The Big One: 4-season landscaping

Company: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting

Location: Madison, Wis.
Kurt Bartel, senior horticulturist for David J. Frank, says this project, located in a major outdoor shopping center, is a major investment for the client.

“It’s not chump change,” he says, noting seasonal color changeouts cost tens of thousands of dollars. “It’s unusual to see a client willing to put that kind of money out and invest in their site to make it look good.”

Bartel estimates the spring and summer displays require more than 3,400 annuals, 760 bulbs and 512 mixed pansies. Fall and winter installs include pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks, garlands, fully-decorated balsam firs and more.

With that kind of volume, seasonal installation is a multi-day job. The day before installation, crews remove the previous season’s plantings and prep the beds for their new residents.

On installation day, David J. Frank arrives on-site at 5 a.m. Crews must finish work by 11 a.m.

“We usually have three crews, and they each have a designated area that they need to plant,” Bartel says. “We have at least one or two people following behind them, cleaning up the tags and pots and trays, and behind them is a watering crew.”

Bartel says maintenance is crucial to making sure installation days run smoothly. Crews are on the property regularly hand-weeding and more. This is to ensure the beds and planters meet the client’s expectations.

“We are there three days a week, watering, grooming, pinching and fertilizing,” he says. “That’s the key with annuals. If there isn’t a regular maintenance agreement in place, they won’t work out very well.”

He adds that crews typically fertilize every two weeks and selectively apply insecticides.

For this project, David J. Frank Landscape Contracting won a Gold Award from the 2022 National Association of Landscape Professionals’ Awards of Excellence program.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

Kurt Bartel, senior horticulturist, says this property is a popular outdoor mall, suited to high-end shoppers.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

David J. Frank crews must hand-weed beds due to county restrictions on herbicide use.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

Bartel is proud of the care his crews take to keep the sterilized soil on-site in top condition.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

Coleus, begonias and Colocasia highlight one of several long beds.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

The day before crews transition planters and beds from one season to another, they remove all the previous plantings and allow the soil to sit vacant for 24 hours.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

Fall installation for David J. Frank includes more than 150 pumpkins and large gourds.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

David J. Frank provides regular maintenance three days a week for the thousands of annuals on the property.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

Several planters on the property feature seasonal vegetables, such as kale and Swiss chard.

(Photo: David J. Frank Landscape Contracting)

Winter plantings include more than 4,000 pounds of decorative boughs, birch stems and a decorated 25-foot tall balsam fir.