The main four elements that we design over and over again are water, fire, food, and shade,” he said, “with water being some sort of pool or spa feature, and fire features being fire pits, fireplaces, fire bowls, and things like that. Food features include outdoor kitchens, refrigerators, and spaces for food and drinks, and shade features can be pool houses, cabanas, pergolas, and that sort of thing. They almost form a checklist of elements that clients always tend to want. Many clients these days are asking for low maintenance and deer resistant plants, so that's a must that we do over and over again. Some of the younger generations, like Millennials, are getting into gardening now, so we do a lot of nice vegetable or herb garden designs for them, and that's been fun to do. Then, of course, the finishing piece that ties it all together is light. Half the time, people are probably using their backyards at night, so we always include a landscape lighting plan as well to illuminate certain things, like patio spaces or pools. It just brings it all to life at night.”
Greg Imhoff and Visionscape Design are certainly lighting up people’s outdoor living spaces with beautiful results! You can find out more by visiting them online at visionscapedesign.com.
