What's the difference between a landscape architect and a landscape designer?

Landscape architects hold degrees and licenses covering site engineering, drainage, and plant science. Designers typically focus on aesthetics. For projects with slopes, drainage issues, or structural elements, a registered landscape architect is required.

Do I need a landscape architect for a small residential project?

It depends. For simple planting on a flat lot, you may not. However, if your Dakota Ridge property has drainage problems or slopes, a landscape architect prevents costly mistakes and ensures long-term functionality.

How long does the landscape architecture process take?

The process typically takes 3 to 6 weeks. This includes an initial site analysis, 2-3 weeks for conceptual plans, and time for revisions based on your feedback to ensure the final documentation is ready for installation.

Can you help with permits and approvals?

Yes. We are familiar with Jefferson County regulations and Dakota Ridge HOA requirements. We prepare the technical specifications needed for permit applications and can attend architectural review meetings if necessary.

Landscape Design and Build in Greenwood Village, CO

Landscape design and build in Greenwood Village, CO, for larger lots and established yards, designed in 3D and built by our own crew.

What Our Landscape Design and Build Work Looks Like in Greenwood Village

Most of the yards we’re called into here sit on larger lots in established neighborhoods, where the house is already dialed in, and the outdoor space is the part that never quite got finished.

Mature trees, existing grade, and a sprinkler system someone installed twenty years ago all shape what we can do, so the first real job is reading the property carefully before we draw a single line.

A full landscape build in Greenwood Village generally starts around $20,000 for a single yard and runs to $82,000 and up for the whole property. Where you land depends on how much outdoor space you want reworked and how much is custom.

What that buys you is the entire outdoor side of the house handled at once: regraded beds, a patio or paver terrace sized to the space, retaining walls where the lot steps down, irrigation and lighting run before anything gets covered, and front-yard and backyard design pulled together into one plan.

We’re Land Designs by Colton, a landscape design and build company that’s been working across the Denver metro since 2011. Owner Jonathan personally designs every project that comes through, so the person drawing your plan is the same one accountable for how it gets built.

Landscapes We’ve Built in Greenwood Village, CO

Each project in the gallery below is a real Greenwood Village-area yard, built by our own crew, often on larger lots where mature trees and existing grade had to be protected and worked around.

500+

landscape enhancements completed

years of design experience

30+

projects completed per year

What Greenwood Village Homeowners Say About Their Yards

The two below are from homeowners who hired us for their own projects and were willing to say how it actually went.

Francisco Africano

Rated 5 out of 5

It was great working with Jon, Flavia, and the team. Jon provided a reasonably priced quote, made some recommendations, and completed the project in a timely manner.

I look forward to working with Land Designs by Colton again in the near future.

What Landscape Design and Build Costs in Greenwood Village, CO

A single-yard project, whether that’s a front-yard redo or a defined backyard build, usually starts around $20,000.

A full property with patios, a pergola or pavilion, an outdoor kitchen, retaining walls, planting, irrigation, and lighting runs $82,000 and up. A build that size is often phased so the spend lines up with your timeline.

Five things move the number more than the rest:

Size and scope: the more square footage you're covering and the more features you add, the higher the number climbs.
Materials: natural stone costs more than concrete pavers, and cedar more than pressure-treated pine, and what you pick drives both the price and how long it holds up.
Site conditions: rocky soil, poor drainage, a slope, or an old structure that has to come out first all add prep time.
Irrigation and lighting: smart irrigation and low-voltage lighting add up, and on a larger lot they're worth budgeting for from the start.
Custom features: outdoor kitchens, built-in fire features, pergolas, and water features are each priced separately based on complexity and materials.

Send us your details, and we’ll put together a quote built around your actual space.

Your Project Stays on Budget and on Schedule

Handing your property over to a crew takes trust, and on a build this size, that trust really comes down to two questions: will the number hold, and will they actually show up when they say they will?

Construction does throw the occasional surprise, maybe an old irrigation line or a drainage issue hiding under the sod. Those are rare, but if something needs to change, we tell you before it costs you.

We plan the whole project before the first crew day, which helps us set a realistic timeline. As a landscape company working regularly in Greenwood Village, we build our schedules around the real conditions here.

How Your Yard Gets Designed and Built

Design

Jonathan walks the property with you, then designs the whole yard in 3D.

Build

Our in-house crew takes it from there, from demo to planting.

Finish

We clean the site and walk the finished yard with you, making sure everything is as you hoped.

Common Questions About Landscape Design and Build in Greenwood Village, CO

How long does a typical landscape design and build project take in Greenwood Village?

It depends on the scope. A focused front-yard project might run 2 to 3 weeks, while a full backyard build with a patio, pergola, outdoor kitchen, and irrigation can run 6 to 10 weeks. We map the whole thing into phases, the way we lay it out in our landscape design and build timeline.

Do I need permits for landscape work in Greenwood Village?

Some projects do, particularly if you’re adding structures like pergolas or decks, doing significant grading, or running gas lines for fire features. We handle that process with the city’s building division, so you won’t be left figuring out what Greenwood Village requires.

What's the difference between landscape design and landscape design and build?

With a design-only arrangement, one company draws the plan, and you hire someone else to build it. With a design-and-build company like ours, the same team designs your yard in 3D, and our crew installs it, so you have one point of contact from the first sketch to the final grade.

Can you work with an existing yard, or does everything have to come out?

We can do both, and most Greenwood Village yards land somewhere in between. Plenty of clients want a clean slate. Others have mature trees, established beds, or a stone wall worth keeping, and we build around those. We walk the property, tell you honestly what’s worth saving and what’s better replaced, and you decide before we start.

See the Back of Your Property Finally Match the House

Jonathan & Flavia Colton

Yards in Greenwood Village don’t stay untouched for long once a homeowner sees the plan drawn up.

If you’ve been meaning to sort out the outdoor living side of your property, now is a good time to get it designed.

Call us at (720) 580-3677 or contact us here to get the conversation started.

Greenwood Village sits just south of Denver in Arapahoe County, and the care people put into their homes here shows up in their yards. The city is threaded with parks and trails, including a stretch of the High Line Canal Trail that winds directly through the community, and neighborhood parks like Westlands Park draw families year-round. If you’re planning outdoor work, the City of Greenwood Village handles local building permits and structural reviews. It’s a community that takes its outdoor spaces seriously, and so do we.