Biodynamic Landscape Installation
in Westchester County, NY, and the Tri-State Area
Sustainable Construction With a Focus on Organic Horticulture, Stormwater Management, and Carbon Sequestration
The preservation and protection of the natural world is our responsibility, and we make it easy for landowners to contribute positively to the environment with sustainable landscape installation. At Green Jay Landscape Design, our unique approach aims to restore the health of the landscape through the use of 100% natural, organic, earth-sourced products. We design and install habitats that support biodiversity, especially endangered pollinators and beneficial insects, and allow for the healthiest biological environment possible.
We practice responsible land stewardship, and all of our projects follow our refined process for excellent results. You'll enjoy high-end presentation materials, including a plant matrix organized by bloom time, to help you visualize your finished landscape installation. From stone patios, walkways, and outdoor living spaces to wetlands restoration, pollinator gardens, native landscaping, and stormwater solutions, our work is centered on the protection of your soil, the use of organic products, and proactive stormwater management.
Through our years of experience in Westchester County, New York, and the tri-state area, we can refer you to service providers for even the most complex landscape installation projects. Contact us today to learn more about our ecological approach to healthy, vibrant outdoor spaces.
For even more samples, please browse our
The Green Jay Advantage
Every detail of your landscape installation, in Westchester County, New York and the tri-state area, is reviewed by us. From site protection and construction layout to thoughtful plant and material selection, soil amendments, and more, our low-impact development projects are detailed and customized to match your vision. Certain features of a design require the customer to contact their existing or new contractors for decks, outdoor fireplaces, fencing, irrigation, and lighting. It's important for the contractors' work to be coordinated with our work. We can assist with this process so that all elements of the project are installed smoothly, timely and efficiently. If needed, we can refer you to local service providers to choose from.
Landscape Installation
- Landscape Boulders: Create boundaries and visual interest with boulders and natural stone.
- Stone Water Features and Fountain Installation: Elegant and soothing, a water feature increases your property value and creates a welcoming atmosphere.
- Decks: We can refer you to service providers for a custom deck to meet your outdoor living needs. Choose from a range of materials, colors, and textures to match your aesthetic and maintenance concerns.
- Outdoor Living: Spend more time outdoors with cozy spaces that invite connection, relaxation, and offer unique entertaining areas.
- Stone Fire Pits: Center your outdoor living experience around the warmth of the fire with custom fire pits that complement your other outdoor features. If outdoor fireplaces call to you, we can refer you to multiple service provider options who can design and install them.
- Fencing: From privacy fence to white picket and more, fencing installers will help you create the boundaries that enhance the appearance of your property, provide privacy, or keep the pets in.
- Invasive Species: More than just "weeds," invasive species can out-compete other plants and reduce biodiversity on your property. Let us take care of your invasive problem holistically and responsibly. Learn more on our Invasive Species page.
Artistic Masonry & Hardscape
- Hardscaping: Our talented craftspeople take pride in every detail.
- Natural Stone Patios, Walkways, Stairs, and Paths: As the foundation of your outdoor living experience, natural stone patios, paths and stairs guide you through your property and provide the setting for built-in seating, fire pits, and so much more.
- Boulder Rip Rap Retaining Features: Functional and aesthetically pleasing, these cement-free retaining features can improve soil stability and support the foundation of your home, help turn a slope into a level, usable space for plantings or hardscaping, and create permanent seating areas for you and your guests.
Stormwater Management & Grading
- Stormwater Solutions: Stormwater management, including rain gardens, French drains, bioswales, and other stormwater solutions are essential for protecting your buildings, hardscaping, plants, and soil. Learn more on our Stormwater Management page.
- Erosion Control: Top soil is a non-renewable resource in our lifetime and deserves protection! Erosion control devices (jute netting, compostable socks, structural soil) installed on steep slopes along with designed plantings can have a significant impact in combating soil erosion. Learn more on our Erosion Control page.
- Grading: We can manipulate landscape elevations to create level play areas, spaces to recreate or entertain in, or garden terraces to interrupt a steep slope and assist with erosion control.
Organic Sod & Turf
- Lawn Installation: We start with soil remediation to reduce compaction and support soil microbial communities – essential to the success of an organic lawn! We use over twelve varieties of seed to form a dense turf grass and out-compete weeds.
- Low Mow Lawn Installation: Looking for a low-maintenance lawn option? Try our slow-growing lawn mix, that only requires mowing once a month!
- Sod Installation: For immediate results, often around sensitive areas like pools, we install sod, often with clover included in the mix to reduce fertilizer inputs.
Custom Irrigation, Lighting & Sound
- Irrigation: Irrigation providers set up custom zones tailored to the landscape. We stage irrigation installation to ensure new plants are adequately watered as soon as they are planted. Smart irrigation sensors interact with live weather data to adjust water schedules.
- Landscape Lighting: Custom lighting to highlight your favorite features, create ambiance, or enhance visibility on your property. Lighting providers can install downlighting for minimal wildlife disturbance.
- Outdoor Sound: Complete the ambiance of your new entertaining spaces with discrete, state-of-the-art outdoor sound systems. We can refer you to our trusted network of outdoor sound professionals.
Driveways
- Stone Driveways: Elevate your home’s curb appeal with a gravel driveway and design features like a Belgium Block curb or apron.
- Driveway Resurfacing: We coordinate with service providers to stage driveway resurfacing as the last step in any installation.
Tree Services
- Forest & Woodlot Management: By monitoring native tree species, keystone and indicator species, understory biodiversity, and the overall health of the forest, we can manage woodlot resources to create resilient habitats. We can coordinate tree removal with our trusted network of arborists.
Fill out our contact form to get started on your landscape installation in the Westchester County, New York, area.
A Reputation for Responsible Land Stewardship and Low-Impact Development
We are humbled when our clients trust us with the re-imagining and rewilding of their landscapes, and it brings us joy to know you love these vibrant outdoor spaces as much as we love creating them.
Installation FAQs
Requirements vary by town but often projects that require building permits may need additional plans completed by a licensed landscape architect or engineer. This often includes stormwater management plans, especially if the floor-area-ratio is exceeded, or if the development is on a steep slope or near a wetland. Permanent structures (which include decks, pergolas, and fences) require permits and architectural services. Retaining walls taller than four feet require permits and engineering. GJLD can connect our clients with our trusted network of architects, landscape architects and engineers.
We are happy to assist with permitting on a Time & Material basis. Permitting is not included in our Ecological Landscape Design and Build Agreements. Additional professionally stamped plans from architects, landscape architects or engineers may be required.
Green Jay Landscape Design installs all aspects of the new landscape, including: site development (clearing, grading, amending soil), natural stonework (patios, walkways, paths, steps, boulders), planting and lawn installations. We have a trusted network of companies for irrigation, lighting, fencing, carpentry, and architectural services that prioritize GJLD clients.
Site development is the process for preparing the landscape for the new design. Site development often includes clearing vegetation or trees, grading topsoil to create more level surfaces or adequate planting depth, and constructing stonework such as patios, walkways and steps. Site development can be completed year-round and is most efficiently done in fall and winter, preparing the landscape for a spring installation and months of enjoyment through the summer and fall.
We exclusively use natural stone for our hardscaping work. Natural stone looks timeless and, when installed correctly, holds up better than any concrete paver. Natural stone can be repurposed, if necessary, while concrete products just end up in the landfill. We construct our stonework with a compacted crushed stone and stone dust base, not cement. Avoiding cement allows us to reduce exposure to the carcinogenic element silica.
We recommend and coordinate with premium service providers for irrigation, lighting, fencing, tree work and carpentry, who contract directly with the client (no subcontracting).
We do our best to anticipate everything needed to complete an installation, from access to material staging to material sourcing. Yet, there are often surprises under the soil or in the weather forecast. If our plans need to change, we communicate the change, including price, with the client before initiating any new work. Change of Work Order contracts are our standard operating procedure.
Installation time depends completely on the project size and complexity. We include estimated start and end dates in the Proposal and continue to update the client on the timeline as the install progresses. Most projects are installed in 1-4 weeks.
Yes! Many of our clients chose to complete their landscape installation in phases and we are happy to accommodate your timing and budget.
8 AM – 3 PM, Monday – Friday.
Yes, we are licensed and in good standing in three states, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. We are insured.
Maintenance FAQs
All landscapes require some kind of maintenance; ecological landscapes require a different kind of maintenance. The goal is to reduce the amount of maintenance required and at the same time conserve resources, including water, labor, and financial resources. We provide limited maintenance but guidance, counseling and consulting, in addition to working with qualified service providers.
We offer a one-year plant guarantee on woody plants, as outlined in our contracts.
Residential Sustainable Stewardship is our holistic land management program for properties of 5 acres or more. Services may include: woodlot management, species assessment, understory regeneration, invasive species control, and wetland restoration. Learn more here.
GJLD no longer offers grounds maintenance services. We have a network of recommended partners for maintenance in our service area. For properties of five acres or more, we offer Residential Sustainable Stewardship.
Use the winter months to reflect on how your landscape functioned over the fall, summer and spring. Did it meet your entertaining needs, survive an extreme storm event, bring you joy and excitement? If not, winter is the best time to start the landscape design process! We offer professional consultations year round. Once the design goals are established with the client, we prepare a Landscape Design Proposal with the design concept, scope of work, plant list, installation phases and price. Depending on the scale and nature of the project, we often recommend an AutoCAD drawings (typically a Landscape Design Master Plan of the entire property). We always supply images of the plants and design elements to help communicate our vision for the property. Contact us to schedule a consultation.
An ecological fall landscape clean up looks different than traditional garden maintenance.
- Leave perennials standing, especially hollow-stemmed perennials, as they provide overwintering habitat for insect galls.
- Rake leaves into a pile, shred them with a mulch mower, and apply a light layer of leaf mulch to your garden beds. Many northeast properties produce too many leaves to use entirely in your garden beds - they won't break down in time and can inhibit next spring's growth. Make a pile with the rest of the leaves somewhere out of sight on your property where they can compost over time.
- Apply an anti-dessicant to evergreen trees and shrubs to prevent winter burn and deter deer over the winter.
- Have your irrigation company flush the irrigation system before the first frost
What Responsible Land Stewardship Looks Like
Sustainable landscape installation projects are diverse and interesting. Taking an ecological approach doesn't limit your options—it expands them while offering healthier, low-maintenance solutions for your outdoor space. See what we mean in our portfolio:
For even more samples, please browse our
A Building Process Refined Over In-Depth Environmental Education and Years of Experience
Over our years of experience in the Westchester County, New York tri-state area, we've refined our process to ensure outstanding results for our clients. This is what to expect when you work with us:
Complete necessary site protection: mark utilities and hazards and install erosion control and mature tree protection. Layout approved design on-site.
Perform necessary grading, terraforming, terracing, and/or excavating to prepare the land for design development.
We hand-select each and every tree, shrub, perennial, boulder, and stonework used in our projects. Details define a design!
Green Jay Landscaping's expert stonework teams craft natural stone walkways, patios, boulder retaining features, stone staircases, and more. We also work with stucco and stone veneer. Driveway siting and installation (gravel, Belgium block, curbing, and edging) is also in our purview.
Green Jay Landscape Design garden crews mark out new planting beds, weed and/or dethatch the area, and amend soil with organic compost, biochar, and bio-stimulants. Soil tests may reveal additional recommendations.
Our designers finalize plant placement on-site, collaborating with the client to ensure views are accentuated and screened perfectly. Plantings range from trees to shrubs, perennials, annuals, containers, and vertical gardens. Install crews follow organic horticulture planting techniques and edge beds.
Proper irrigation is the key to a successful garden. Following a custom irrigation installation by our trusted network, planting beds are mulched and finished.
Our trusted network provides design and installation of custom landscape lighting plans.
Final walkthrough with client and designer to ensure ultimate satisfaction with the project. Modifications made if necessary. Project closes, local maintenance providers recommended or Residential Sustainable Stewardship begins.
Ecological Landscape Design, Low-Impact Development, and So Much More
We specialize in regenerative landscape design and full-service installation. Through our trusted network, we work with multiple designers, engineers, and specialty contractors that we can refer you to, helping complete complex projects with clear coordination and communication. Take a closer look at what we can do for you:
Landscape Design
Our ecological landscape design and eco consulting services result in exceptional outdoor spaces that meet your vision for your landscape while supporting the natural world. Visit our Landscape Design page for more information.
Native Gardens
We prioritize using native plants in all of our garden designs. Whether you’re looking for a pollinator garden, a wildflower meadow, a permaculture landscape, or new foundation plantings, our seasoned designers can craft your naturalistic landscape.
Landscape Installation & Site Development
We build what we design. From initial site development to crafting custom landscape features, we focus on quiet installations following the Sustainable SITES Initiative.
Artistic Stonework & Hardscape
We can install a variety of hardscaping ranging from natural stone walkways, paths and steps to patios and boulder retaining features.
Stormwater Management
Erosion control is essential for the protection of your soil, plants, buildings, and hardscaping. Our stormwater management solutions include bioswales, rain gardens, dry streams, and more, customized to the needs of your property.
Organic Sod and Turf
From soil remediation to compost and sod installation, we can reinvigorate a tired yard and create a healthy natural space for you and your family to enjoy.
Irrigation, Lighting & Sound
We can refer you to quality irrigation system providers for design and installation based on planting zones to maximize water conservation and efficiency. Service providers can add custom lighting and sound to further enhance your outdoor living space.
Driveways
We’ll coordinate driveway resurfacing and stone driveways with service providers in the Westchester County, New York area to help you create a welcoming entrance to your home.
Tree Services
Ensure the trees on your property are healthy and contributing to the ecosystem. We can plant new ones for you or refer you to service providers to remove those that are sick, damaged, or threatening to interfere with buildings or underground cables.
Check Out Our Blog
Cottage Garden Blends European Style with Northeast Natives for an Impactful Scarsdale Landscape
Landscape Installation Following the Sustainable SITES Initiative in Westchester County, NY, Fairfield County, CT, Putnam County, NY, Bergen County, NJ and the Surrounding Tri-State Area
We offer regenerative design and ecological restoration in the Eco-Region 59, the Northeast Coastal Zone, which includes communities in Westchester County, New York, and within an approximate 50-mile radius of White Plains. Below is a selection of the towns we work in. For a more detailed list, visit our Service Area page:
Westchester County, New York
- Bedford, New York (including Bedford Hills)
- Chappaqua, New York
- Croton-on-Hudson, New York
- Dobbs Ferry, New York
- Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
- Katonah, New York
- Irvington, New York
- Larchmont, New York
- Lewisboro, New York
- Mamaroneck, New York
- North Castle, New York
- Pound Ridge, New York
- Rye, New York
- Scarsdale, New York
- South Salem, New York
Bergen County, New Jersey
Essex County, New Jersey
Fairfield County, Connecticut
- Fairfield County
- Greenwich, Connecticut (and surrounding neighborhoods)
- Darien, Connecticut
- New Canaan, Connecticut
- Ridgefield, Connecticut
Putnam County, New York
Career Opportunities With Support for Your Professional Growth
We offer excellent career opportunities for passionate, hardworking professionals who have a love of nature and a desire to work outdoors. Expand your knowledge and grow as a landscaping expert with paid training and education, as you help us improve the environment and encourage interaction with the natural world. Visit our Careers page to learn more and apply today.
A Carbon Net Negative Environment
Reducing your lawn area for native, organic plantings allows your property to sequester and store more carbon dioxide than it emits – actively working to mitigate global climate change. (Learn more about Designing Carbon Sinks on our blog - part one & part two). When we talk about sustainable landscape installation, we're also referring to the process. We aim to create a quiet experience with minimal impact on the surrounding area as we build a resilient outdoor space with healthy soil, vibrant plants, and a thriving ecosystem. Contact us to learn more about landscape installation and other services in the Westchester County, New York, area.
