Floral Design + Fine Gardening
REELIN' LANDSCAPING
Garden Design, Build, + Consultations
About Us
Reelin' Landscaping is an intentionally small company that is primarily focused on designing bespoke, sustainable landscapes. It is run by husband and wife team Jesse + Elizabeth Allen, along with seasonal help from longtime employees.
Jesse is the founder of Reelin’ Landscaping, which he started as a teen. He was born and raised on Cape Cod, spending much of his younger years fishing commercially and for pleasure. He briefly attended Massachusetts Maritime Academy, but ultimately chose a different path, one that was driven by his passion for working with the land.
Jesse’s sensible yet inspired approach comes from many years of design and maintenance along with trial and error. He maintains his own gardens with an unrelenting passion that keeps him outside long after the work day is through. His style reflects a consideration of aesthetics and sustainability, and he is the heart and driving force behind Reelin’ Landscaping.
Elizabeth has been working with Reelin’ Landscaping since 2014, and is hands on in the garden as well as behind the scenes. She shares Jesse's passion for creating unique designs and sustainable gardening.
Mission
Our goal is to help homeowners on Cape Cod maximize their properties’ potential while minimizing its environmental impact. We strive to use or re-purpose existing plant material first, and in the case of new installations, prioritize native and drought tolerant plants. We aim to take our many years of expertise and use it to address the issues that we have seen repeatedly through the years.
We work with and respect the established maintenance companies, but we also know the challenges they face in this unique market. In most cases it is not possible for them to employ a full time designer with an ecological focus. We intend to fill this gap in service by offering freelance, comprehensive design services. Ultimately this is a win win, the big companies get to do what they do best, while we focus on the details.
We want to help our clients optimize their properties while reducing harmful impacts to the Cape’s fragile ecosystem. We strive to minimize waste and maximize or reuse the existing plants in a redesign; for new installations we focus on drought tolerant and native plants. We encourage our clients to choose organic options when possible, and to consider rethinking the need for a "perfect lawn".
Design Philosophy/Approach
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The first step in our process is to identify what you already have, and see if it can be incorporated into a new design
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In many cases clients have areas with overgrown perennials, or beds that were over planted. In these cases there is no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater. With proper care and placement transplants will thrive, and the cost of materials will be reduced.
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One of our goals is to avoid over planting. If a client wants the look of fully planted beds right away, we will create a multi year plan where some materials are placed with the intention to move them as they get larger.
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Things we consider when choosing new plants:
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First priority is given to plants that are native and drought tolerant. These plants thrive in our climate, and they are good for the ecosystem.
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We also love to incorporate blooming perennials and annuals for interest and color. We can design gardens with the intention of attracting and feeding pollinators, or for cut flowers.
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Consultations
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New Construction: Instead of clear cutting and losing valuable old growth trees we work with contractors to determine which trees are worth keeping based on the construction plan. Old growth trees represent a lot of value on a property. They are not only aesthetically pleasing, but they also provide shade and privacy as an additional benefit.
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Overgrown/Overplanted Beds: Overplanted beds lead to dying, unproductive, and unattractive plants. If your garden beds were overplanted, or have become an overgrown mess we will help you to decide what plants to keep and where they can be used.
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Full Scale Property Design: Comprehensive design proposals with detailed video models.
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Garden Maintenance Consultations for Homeowners: We love to teach our clients how to interact with their landscapes. There is plenty of work that is enjoyable and relaxing for home gardeners of all levels. There are a number of countries that even prescribe gardening to encourage better health! It is a passion of ours to help our clients connect with the land and experience the beauty of the great outdoors.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why Would I Pay Someone to Design My Landscape?
The value of a well thought out landscape is exponential.
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Properly placed plants mean less time pruning, a faster spring/fall cleanup, and better plant health/bloom production
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We have worked on many properties over the years and have seen it all. Some of the repeat offenders on the list are: over planted beds, planting too close to the house, poorly chosen mass plantings that are an eyesore, and large plants in places that cannot accommodate them. These mistakes seem small at first, but they add up each year, impacting the beauty and increasing the expense of maintaining your property.
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We know and recommend native and drought tolerant plants while also taking the client’s preferences and goals into consideration.
We value and respect large landscape maintenance companies, they are a big part of what we do! That being said, we also know that they do not necessarily specialize in detailed design. There is a lot to consider in building a properly planted, sustainable landscape and we have made it our business to focus on the art of the design.
Why Not Just Let My Maintenance Company Design My Property?
We work with many of the large, well run businesses on Cape Cod, and we are inspired by the scale at which they operate. Working with these companies has shown us that most do not have a dedicated design staff creating sustainable, long lasting, and relatively low maintenance landscapes and garden beds. This is not because they are bad businesses, it takes a lot of resources to manage a high volume of work and many employees efficiently; especially with the challenges brought on by Covid in an already unique market. These conditions do not typically allow for the specialized focus and knowledge of our design firm.
There is a need for more purposeful design on Cape Cod, and we know this first hand because we have spent over 30 years combined working on properties that were not planted correctly the first time around. This leads to huge headaches down the road when there are plants growing up against your home or dying out because of crowded conditions. Even the best companies make these errors, not because they don’t care, but because they require a different type of efficiency. It is NOT easy to employ a lot of people seasonally on Cape Cod, and we are in awe of the companies that do it well! But, we are focused on providing a different kind of service, service that allows us to work with the bigger businesses and individual clients.
Do You Maintain Properties?
As of now we maintain a small handful of properties and manage additional properties for clients who need help coordinating services that we do not personally offer. We are not currently accepting new maintenance clients.
Subcontracted Services Include:
Plant Installation
Tree Pruning + Fertilization
Lawn Maintenance + Fertilization
Irrigation
Hardscaping
Large Scale Tree + Plant Installation
What Services Do You Offer?
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Comprehensive, full scale property design using 3D video modeling
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Consultations and design plans for smaller scale projects
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Project management
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Gardening basics consultation: Lessons on how to maintain your current landscape
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Specialized garden design and installation: pollinator gardens, cut flower gardens, sensory gardens, vegetable gardens
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Consultations to identify and preserve old growth trees for new build construction - adding value to the home while making the process more sustainable
Moving forward we are focusing on consultation and design work for individuals and large companies. We are happy to create designs that can be installed by your current maintenance team.
Long Term Goals
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To help homeowners maximize their properties while minimizing their environmental impact
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To help large maintenance and construction companies design more efficient and sustainable landscape installations
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To bring gardening to marginalized communities, and to encourage garden installation in unused public spaces
