If you are someone who is contemplating hiring a landscape contractor for your landscaping needs? Make sure that the potential contractor can supply or give answers to the following questions before you let them give you any landscape bids.

1. Do they have a current contractors license

2. Have current liability insurance

3. Have workers compensation for their employees

4. Have plenty of references

5. Have staff that are certified ie: CLT, ICPI, NCMA CLP etc.

6. Has the contractor won any awards. Like what and for what.

Once you call for an estimate, and have one given.

1. Check website again for information about contractor

2. Did the contractor come on time? Did he or she present themselves well? Did the contractor listen to your needs? What was your first impression?

3. Make sure you check references.

4. Make sure you get an itemized bid. It should tell you how much material, sizes of plants, etc. Don’t accept generalities on your estimate sheet.

5. Make sure you know what you are getting and know the payment plan. Don’t pay the contractor in full until the job is finished to your satisfaction.

Submitted by WALP SW Chapter Member
James C. Woodhead
Woody’s Custom Landscaping, Inc.
Woody’s Custom Landscaping, Inc. has been serving the Vancouver Washington and Portland Oregon area over twenty years with landscape industry certified staff and award winning projects.

Excellent Service‎‎
By sdkadell – Sep 24, 2010
Woody, Jason, Scott and his crew did an amazing job on our landscape project. We were not only happy with the planting, but they built a paver patio and seating wall that was well beyond our expectation. They arrived on time each day and finished the project earlier than planned. But most of all, we were really impressed with their crew. They were all very professional, friendly and proud of the job they were doing. Even the neighbors commented on the nice crew! We highly recommend Woody’s Landscaping. Thanks, Woody. We love our yard!

The design was done by Outman’s Landscape Design. The job is in Vancouver WA. We were the landscaping company that was awarded the job.
It was a complete reinstall of new landscapng, replacing an outdated older yard with lots of turf on the golf course. We installed a dry creek, boulder work and plantings in the front. When we got done, there was no turf any where on the property. In the back yard a large paver patio and seat wall was constructed with ample planting and boulder work.
Landscape Industry Certified personnel and award winning professional services.

Not every one can have a front entry like these clients. They had plenty of room and decided go go all out. I’m showing only a portion of the cultured stone wall we installed but it was 150′ long.

After coming up the drive way we installed a flagstone steps to a flagstone patio entry. Your next view is of the water feature in which you can cross right over with very large iron mountain flagstone slabs.


We won a distinction award in 2008 from the Washington Association Of Landscape Professionals for residential construction for the entire landscaping. The front entry was just a small portion of the entire project. It included a 330,000 gallon fish and swimming pond as well as lots of plantings, sod, interlocking concrete pavers, and on and on. If you look at the top of this blog you will see most of the cultured stone wall we installed.

For award winning landscape industry certified professionals Woody’s Custom Landscaping , Inc. should be one of the landscapers you ask for an estimate.
Proudly serving the Vancouver WA and Portland area.

Daffodils are up, the leaves are uncurling from winter and the sun when it does come out blesses us with warmth. Yes, spring is here. Time to get all the projects under way. Have you wished your lawn wasn’t covered in moss and weeds? Do you want to have that outside room every one is talking about? Does your yard just not make enough sense for how you use it? It’s that perfect time of year to get your spring projects underway. If it’s a new patio, Woody can install flagstone, brick and pavers. If it’s a new lawn or a irrigation system, Woody’s team will get the job done right the first time. How about a landscape design? Woody has independent landscape designers that will help you plan for that perfect backyard or front yard renovation. Don’t just keep your wish list to yourself. Let Woody’s Custom Landscaping show you just how easy it is to have that landscaping you want.

Our services include:
Landscape Industry certified employees.
Award winning service every job.
Paver, flagstone and brick patios.
Outdoor rooms.
Landscape design
Irrigation
Planting
Retaining walls
Water Features including: ponds, bubblers, pondless waterfalls and reflection pools
Front and back yard renovation.

When choosing a landscape contractor in the Portland Metro area and any where for that matter, you must ask yourself a few questions as a home owner. Is the contractor licensed in Oregon or your state as a landscaping company? Do they have liability insurance? How about Workers Compensation, if any workers are hurt on the job. Do you care if they hire illegal aliens? Those are the first questions you should find the answers to.
Next you must check the references they supply you. Would they hire the contractor back? Were they on time every day? Did they install a quality job. Did they do the work themselves or sub contract portions out to third party contractors. Did they keep the project in budget? Were they courteous and polite? Did they clean up every day. Did they finish the job in a timely manner? These are all questions that should be asked before starting any contract work.

At Woody’s Custom Landscaping, Inc. we invite any one of our potential clients to check our list of references. Go to our website at www.woodyscustomlandscaping.com and see the many references that our clients have filled out. We have won over 17 state awards for our residential landscape construction and are proud of our achievements as a landscape contractor in Portland Oregon.
Most of all our employees are certified ICPI for paver installations. The same is true for retaining walls, in which they are certified NCMA. We also have 2 employees who are landscape industry certified through PLANET.
For quality hardscape and softscape professionals contact Woody’s Custom Landscaping, Inc. We have served your area for over 20 years with quality driven service.

How much stuff could a landscaper chuck, when a landscaper does chuck stuff?
Thinking the other night, I contemplated how much material we actually move in a averge job. I took a typical 2,000 square foot sod job and came up with this.
2,000′ old sod removal to dump approx. 130 wheelbarrows of material.
14 yards soil mix installed is approx. 160-180 wheelbarrows of soil.
40 wheel barrows of new sod.
My next question was. How much does the material weigh?
The old sod weighs approx. 4,000 lbs.
The soil mix approx. 13,000 lbs.
The new sod approx. 6,000 lbs.
In this particular sod job I figured landscapers move about 22,000 lbs of material. That’s right 11 tons.
The next question I asked myself was, How much material do landscapers move per hour. Assuming the job is approx. 40 man hours to install with a three man crew. I came up with 550 lbs. per hour. This figure is low because I put in no time in for the stripping of old sod, soil moving, grading, fertilizing and liming and of course the installation of new sod. So probably add about 300 lbs. per hour in actual moving of material. 850 lbs. of material gets moved per man hour.
Maybe that’s a good reason to hire a landscaper. That is a lot of weight to haul around.
Serving the Vancouver and Portland Metro area with landscape industry certified employees.

A 2″ caliper Betula jackmontii————————–$320.00

Adding a irrigation zone to your landscaping————$900.00

Installing a new sod lawn—————————-$2,050.00

Having a new pond and waterfall built—————-$5,350.00

Constructing a large paver patio with seat wall——-$7,800.00

A professional landscape design———————PRICELESS

For all your outdoor landscaping needs, Woody’s Custom Landscaping has landscape industry certified professionals who get the job done right the first time.

Serving the Portland and Vancouver area with service that exceeds your expectations.

Why worry if the landscaper you choose is Landscape Industry Certified? It is very important to you the Home owner. What the certification means is that those who choose to go through the testing and pass the tests, are indeed qualified to install at least portions of your landscape project. At Woody’s Custom Landscaping, Inc. we have two who are Landscape Industry Certified. They have passed all segments including softscape, hardscape and irrigation. The certification from PLANET is a national certification process. Would you want just any one to construct your landscaping. Certification is one way to help you feel more confident during bidding and construction.

As a side note, 75% of all my employees are ICPI certified which is a national certification process for paver installation. You can feel confident that our employees know and install you paver projects the correct way. I also have about 75% of all my employees certified with NCMA which is another national certification for retaining wall construction.

We install your landscaping whether it’s hardscaping or softscaping with professionalism that is hard to match.
Following is a list of some of the services we offer.
Landscape Design
Outdoor Rooms
Design Build
Irrigation Drip and Conventional
Softscaping including planting and topdressing
Custom landscape masonry
hardscaping including Paver patios, walkways and retaining walls
Low voltage lighting including led lighting
Green roofs, green and living walls, and green industry landscaping
Serving Portland OR and Vancouver WA areas with distinction.

Winner of a Grand Award from WALP for residential construction 2009
Winner of a Distinction Award from WALP for outdoor lighting 2009

Paver pathways serve a clean way to get from a starting point to a destination. In this case I think you will agree, that the end destination was well worth the stroll.

All pathways should go somewhere or at least go by points of interest. The best way to get peoples attention is to have curves in the pathway. This allows you to show hints of what might be interesting as you are walking.

Pathways don’t need to be made of pavers. They can be stepping stones, brick, gravel or just plain bark or soil. Since I live on five acres in the woods, I have many pathways. Some are paver pathways, some flagstone stepping stones, some are soil and some are cedar chip paths, I even have a area of concrete 3by4 pieces I used for the main entrance into the woods. Most of the pathways at my home take you somewhere. All of my paths seem to also run in a circular pattern, taking you back eventually to your starting point.
A pathway is fun and lends interest to your landscaping.
Let our landscape industry certified employees take you on a pathway to a enjoyable, fun and sustainable landscape.

Serving Vancouver and the Portland area with award winning and certified employees.

Outdoor remodeling? Do you mean a new paint job or roof? No, I was referring to remodeling your outdoor living areas. Did you know you can install a outdoor living room. It’s all the rage. Outdoor living rooms can be large or small, covered or uncovered, elegant or simplistic and all be quite functional. Outdoor living is being accepted and acknowledged by many people. HGTV even has a regular show giving fantastic examples of outdoor living projects. Fireplaces, patios, water features, enclosed areas, pergolas, and of course outdoor kitchens.
Why not invest a little of your time and give Woody’s Custom Landscaping, Inc. a call and see what can be possible for you. We try to work within every ones budget.
Our landscape industry certified employees are knowledgeable and quite willing to serve you with the professionalism you desire in the Portland and Vancouver area.
For paver patios, landscape masonry, landscape design, outdoor rooms, retaining walls, water features and all your softscaping needs.