You Want to See the Real Yards, Not Just the Rendering
Maybe you have flipped through a hundred landscape company pages that all show the same kind of photograph. Maybe what you actually want is to see what a Muncie yard looks like at year two. Maybe you want to see the wall that survived the freeze. Maybe you want to see how a property feels when it is finished. Either way, what you want is specific. Real photos. Real properties. Real outcomes. That is the kind of work we show here.
How We Build a Portfolio
At Plant Studio Landscape, we put a project in the portfolio after Josh Perkins, Landscape Architect, and the lead designer have walked it back the season after the build. From a corner lot near Tuhey Park to a wooded property out past Eaton, the photos on this page are real properties we have stood on.
We do not publish renderings. We publish photographs. If a project shows up here, it was designed, built, and walked back by us. Most projects in the portfolio fall along the I-69 corridor between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, with a heavy concentration in and around Muncie.
How We Document a Project
Documentation starts before the build does.
First, we walk the property and photograph it as it sits. Before-state photos go in the project file. They give us a reference for the conversation a year later when the new design is settling in and the homeowner has forgotten what the front bed used to look like.
Second, we photograph the build. Excavation, base lift, planting, hardscape set. These photos rarely make the public portfolio but they tell the story of how a project actually came together.
Third, we photograph the finish. A clean walkthrough shot, in good light, after the property has been cleaned up and the crew has gone home.
Fourth, we come back the following year. We photograph the property again with a season behind it. This is the photo that ends up in the portfolio, because a year-two photo is the only honest version of a finished yard.
Project Types You Will See
Four project types make up most of what we show here.
Full Property Designs. Properties where we worked from the curb to the back fence, including planting framework, hardscape, lighting, and grade. Often built in phases over two or three seasons.
Renovation Projects. Older properties where the bones were good and the landscape needed to be reset. Plant material out, framework redesigned, hardscape rebuilt or extended, lawn renovated.
Pool and Patio Builds. Outdoor living projects anchored on a pool, a patio, or both. The surrounding landscape designed at the same time, not bolted on after.
Hardscape-Forward Projects. Properties where the lift is structural rather than horticultural. Walls, walkways, fire features, kitchens. Built for Indiana freeze and thaw.
Why These Projects Hold Up
Indiana puts a finished landscape through a lot. The freeze line sits twenty to thirty inches down depending on the year. A 2024 February swing took us from sixty degrees to twelve degrees in a week. A 2023 wet spring soaked clay subgrades from the I-69 corridor out toward Chesterfield until pavers were floating on them. Every project on this page was built for that.
Hardscape bases get the depth that the subgrade needs. Drainage gets designed in. Plant lists lean on natives and proven cultivars that hold up in our zone. The work you see in year-two photographs has already been through a freeze cycle, a wet spring, and a dry July. That is why it still looks right.
Make Your Project the Next One
We have stood on every yard you see on this page. We have measured every grade, drawn every bed, and watched every project move from drawing to dirt. We believe a yard is the most honest thing a house has to offer. If you want yours to do the same kind of work, request a quote and we will start with a walk of the property.