Hatfield Lawn & Landscape

Spring always brings about crammed, parking lots at the local home improvement stores, frenzied phone calls to home remodeling companies, and, of course, the sprint for the lawn and garden centers.

For 23 years, the owners of Hatfield Lawn & Landscape, Al and Torrie Hatfield, have watched

Trucks have been coming and going to Hatfield, located on West Central Avenue, bringing mulch, bushes, trees, and plants to stock the greenhouses that sat bare all winter.

Customers from all over, including Ann Arbor, support the work Hatfield provides, including retail nursery, mulches, landscape design and installation, and a unique, garden gift shop.

"Spring can be overwhelming, and it's a lot of work," said Hatfield. "But we work hard to be professional and to finish the jobs we start with pride."

Starting at the job of cutting grass, the Hatfields have never strayed from their roots. "We knew though, we had to diversify in order to stay in business. We wanted to go into retail, so we bought this property and moved out here," he explained.

Now Hatfield Lawn & Landscape offers garden center appeal with services such as lawn care, pond installation, night lighting, irrigation service and repair, and snow removal. The company employs nine full time employees and up to 22 seasonal employees.

Hatfield said his favorite projects usually involve landscape design. "I enjoy working with the projects and developing ideas about how to improve upon them."

Improvement is the key word for Hatfield's prospering business. Whether a customer comes in to purchase whimsical garden art or to hire installation of brick pavers along the back of their home, it all focuses on better living for the customer.

Improvement trends started last year seem to be going strong. "Garden art is always popular, but it's also always changing," said Hatfield. "Concrete fountains and self-contained ponds are good sellers."

Full kit ponds are still in good fashion, and Hatfield boasts three on site with showcase arrangements for those wanting ideas. "My displays are getting smaller and smaller each year," he notes, "because plants take up more and more room."

Some of the biggest trends have shown up in landscape design. "Perennials and woody ornamentals, ornamental grasses - they are immensely popular," said Hatfield. "We are really seeing a shift to low maintenance."

But low maintenance no longer means throwing down ground cover and calling it a day. "We are seeing a shift toward pavers rather than decks and concrete patios." Hatfield said decks are still positive, but that pavers offer such interesting designs and an originality factor. "Plus you don't have to stain pavers, and they won't crack or chip."

Success with pavers has given Hatfield a niche in designing with them, from small patios meant to enhance a tiny yard to large landscape projects incorporating thousands of bricks.

No matter what the project, Hatfield recommends spending those cold, dreary winters planning them. "Spring ideally is the time to develop the ideas, winter would be the best time for planning."

For those wanting to plan a home improvement project, Hatfield suggests using winter to plan it, spring to develop it, summer to maintain it (and enjoy it!), and fall to plant it.

"Fall really is the appropriate time to do many things, such as reseeding lawns. But spring is a great time for anything, as long as you are willing to invest in it."

Hatfield Lawn & Landscape was recently featured in the Toledo Home Remodeler's Association, Inc. Home & Garden Show at SeaGate Convention Centre.

"We've been involved with the home shows a long time," said Hatfield. "We went from providing flowers for their displays to having our own booths." Hatfield added that the booth grows in size every year. "We've done a lot to add greenery to the home shows, to make them home and garden shows."