AAAA Naturescape Landscaping Company is just putting the finishing touches on a major landscaping project on a home in the La Costa area of Carlsbad. The project included installation of a new driveway, walkways, patio, barbecue, fireplace plus landscaping, irrigation, drain system, and wooden accents.

Because so much of the dirt on the property was unusable Naturescape Landscaping had to truck out some 400 cubic yards of soil and replace it. Once the soil was removed Naturescape installed 3,700 feet of irrigation and drainage lines.

One benefit of having to remove so much soil from the property was the fact that it made the driveway installation a bit easier.

Located in Encinitas, AAAA Naturescape Landscaping was founded by Bill Schwab in February 2002. Prior to moving to Southern California, Bill lived in Illinois where he formed the first Naturescape.  Schwab first started working with his uncle building golf courses. When his uncle decided to retire Bill was not interested in enduring all the travel associated with golf course construction. He decided to start his own company in Chicago in 1991. After a few years the company began to grow and prosper.

An unfortunate family tragedy occurred right at the time the company was starting to take off. Bill’s wife passed away and he was faced with the prospects of raising a new born infant all on his own. Dealing with this type of crisis made Bill take a long evaluation of his life and where it was headed. Being the sole caretaker for his infant daughter put major restrictions on his time. “Under this situation I just simply couldn’t meet the time schedule that working for another employer would require,” Bill stated candidly. Bill’s company went through some tough times and after a while it began to take off.   “What I did not realize at the time was the groundwork was being set up to move to bigger and better things for us.” Eight years after his daughter was born Bill met his present wife, Patti, who was a former classmate. Patti was living in Southern California at the time. The two began to correspond with each other and eventually decided to get married. “After traveling to California a number of times, I thought this would be a good place to move the business to,” said Bill. “As anyone living in Chicago can tell you during the winter months there is no landscaping business.”

Since opening Naturescape’s doors for business the company has met with resounding success. The company has been named a number one installer of Keystone walls in San Diego, North County. One of the things that makes Naturescape unique in the industry, is the fact that they conduct an in-depth interview with all prospective clients to determine if the company is a good fit for the client. Generally speaking on a major landscaping project the cost can be as much as 12-20% of what the home itself cost. This can sometimes lead to a case of “sticker shock” with a new client. By conducting the interview and doing a needs assessment, Naturescape is able to eliminate a number of problems that might arise down the line after construction is already underway. “One thing we will not do is modify the quality of the work we do,” said Bill. “When a client is putting out $150,000 on a project it has to be perfect. We will not subordinate the quality just so it fits into someone’s budget, nor will we allow any prospective client to place us on he same level as unlicensed contractors using illegal alien labor.”

Naturescape Landscaping has built its reputation on producing the highest quality of product for its customers. 99% of the company’s projects are generated solely by word of mouth recommendation.  This in itself eliminates many of the tire kickers, because those who refer us chose great value and not low price and they appreciate the quality and value.  People tend to choose friends who think similarly to the way they think. For equipment, there is only one real brand; CAT.” said Bill. “My uncle’s first CAT was used to cut the grounds of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, so I know how critical billable hours are by seeing how little time is lost with CAT products in comparison to other brands.” Naturescape has a 257B tractor and a 301.8 mini excavator. The company obtains all their equipment from Hawthorne Machinery in San Diego. “We have done business with Matt Higgins ever since we relocated our company to California,” said Bill.

Perfection is a company standard and has also proven to be a challenge. “Our company has faced the same problems most other companies do here in California,” said Bill. “We are faced with the on going challenge where the growth potential exceeds the quality of skilled workers. You can take on more work, but if you don’t have the people with the proper skills to perform the job, the work suffers. On any project we take on, the work must be done perfectly the first time and our clients really like that.  As a rule, we have a 3 month wait time before any new project can begin, which says a little something about our reputation.” Even with such challenges, Bill really enjoys what he does. “Taking something where there was nothing and building it to the satisfaction of the client is very satisfying,” said Schwab. Cc

The sidewalk around the back yard is
actually a kiddie raceway for two very rambunctious boys and it also doubles
as a bed boarder.