What areas does Blue Tree serve for landscape design?

Blue Tree Outdoor Living provides landscape design across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties. The design team has run this process across these counties since 1983, with in-house permitting and working knowledge of the soil series, drainage patterns, and microclimates specific to each part of the service area.

Landscape Design Services in Southeastern PA

What Sets Blue Tree's Design Process Apart

Most landscape companies either hand you a plan and disappear, or skip design and start digging. Blue Tree does neither. A degreed designer owns your project from the first site visit through installation, so the plan that gets drawn is the plan that gets built, by the same team. That designer studies your soil, drainage, sun, grade, and how you actually live outside, then designs the planting, hardscape, lighting, and drainage as one coordinated plan. Blue Tree has run this process across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties since 1983, with in-house permitting and 3D renderings that let you see the finished property before anything is built.

Written by Andrew Mattiola, a Blue Tree landscape designer, and reviewed by senior designer Stephen Roehm.

Established

In-House

Permitting and Engineering

70 to 90

Employees

Our Landscape Design Process, Step by Step

From the first site visit to the final walkthrough, one designer manages your project. Here is how a Blue Tree landscape comes together.

Step 1: Free On-Site Consultation

A Blue Tree designer, not a salesperson, walks your property and reads slope, soil, drainage, sun and shade, sight lines, and access. Then we talk through how you want to use the yard, what you want to solve, and the budget you are working with. The visit is free and there is no same-day pressure. Timeline: 1 visit, about 60 to 90 minutes.

Step 2: Concept and Site Analysis

Your designer turns the site notes into a concept: how the space should flow, where patios, beds, lawn, and focal points belong, and how to handle grade and drainage. The big decisions get made on paper here, before they get expensive to change. Timeline: 1 to 3 weeks.

Step 3: 3D Renderings and Design Review

You review 3D renderings of the finished property, with your house and lot in frame, and refine materials, plant choices, and layout on screen. Revisions happen here, while changes are still a few clicks instead of a rebuild. Timeline: 2 to 4 weeks.

Step 4: Materials, Estimate, and Scheduling

Once the design is right, your designer prices it as one itemized proposal covering planting, hardscape, lighting, and drainage, then schedules the build. You see where every dollar goes before you sign. Timeline: 1 to 2 weeks.

Step 5: Installation by the Same Team

The crew that builds your landscape works from the plan your designer drew, and that designer stays involved through installation and the final walkthrough. Ongoing care is available through Premier Outdoor Services. Timeline: varies by scope.

What a Blue Tree Landscape Plan Includes

A complete plan is more than a plant list. Every Blue Tree design coordinates these layers so the finished landscape works as one property, not a set of disconnected projects.

Planting Design

Bed shapes, plant species and sizes, and a season-by-season bloom plan matched to your soil and light.

Hardscape Layout

Patios, walkways, walls, and steps positioned with the planting and grade, so materials and drainage work together.

Grading and Drainage

A plan to move water away from the house and hardscapes, the difference between a landscape that lasts and one that washes out.

Landscape Lighting

Path, accent, and uplighting designed into the plan so the property stays safe and usable after dark.

Drip Irrigation

Low-volume drip and zoning planned for plant establishment and long-term health.

3D Renderings

A virtual walk-through of the finished property, so you approve the design before anything is built.

Designed for Southeastern Pennsylvania's Soil, Slope, and Seasons

A design that ignores the site fails in the ground. Southeastern Pennsylvania runs USDA hardiness zones 6b and 7a, with clay-heavy soils that hold water, rock close to the surface on many lots, deer pressure that eliminates many ornamental choices, and freeze-thaw cycles that move poorly built hardscape. Township rules on impervious surface, grading, and drainage vary by municipality across our region. Plant selection for these conditions leans toward native and adapted species that handle both summer drought stress and wet winters: Eastern redbud, river birch, and serviceberry for canopy; black-eyed Susan, coneflower, and native asters for seasonal color; switchgrass, little bluestem, and Pennsylvania sedge for low-maintenance texture. Where deer pressure is high, Blue Tree designs around known resistances rather than guessing at unproven selections. The aesthetic vocabulary most common in this region moves from formal colonial and Federal styles in older neighborhoods of Chester and Delaware Counties to naturalistic and new American cottage styles in Montgomery County suburbs, with clients increasingly requesting rain gardens and bioswale edges that manage stormwater from impervious surfaces while adding planting interest. Blue Tree handles permitting in-house and has refined this process over 43 years across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties, so the plan that looks good on screen holds up in the yard.

A curved stone walkway bordered by dark bricks winds through landscaped gardens with green shrubs, ornamental grasses, mulch, and solar path lights, leading to a patio area in a spacious yard.

From Plan to Finished Property, One Team

Landscape Installation. The same team that designs your landscape builds it, working from your approved plan. Explore landscaping.

Hardscape Construction. Patios, walls, and walkways built into the design, not bolted on later. Explore hardscapes.

Ongoing Care. Planting, lawn, and bed maintenance handled by the same company through Premier Outdoor Services.

A landscaped area with green shrubs, large stone boulders, and a curved concrete pathway beside a beige stucco house with a window and decorative wall art. Blue sky with clouds is visible in the background.

Curated Transformations

Browse recent landscape projects from across Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties.

Everything Your Outdoor
Space Needs. One Team.

From the pool to the patio to the plants that frame it all. We handle the full picture so nothing falls through the cracks.

A luxurious backyard pool features stone walls with multiple cascading waterfalls, built-in lights, fire bowls, and surrounding lush greenery and flowers, creating an elegant and relaxing outdoor space.

Custom Pools & Water Features

Resort-style pools, spas, waterfalls, and grottos, designed for your property, not from a catalog

Explore Pools

Stone outdoor kitchen with built-in grill built by Blue Tree

Patios, Walls & Outdoor Kitchens

Structures built to last generations by craftsmen who take pride in the details

Explore Hardscapes

A well-maintained front yard features neatly trimmed grass, vibrant flower beds, shrubs, and small trees in front of a stone house, all bathed in warm sunlight.

Landscape Design & Planting

Native plants, seasonal color, and designs that thrive in Southeastern PA's climate

Explore Landscapes

A green fertilizer spreader sits on a neatly mowed lawn in front of a suburban house, surrounded by well-kept bushes and colorful flowers on a sunny day.

Lawn Programs

Science-backed fertilization, weed control, and aeration for the lawn your neighbors will notice

Explore Healthy Yards

A luxurious backyard at dusk features a glowing swimming pool, landscaped gardens, and warm path lighting, with a large house and outdoor seating area illuminated in the background, surrounded by tall trees.

Landscape Lighting

Professionally designed LED systems that add safety, security, and ambiance after dark

Explore Landscape Lighting

A large, well-manicured green lawn in front of a stone house with landscaped flower beds, bushes, and small trees, surrounded by tall trees with autumn foliage.

Year-Round Care

Seasonal cleanups, pool service, and ongoing care that keeps everything looking its best

Explore Premier Services

Common Questions

The initial consultation with Blue Tree Outdoor Living is free, lasts 1 to 2 hours, and covers a full site walk, sun and shade mapping, soil type assessment, and a preliminary plant and material direction. That consultation cost is folded into your project when you proceed. If you want a design-only deliverable without a committed installation, Blue Tree offers design-only engagements starting at $500 to $2,500 depending on property size and scope. The design package includes a scaled planting plan, a phased installation schedule, and a zone 6b to 7a plant list calibrated for your specific site conditions. Optional 3D rendering is available on request. The goal of the consultation is to give you enough information to make a confident decision, not to close a sale on the same day.

A Blue Tree Outdoor Living landscape design package includes a scaled planting plan drawn to property dimensions, a phased installation schedule that spreads work across seasons or years based on your budget, a plant list keyed to your USDA hardiness zone (6b through 7a depending on your location in the service area), and a written maintenance summary for the first two years after installation. Optional 3D rendering adds visual depth to the plan before installation begins. Standard projects include one revision round after the initial plan presentation. Large projects or those with multiple phased areas typically include two revision rounds. Andrew Mattiola delivers the design package within 1 to 2 weeks of the completed site analysis, with revisions turned around within 5 business days.

From first call to completed installation, a typical mid-size landscape project in southeastern PA takes 6 to 14 weeks total. The initial site visit and consultation typically happen within 1 to 2 weeks of your inquiry. Site analysis and design development take an additional 2 to 6 weeks depending on project complexity. Installation scheduling depends heavily on seasonal timing. Fall installation (mid-September through mid-November) is the recommended window for trees and large shrubs in southeastern PA because soil temperatures above 50 degrees F allow root establishment before ground freeze in mid-December. Spring installation (late March through May) is best for perennials and annuals. Projects requiring permits for grading that moves more than 50 cubic yards in Montgomery or Bucks County townships can add 2 to 4 weeks before work begins.

In Pennsylvania, a Registered Landscape Architect (RLA/PLA) license is required only for designs that affect public safety, drainage infrastructure, or commercial development. Residential garden and landscape design does not legally require an RLA. What matters for residential work is verifiable local experience and horticultural knowledge. Andrew Mattiola holds a Penn State landscape contracting degree, which covers plant science, soil science, design principles, and the specific growing conditions of southeastern PA. Blue Tree's design team has worked in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, and Philadelphia Counties for over 43 years, building working knowledge of the soil series, drainage patterns, and microclimates that a portfolio from another region simply cannot replicate. A common mistake homeowners make is hiring a designer whose degree is in architecture, not horticulture, resulting in plans that look correct on paper but fail in the ground.

Fall (mid-September through mid-November) is the single best installation window for trees and large shrubs in southeastern PA, and most landscape professionals in this region agree. Soil temperatures in the 50 to 60 degree F range support active root growth while air temperatures have moderated, reducing transplant stress. Ground freeze in southeastern PA typically sets in by mid-December, giving 8 to 10 weeks of active establishment. Spring (late March through May) is the preferred window for perennials, ornamental grasses, and annuals. The key mistake to avoid is scheduling large shrub and tree installations in July or August. With average July highs at 88 degrees F and humidity regularly above 60 percent, even well-watered transplants face severe stress during the critical first 30 days after installation, leading to higher replacement rates and additional cost.

Phasing a large landscape design across fall and spring, or across consecutive years, improves plant survival rates, spreads budget impact, and allows you to evaluate the first phase before committing to the next. In southeastern PA, the freeze-thaw cycle from October through March puts maximum stress on newly installed root systems. When too many plants go in at once in a single compressed season, irrigation management and monitoring become difficult, and failures cluster. A phased approach lets the fall installation establish through winter before spring additions are made. It also lets the design evolve with the property. Blue Tree Outdoor Living designs all large projects with explicit phase callouts in the planting plan so that each phase is a coherent, functional landscape on its own, not a half-finished picture.

The Landscape Design Process in Southeastern Pennsylvania

What Sets Blue Tree's Design Process Apart

Our Landscape Design Process, Step by Step