McGyver. Please read this again. Without ARC approval, you may get fined.

I live in a relatively new courtyard villa and about half of the houses on the street have installed rock yards. I don't think that any of them got ARC approval, and I know that many of the yards were installed by unlicensed contractors, and some by the homeowner. This seems to be the way many people get landscaping done. I think the ARC people should do a better job of monitoring landscaping or abandon their approval system altogether.

Brothers Landscaping is very good and reasonable. We have a designer and they added new landscaping, moved older landscaping, and added Rock for half of what the others quoted. Had seen work they did for others and hired them to do 0urs. highly recommended.

Ohiobuckeye
 

I'm not so sure about the Courtyard Villa thing. On Hillsborough there's a Designer home (I think it's a Designer) with a stone yard right when you drive by.

We used Imran of Ali's Landscape have used him before, was very happy with the results and cost. 774-263-4200

Rick Ballard
 

Another going to Notre is that this will make your backyard considerably hotter.

Me too. Not yet seen one that is anything but ugly. Like TV because it's green

Hello! I can speak from experience on this :) We have a large corner lot CYV. Had all the grass removed, and put in 31 yards of rock (over 3,100 sq ft). We switched to rock in our last CYV and we found that we love it and love the look. First some responses to some comments I have seen:

1. Your back yard will be considerably hotter. No, it will not - I have not experienced this in either of our CYV's. I would like to see some data from those that claim this.
2. You will still get weeds. Yes, you will. I spray once every 3 months, and have to pull a couple of stragglers here and there. Overall much easier and less expensive than maintaining a lawn, I don't have to water much (I still have many plants but most require little water), and it always looks good (assuming you like the look of rocks and cactus).

For a recommendation - I can't recommend the folks that did ours. They did a good job in the end, but took forever and were extremely frustrating to deal with. Would show up when called multiple times, do an hour of work, then leave. A job that was promised in 2 weeks took over 3 months.

I would recommend the company we didn't go with - Artistascapes. They had the lowest bid, but I didn't go with them - thought the price was too low. While I waited for mine to get done, they did dozens of other jobs in my neighborhood. Always showed up, put in a long day of work, finished the job, and went on to the next.

Rocks screw up the drainage and I was told rocks were not permitted in the front of my courtyard villa.

Rocks only alter drainage if they are installed improperly, and the underlying surface is changed substantially. I have no issues with drainage - in fact, I have less wet spots than when I had grass.

I'm not sure which village you are in, but a true Court Yard Villa with walls around it is allowed to put rock anywhere on the property. It is the only type of home allowed to do so.

Depends on your deed restrictions. Some Villages allow rocks in front, but not all Villages allow this.

I really don’t care for the rocks...looks like Arizona to me. Also, you cannot walk on the rocks comfortably. Most of all I like organic gardening and that’s impossible with rocks. There is no way to improve our sandy soil. I top dress my soil once or twice a year and now have great soil. I also like to change out annuals for the season and that’s not possible with rocks. To each his own but it’s just not my choice.

Let me get this straight regargind ARC and I will mention what we want to do. We are in a CYV have been here just over a week. When we arrived there was lots of shrub overgrowth we have since trimmed directly in from of the CYV. What remains now is a bush that looks much better than it did, there’s also a small palm tree. The eyesore is the wood chips that cover the ground ( I hate wood chips ). My plan is to remove the wood chips put new ground cover then use a light colored stone. With that said do I need to contact ARC? Not sure why I would because I’d be improving the appearance and matching what every CYV near me looks like.

Is Brother’s the one in Fruitland Park on Leesburg Blvd?

[QUOTE=B-flat;1572610]Let me get this straight regargind ARC and I will mention what we want to do. We are in a CYV have been here just over a week. When we arrived there was lots of shrub overgrowth we have since trimmed directly in from of the CYV. What remains now is a bush that looks much better than it did, there’s also a small palm tree. The eyesore is the wood chips that cover the ground ( I hate wood chips ). My plan is to remove the wood chips put new ground cover then use a light colored stone. With that said do I need to contact ARC? Not sure why I would because I’d be improving the appearance and matching what every CYV near me looks like.

Is Brother’s the one in Fruitland Park on Leesburg Blvd?[/QUOTE



Before you change anything contact ARC. What you think is an improvement may not be what is in your dead restrictions. Just because your neighbors have made changes does not mean they checked. All it’s takes is someone who hates rocks and makes a complaint. If not done correctly you could be fined.