Landscaping in Birmingham, MI: Old trees. Small lots. Sharp lines.
HD Landscape designs, plants and looks after Birmingham yards, and they ask for a careful hand: mature shade, tight side yards and neighbors who notice.
- Design through installation
- Hedges and bed lines
- Itemized estimates
A finished job, relit for evening
Services in Birmingham
The work we take on in Birmingham.
Pick a service to see how it works. Every one starts with a free, itemized estimate.
Design and build
Hedges and trees
Yards in Birmingham
Big trees, small lots and a city with opinions on both.
Walk the streets around Quarton Lake or Poppleton Park and the first thing you notice is the trees. Those old canopies are why people pay to live here, and they also decide what will grow underneath them. Honeylocust and Norway maple lead the city's own tree inventory, and grass under a Norway maple rarely amounts to much.
Most lots are not huge, either. About two of every three sit in zoning districts with a minimum of 4,500 or 6,000 square feet, so every square foot shows. A bed line that wanders or a hedge that has gotten away from you stands out on a street where the neighbors keep things tidy.
Old and new sit side by side here. Half the homes went up before 1960, and the city's own plan talks about a significant number of demolitions, so a 1950s foundation bed can sit next door to a new build whose yard never got finished. They need different fixes.
Shade under old canopies
Grass struggles under big maples and oaks, and the old fixes are gone. English ivy and periwinkle are on the city's prohibited species list, which covers private yards. So the plan starts with the shade you actually have and the plants allowed to live in it.
Tight side yards
Narrow access means smaller loads, careful staging and a clean walk back to the truck, so the job does not take over the driveway.
Heavy soil
The city's own rain garden guide calls clay the most common soil in Birmingham. It holds water, so the grade and the planting depth get settled before anything goes in the ground.
A front yard with a number on it
The zoning code says at least 65% of the front open space has to stay vegetated, and pavers do not count. On a small lot a wide walk or a big stone bed can use that up fast, so a front yard should get measured before it gets drawn.
Trees with paperwork
Street trees are the city's, roots included. Oaks and elms, even private ones, cannot be pruned from April 1 to October 15. That leaves the cold months, so ask Jake early whether he can get to yours or who can.
In Birmingham
Close quarters, so the truck gets a plan too.
Birmingham streets are close quarters. Between tight driveways and side yards with room for one wheelbarrow, where the trucks and materials sit gets worked out ahead of time, and the walks and the drive get left clean.
Jake comes out first and looks at the yard with you. You get his straight advice on what to do and what to leave alone, then an itemized estimate you can go through line by line. The crew arrives when we said, and Jake calls afterward to see how it went.
Cleanup has rules of its own here. The city's weekly curbside pickup is not for landscaping company material or a complete renovation, so how the debris leaves goes on your estimate.
- Front yard rule
- 65% stays vegetated
- Oak and elm pruning
- Not April 1 to October 15
- Estimate
- Free and itemized
- To talk now
- Call or text Jake
Jake is a no pressure, skilled landscaper with excellent communication abilities. Contracting, communicating and paying for services are seamless, and Jake is reliable on time estimates. Highly recommend.
Mark R.Landscaping
I recently had the pleasure of working with HD Landscape to completely revamp my outdoor space, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. From start to finish, the experience was seamless and exceeded my expectations in every way.
Billy W.Outdoor space revamp
Totally professional from start to finish. The crew was friendly and very hard working. Delivered on time and more than promised. Will use again.
Marie B.Landscaping
Do you work in Birmingham, MI?
Yes. HD Landscape is a landscaper based in St. Clair Shores, and Birmingham is one of the towns we work in most. We do design, renovation, sod, hedge trimming, monthly maintenance and cleanups here. We do not do sprinklers or aeration, and the big tree removals get passed along to a tree company.
Can you landscape under a big shade tree?
Yes, and carefully. Most of a tree's roots often sit in the top 18 inches of soil, so the soil level should stay where it belongs at the trunk. The plants have to handle the shade, and in Birmingham they also have to clear the city's prohibited species list.
What are the front yard rules in Birmingham?
The big one is in the zoning code: at least 65% of the front open space in single family districts has to stay vegetated, and permeable pavers do not count. In the strip by the street, plantings are limited to 2 feet, street trees aside, and improvements need a Special Treatment permit from Engineering. The city has the final word.
Who owns the tree in front of my house?
If it stands in the strip by the street, usually the city, and all work on a public tree must be done or approved by the city. On a few streets a tree just inside the sidewalk is shared, and the city still maintains it. Birmingham's Department of Public Services can confirm which you have. Our tree trimming is for private trees.
How does fall leaf pickup work in Birmingham?
Your street decides. On curbed streets, leaves go next to the curb the weekend before your zone's window, and the zone map is new each year. On uncurbed streets, they go out in brown paper bags or a decal bin by 7 a.m. on trash day. A fall cleanup can be timed around your dates.
Can you keep up the yard after the project?
Yes. Monthly landscape maintenance keeps the beds, hedges and edges looking the way they did the day we finished. With box tree moth now on private properties in Birmingham, it also puts someone in the beds often enough to notice.
Nearby towns we serve
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Tell us about the yard and where in Birmingham it is. Jake will take a look and give you an itemized estimate.