HabAdapt Landscape Design

Dan knows us so well after working together for 5+ years.  We always have a healthy dialogue about what we want, what he recommends, what we can do ourselves, what he should do, and of course the cost.
He is a wealth of knowledge about Minnesota horticulture and garden building techniques, and a true passion for what he does.  It's always great to talk to him.  We couldn't be more pleased.

It was very good, I was impressed with how beautiful the job turned out. I filled in the rain garden myself. I haven't had a single drip of water in my basement since they came out. I thought they were very knowledgeable and I felt they did a good job. They were on time and were finished when they said they would be.

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Dan is an incredibly hard working guy, and a really good landscape architect. He designed and implemented a great new look in our back yard with an emphasis on native plants that birds, bees and butterflies will enjoy as much as we do. Using some very nice limestone and red jasper, he gave the back yard style and structure that will not only look wonderful, but help us maintain the areas he has laid out by providing attractive boundaries. In the front garden, he increased the eye-appeal dramatically by containing the old plants and introducing some carefully-chose new ones to compliment them. We work at home and got to see first-hand how quickly and efficiently Dan works -- I think other companies would have taken 5 times longer than he did, and probably cost 3 times more. We are going to have him do more work going forward to help us upgrade other parts of our property.

Overall went really well. He worked so hard (by himself) for over a week. Lifted one end of area to control water flow, completely reset stone, with new base. Made pit deeper, added more stone, three huge stones to direct foot traffic.

We chose Dan because we were impressed with his design aesthetic and agreed with his philosophy of native species, local products, and edible landscaping. After several conversations talking about what we wanted, he went away and a couple weeks later returned with a design. He gave us multiple files showing the hardscape details, a water management diagram, and a planting layout for the whole backyard with varieties labeled. We hadn't really been planning on doing much with plants this year, but after seeing what he had in mind and looking up all the plants he had chosen, we realized we had to implement as much of it as we could. He met with us at least one more time to firm up our plans.

The crumbling cement steps and sidewalks in the backyard of our corner lot were removed and the yard was graded to ensure water would flow away from the sidewalks. He subcontracted this work, and it was professionally and quickly done. He built the steps and installed the sidewalks in a few days, and hauled loads of compost into the backyard to level it out. He installed an underground drain to take water from the downspouts further out into the yard. He purchased and had the plants delivered, picking up some of them himself. We chose to plant most of them ourselves because we were already a over budget. He helped place them for us so we'd know exactly where to put them all. He came back when we were done planting to lay grass seed and to correct a few little details that we asked him to. He even used some leftover stone he had from another project to built up a mini retaining wall in a problem spot without charging us any extra.

Dan really impressed us. He was raised on a farm and he has obviously kept the work ethic he learned there after moving to the city. He was always punctual and was good about letting us know when to expect him which we really appreciated. His education really shone through too - I took advantage of him being around to have him identify all the weeds and invasive perennials on our property, and he was never stumped. I know he is going to be available to advise us on the care, training, and winter preparation of the plants we installed.

Everyone who has seen our yard (everyone in our entire neighborhood it seems based on the foot traffic going by) has been very impressed. It is obvious it was done by a designer and is top quality. Functionally it is beyond what I had even hoped for. Our old steps had a very small area to stand when opening the door, and it was tough getting in the house with kids and groceries. They couldn't be widened because a basement window was in the way. Dan made the top step longer and put in stone-capped low walls and now it is easy to get in and out of the house, the walls make a great place to put things, and they're a great place to sit and enjoy my garden and watch the kids play and the world go by. The plants he chose are great and I could never have designed the layout like he did in a million years.

Part of the plan is a round patio that we couldn't afford at this time. We're really hoping that sometime in the next few years we'll be able to have him come back to put it in.

Bottom line - if you want someone who can do a great design and do the work, and if you want all or any of these things - an eco-friendly yard that provides food and shelter for wildlife, food for you, water conservation, native species, local stone and pavers, then definitely give Dan a call!

I have been pleased with every project that Daniel has done for us. I am not a do it your-selfer and have learned to trust Dan's viewpoint on how to solve problems as well as the excellent quality of his work.

Dan was very professional. He seems to be highly skilled at creating sustainable landscape areas that conserve water and minimize runoff. I had planned on doing a paver driveway, and asked Dan to provide a quote to do the work. He understood that I was considering doing my driveway pavers myself, so he also quoted me a price to complete a project plan, which included both a list of materials and computer-generated images illustrating the specifications of the driveway. He also coordinated with a contractor to do the removal of my old driveway and perform the base preparation. I ended up installing the new pavers myself, but could not have done the project without Dan's guidance and meticulous design plan. He coordinated with a subcontractor to remove my old driveway and install a new base of class 5 gravel. The subcontractors he hired did an amazing job, and I am happy with how everything went.

I have hired him 3 times. He has a master's degree in agriculture and specializes in plant restoration. He is a one man firm. He is fabulous and knows what he is doing. This paver side walk that he did last time I hired him opens to a doorway and it is fabulous. As the building had settled the pavement sidewalk had shifted a little bit due to the new building and the nature, he came in and resettled the pavers as a followup at no extra cost. The cost included the material delivery and installation. Daniel also, gives in a quote and a drawing before he starts his work and there are no hidden surprises. I am extremely happy to give him a recommendation his quality is outstanding.