4.9 / 5 across 94 Google reviews.

"We interviewed three landscape companies — including a bigger Twin Cities firm Cal used to work for. Cal won on the first visit by spending 90 minutes walking the property with us, asking what we did out there in the morning, what the light was like in August. The plan that came back two weeks later wasn't a sales doc, it was a real design. We still have the planting plan she drew on her iPad during that first visit."

"Bluestone patio with a stacked Kasota stone fire pit. The work was clean — base prep was done correctly, joints swept twice with polymeric, edges hand-cut where the cut shows. Three winters in and there's not a heaved stone on the patio. Cal didn't oversell; he talked us out of a larger patio because the smaller footprint left room for the perennial border we actually use more."

"Lake Redwood property. We bought the place because we love the water and inherited a yard full of arborvitae and yew that fought the whole landscape. Granite Yard designed a three-year plan: year one was the shoreline restoration and the prairie border up by the road. Year two was the perennial garden and the path system. We just signed off on year three. Erin's planting plan is the document that made the property a place we want to be every weekend."

"Native pollinator garden, about 600 square feet replacing a strip of fescue that never looked right. Cal sized it correctly the first time — most of the garden centers want to sell you a 'pollinator pack' the size of a doormat. This is a real garden. Six visits from a tagged monarch already this summer."

"We hired a cheaper landscaper first. Eighteen months in we had a patio that heaved, perennials that didn't survive the first winter, and a 'plan' that was a Google Doc. We came back to Granite Yard for the redo. Cal was kind about it; Erin re-planned the entire planting with Zone 4 plants that actually belong here. Three years later the patio is dead flat and the smooth hydrangeas read like they've been there a decade. Worth the second go-around."

"Fifteen acres west of town. We wanted to convert the back ten from soybean field to prairie. Granite Yard did the site prep over an entire growing season — proper kill of the existing weed seed bank — then drilled a custom seed mix Erin built around big bluestem, prairie dropseed, smooth aster, joe pye weed, butterfly weed, and twelve other species. Year three the prairie reads like prairie. Year five it's going to be remarkable."

"Empty-nester project. We've been in the house 31 years and the yard hadn't been touched since 1998. Cal came out, listened to what we wanted (less to maintain, more to enjoy), and came back with a plan that cut the lawn footprint in half. The front foundation beds are smooth hydrangea, oakleaf hydrangea, and serviceberry. The back is a meadow with paths cut through it. We mow about a quarter of what we used to."

"Dry-laid limestone wall on the slope behind the house — about 38 face-feet, battered, with planting pockets built in for sedum and prairie dropseed. The crew worked on it for six days and made it look like the wall had always been there. Worth every dollar. The mortared concrete-block wall the previous owners put in lasted twelve years before it cracked. Cal said the dry-laid wall will outlive the house."

"Holiday lighting design for the house and three large boulevard trees. We've tried doing it ourselves for years. Granite Yard's crew installed in mid-November, took it all down in early January, and stored it at their shop until next year. It's not the cheapest holiday lighting in town but it's the only one that looks designed instead of dropped on."

"I oversee a small downtown business district planter program. We had three different companies in three years. Granite Yard's planter design is the first that's worked from spring install through hard frost — bloom succession, foliage texture, the right scale. Two seasons in and the city council asked if we could expand to the next block."

"Full landscape renovation around a 1928 craftsman. The challenge was making new work look like it belonged to a house with 90 years of history. Cal pulled in serviceberry, smooth hydrangea Annabelle, hostas, and a hand-laid Chilton flagstone path. The whole thing reads like it's always been there. That's the highest compliment I can give."

"We have a child with severe pollen allergies and wanted a yard that worked for him. Granite Yard designed around low-pollen species — serviceberry, redbud, low-pollen perennials — and replaced the existing oak savanna grass that was causing problems. Erin understood the brief on the first call. The yard is gorgeous and our son can play in it."

"Excellent design and install. The only reason this isn't five stars is the project ran two weeks long because of a rain delay we couldn't have predicted. They were upfront and communicated daily. The result was worth the wait. Hire them anyway."

"Smaller project than Granite Yard usually takes — a 400 sq ft perennial bed redo. Cal still came out himself for the consult and didn't make me feel like a side project. The plant list referenced bloom times, mature heights, and which combinations would carry color through August. Three years in and the bed is the best part of the front yard."

"We're a two-architect household so we have opinions. Granite Yard handled them. Cal pushed back where he should have (we wanted a flagstone path through a low spot that would have flooded; he routed it around) and listened where it mattered. The drawings he delivered would not embarrass an architect."

"Snow removal for the driveway and walks all winter. Plowed before 7am every storm; no skipped events. They use magnesium chloride because the runoff hits my wife's hydrangea bed by the drive — most snow companies would have used rock salt and killed it. That's the level of attention."

"After the install Erin came back at three months, six months, and twelve months to check on the new planting. The 12-month visit caught a smooth aster that wasn't going to make it and replaced it free under warranty. Most landscape companies disappear the day the check clears."

"I'm a botanist. I asked a lot of questions about cultivar selection, native ecotypes vs. nursery cultivars, and seed sourcing. Erin answered every one without losing patience. The plant list she built referenced specific seed sources from Prairie Moon and Prairie Restorations — the right answer in this part of the country. Hired immediately."