This initial step is the play-by-play game plan for shaping an undeveloped landscape into a private paradise of beauty, luxury and relaxation. This provides the step-by-step process by which the transformation will take place -- allowing you to view the final layout ahead of time, follow along with the process and fine tune the details to fit your personal preferences.

This secondary step in you garden and landscape design plan helps create the topography that will allow the integration of waterfalls, swimming pools, streams, ponds, flower beds, character pines and large rock features.

The best way to maintain an extensive array of plants, shrubs, bushes, flowers and trees is to make sure they are watered sufficiently on a regular basis. An automated watering system allows you to enjoy the aesthetics of lush vegetation without having to take on the time-consuming task of turning on sprinklers every day. App-controlled systems can also be used to regulate sprinklers remotely and to interrupt watering times when precipitation is detected via satellite. Keller Landscape also oversees all watering systems for the first two years after installation at no additional charge.

Colorado enjoys a long stretch of warmth during spring, summer and fall when a cool dip in a swimming pool is a refreshing delight. An outdoor pool can be an ongoing source of entertainment, exercise and quality family time. Similarly, an outdoor hot tub can be a cozy way to enjoy brisk winter nights as the snowflakes fall. These entire assemblages can be built to require little maintenance, and can include an adjacent spa for therapeutic relaxation. Meanwhile, the pool area can be hardscaped with a flagstone deck designed to accommodate cookouts, cocktail parties and evening fireside chats.

This aspect of your garden and landscape design involves more ways to incorporate the element of water -- particularly the aesthetic appeal of watching and hearing it flow. You can choose to create a dramatic effect with a large, waterfall-fed pond surrounded by distinctive boulders and towering pine trees. Or, you can elect for a more subtle approach with the trickling of a stream that meanders through the garden or the intermittent splash of a decorative fountain.

This auxiliary construction phase is meant to complement the original motif of your home while providing practical function and form. A pool house gives guests a place to change in and out of bathing suits -- which saves your house from the wear and tear of dripping fabric and wet feet. The welcoming aesthetic of pergolas provide a shady place to enjoy the day as well as a lattice for vines and climbing flowers. Similarly, trellises allow rose bushes, perennials and even vegetables to gain a solid footing for their vertical ascent. This can create a wall of vegetation that functions as a barrier between properties or acts as a visual remedy for an unsightly view.

If water conservation and cost efficiency are important, you can choose to create a gorgeous landscape that requires little or no moisture to maintain. In a design such as this, the hardscapes are your walkways, pathways, sidewalks, retaining walls and stone structures that involve no plant growth. Once these are incorporated with numerous gravel beds of contrasting rock types, mulch beds, stretches of astro turf and low water-use plants -- you can achieve a visually appealing design that uses little or no water. This can help you save money due to a decrease in costs for long-term maintenance.

A flagstone deck can help create a definitive outdoor gathering place for pool parties and afternoon cookouts. The visual aesthetic enhances the overall look and feel of your property while the functionality can increase the actual value of your home. The rough-hewn look is perfect for a wilder, more spontaneous look while the cut flagstone can tie together a meticulously designed area adjacent to a structure with precise architectural features.

The stamped concrete approach is a cost-efficient way of emulating the rough-hewn flagstone look or implementing a decorative design of your choosing. Meanwhile, a standard concrete patio can provide an uninterrupted surface for designs that favor a sleek, consistent look.

Colorado enjoys many months of warm weather beginning as early as April and lasting through September and into October. This means that your outdoor acreage can serve a secondary kitchen, dining room and common gathering area. How you choose to design these spaces depends on your capacity needs and stylistic preferences. Regardless, these features are a great way to get everyone out of the house while encouraging quality family time.

This phase of your garden and landscape design allows you to make choices that speak to your preferences in visual aesthetics. Colorado-friendly choices such as daisies, limemound spirea, snapdragons, violets, sagebrush, shrub roses, aspen trees, ponderosa pines, cottonwoods, blue spruce, birch trees, douglas fir and so many more can comprise the tapestry of aroma and color that blooms across your estate every year.

Wind-bent pines and meticulously trimmed evergreens can be successfully transplanted with the correct techniques and protocols. Keller Landscape applies 30 years of tree trimming experience to a wide array of specimens cultivated at our private tree farm. These majestic landscape features can lend a distinctive look and feel that makes your property truly stand out among the local norms.

Keller Landscape is well known for the use of oversize boulders in their designs. Company founder Torval Keller has hauled in “shot rock” giants in excess of 15 tons from nearby blast sites for use in unique estate landscapes. Gravel, cobble and river rock in varying hues, shapes and sizes can be spatially arranged to serve a variety of designs.

If natural history fascinates you -- hints of your interest in the Earth’s past can be strategically placed throughout your property in the way of large stones bearing fossil evidence of bygone epochs. Ancient chunks of wood now petrified into actual stone can also add distinctive hues and textured accents.

These hardscaping features are used in estate landscaping projects on properties with significant inclines. The areas created -- sometimes referred to a tiers -- can be cultivated into flower beds or planting sites for trees and shrubs. A series of two or more tiers can be harnessed as a backdrop for a waterfall surrounded by character pines and large boulders.

An integral feature of an alluring home exterior is plenty of shade. Whether it’s poolside, next to the pond, near the outdoor kitchen or in the middle of a stretch of grass -- cottonwoods, evergreens and oaks can enhance the enjoyment of your property exponentially. Many types of trees can be imported at full grown size, and in the instance when an existing tree hinders a landscaping plan, it can be dug up with the roots intact and moved to a more ideal location.

When creating theme and texture in your landscape design, you can integrate cultural elements such as giant urns, clay pots and statues. Figures of gnomes, mushrooms, toadstools and fairies can invoke a sense of magic and wonder. You can also use abstract sculptures and mythologically-themed fountains to inflect your individual tastes and personal sense of style.

These are important components of any estate landscaping plan whether you are going with an abundance of plants or xeriscaping. Organic mulch in hues of black, brown or red can be delivered and spread across the appropriate areas. This adds visual texture while fertilizing the soil for future seasons as the natural fibers decompose. Synthetic mulch made from recycled rubber is also an option when less vegetation is present, and can be a cost-effective, long-lasting solution.

Grass is a time-tested landscaping favorite, and provides important play areas for children, pets and grownups too. This element can be used ornamentally or as your primary ground cover depending on your needs and preferences. Ornate strains can be used as accents in planters or artfully placed in garden knots. Large stretches of grass can be used to carry out linear elements of designs with repetitive, angular themes.

A few dead patches of grass can make an entire yard look unsightly, yet these areas can be removed and re-sodded -- giving new life to an old lawn. Similarly, gardens and flower beds can become overrun with weeds that have stripped the soil of nutrients. These can cleared, aerated, fertilized and planted with colorful plants of your choosing.

Species that are acclimated to the Colorado climate do especially well in flower beds and gardens. This idea is particularly useful with a sustainable landscaping or xeriscaping approach that calls for minimal irrigation and little or no fertilizer. Native plants can also restore biodiversity that may have been lost during the development phase of your property.

These can be ideal gathering areas for family and friends. A fireplace or fire pit can help create a central focus to a specific area, with surrounding hardscape built to support the structure and pathway lines directing visitors to the warmth. Stone-structured wall enclosures are perfect for patio settings and ornate, open pits work well in clearings adjacent to gardens, flower beds and wooded areas.

One way to maximize you outdoor recreational space is to outfit it for physical activities. A customized playground for your kids can pay off exponentially as monkey bars, slides and jungle gyms can hold their interest long enough to wear them out. If you love golfing you can work on your precision in the privacy of your own putting green. Tennis, racquetball and basketball courts can supply endless entertainment for kids, teens and guests of all ages while creating several good reasons to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Similarly, recessed trampolines can provide hours of fun with the added bonus of ground-level safety.

Garden plots, repurposed lawn areas and raised beds can be fenced off, fertilized and irrigated for cultivating home-grown produce. Carrots, beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and squash all do well in Colorado’s climate when cared for properly. You can allot certain flower beds for growing mint and basil and plant fruit trees across your property -- Colorado is particularly suited for apples, apricots, pears, cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums.

It’s true that good fences make good neighbors. A great way to distinguish your property from the others around you is to work definitive barriers into your estate landscaping design. Lattice-covered privacy walls can allow climbing plants and vines to help create an organic look, and rows of trees planted side by side can create a natural barrier in areas where fences and walls do not make sense.

These extensions of the permanent structure are ideal gathering areas, and can help open up your home to the outdoor splendor of your estate. A finished deck can last many years when properly maintained, and wood alternatives known as composite decking require no ongoing care whatsoever.

Properties involving inclines and any considerable acreage will require walkways for safety and ease of mobility. Flagstone, stack stone, field stone and paving stone are all popular choices for steps, and work well for footpaths as do brick and cobblestone.

You can safely enjoy your gardens, pools, walkways, fire pits, lawns and recreational areas at night with an outdoor lighting system. You can choose fixtures designed for subtlety, decoration or conversation depending on your stylistic preferences. These include hanging lights, in-ground fixtures, flood lights, lamps, deck lights and pathway lighting.

Retaining walls over four feet tall, many outdoor structures, swimming pools and several other aspects of a landscape remodel or an outdoor project require permits from the proper civic authorities. Keller Landscape handles this step first and foremost before any garden and landscape design project begins.