Clear Blue Landscapes

Professional and helpful. Provided several options matching my specifications. Was happy to work with me on as much of the project as I wanted, very flexible.

My husband and I worked with Dawn at Clear Blue Landscapes to address drainage issues in our backyard as well as design a beautiful backyard. We have a small lot and two dogs, plus a storm drain in our yard--it was a mess. The water from our neighbors' yards would flow through our yard to the storm drain, leading to a lot of erosion. Dawn designed a beautiful dry creek bed that channels the water to the drain and then incorporated some existing plants as well as adding new plants into the landscape. She kept in mind the amount of sun and water our backyard typically gets and designed with those factors in mind, as well as incorporating many native plants that will thrive in Virginia. She made adjustments along the way to account for preferences as well as budget. We are thrilled with the outcome of the project!

Dawn of Clear Blue Landscapes did an amazing job designing our landscaping layout! She was very attentive in listening to our thoughts and wishes on what the final outcome might look like, taking into consideration some technical slope and drainage issues. Due to COVID we had online meetings and after what seemed like a few hours, we had our first drawing proposal of our yard. After a few tweaks, which she was so patient with, we finalized our plan. Dawn works with a few landscaping companies so after choosing one we scheduled install and waited for the proper weather. The install went without issue and the final result was even better than we could have imagined! It’s absolutely beautiful, gives us the curb appeal we were wanting and solved some issues we had. Within a few hours of install we had neighbors admiring our new landscape! We definitely recommend Dawn. She’s thoughtful and great at picking plants, bushes, flowers, shrubs etc to make a cohesive beautiful addition to your yard.

Dawn Szelc of Clear Blue Landscapes created a design plan for three very different garden areas around our townhouse. She took into consideration that the front patch gets total sun, the side patch gets total shade and the backyard is a mixed bag! We are very happy with the results after following her design, which incorporated some existing plants, including moving some to better locations within the yard, and adding new plants that created a pleasing variety of color and height. This all should be relatively easy to care for as the plants are now better matched to the environment. Dawn also gave us good referrals to companies that deal with irrigation issues. I highly recommend Clear Blue Landscapes.

I asked Dawn for help in drawing up a landscaping plan using mostly native perennials. She was very pleasant to work with. Always on time. The deliverables were exactly what I expected: detailed maps of our yard with all existing and new plants clearly marked. She also helped me think through an implementation strategy (since I want to do most of the prep and planting myself) and had helpful recommendations for nurseries to use.

We engaged Dawn to provide a landscape design for the walkway and area surrounding a newly-constructed front portico. Not only did she prepare a professional design, but we also gained an education from her expertise about the variety of plants we could use in our space. In fact, she inspired us to implement several of her ideas around other parts of our yard. Dawn has a friendly, collaborative approach to the design process, excellent listening and technical skills, and her flexibility provided us an opportunity to be full partners in the design. We recommend Clear Blue Landscapes for anyone looking for new ideas, with practical, beautiful, and affordable results.

I hired Clear Blue Landscapes to redesign the planting beds in my front yard. The beds were roughly 8 years old and many of the original plants and bushes had died and ivy and grasses had taken over. Dawn, the owner, worked with me to understand my objectives and we went through magazines and books so that I could point out what appealed to me. She presented me with several concept drawings to gauge my desires and make sure she was on the right path before finishing the designs. Once we settled on one of the concepts, she selected the plants, ground cover and bushes. I was impressed with how knowledgeable she was of the local environment – soil and water conditions—and it came through clearly in her plant selections. She was very conscientious of selecting plants that would not only survive but thrive and I was very pleased with the choices. Additionally, she was able to explain why some of the choices, made 8 years ago, would not do well in my front yard. She also diagnosed a soil issue that turned out to be a fungus and she pointed me to websites with directions on how to rid the soil of the fungus. When it came to implementation, Dawn provided me with options and was very flexible in working with me to support my desire to implement the plans. With the final plans, she provided a plant list complete with color pictures to help with implementation. She also provided suggestions for where I might purchase the plants to make the changes myself. Her pricing was very reasonable and she was conscious of my budget. I would definitely recommend her to others who are interested in landscaping that fits their environment.

Clear Blue Landscapes provided a landscape design around my pool, as well as a hardscape design for a fire pit and walkway. The current landscaping around my pool was overgrown and they provided a new design that we were delighted with after installation. The new plants and shrubs give us a a great deal of visual interest as well as seasonal interest almost all year long. In addition, they designed us a stack-stoned fire pit, stone walkway, and stacked-stone bench for sitting. The hardscaping design is very funcational, and has provided us with hours of relaxation around the fire pit. We found Clear Blue Landscapes very professional to work with. We were kept informed through every stage, and were provided excellent advise and design work. We would highly recommend them!