Landscape Design & Installation

Hente Gardens was born being a landscape design/build company in 1974. The founder Rick Hente is the landscape designer. His multi-decade experience and ability to listen to your wants will result in a design that is based on reality and within budget. He knows what plant varieties are commonly available in the St. Louis area as well as what works best in this climate or conditions. His designs are intended to look great, not only upon newly completed, but also 15+ years later and more. Two of the most common compliments said about Rick is how people trust him and how over all other designers he actually listened.

Designing is just part of the landscape story of your house. There is so much more that will go into your landscaping than what you will see. This includes countless actions of care getting you the best landscape materials and workmanship possible. What are some of these countless actions and standard features? For starters, every plant we use is hand-picked. We don’t simply select say 15 Boxwoods. We select the BEST 15 Boxwoods out of the group. If there are only 12 good Boxwoods, we will source elsewhere or wait for a better quality to arrive. We source the bulk of our plant material from several great top-notch local wholesaler/growers with fantastic plant stock, but we will inconvenience ourselves to get you the best if they don’t offer it. Secondly, we use a top notch rated weed barrier fabric under all decorative rock. This material is thick, heavier, rated for 30-years, and harder to work with, but that is what it takes for a great long-lasting result.

Third, all mulch projects come standard with an herbicide to control weed growth installed under the mulch. This is simply a series of plant hormones that prevent seed germination. While not wholly effective, we notice it does cut down on a large number of weeds in the beds.

Fourth, all plants are installed with care. They are not simply dug into the ground. Each plant has a “better side” and we face that side where is can be best viewed by the human eye rather than a brick wall or siding. Additionally, plants are installed at the proper depth based on soil and location conditions.

Fifth, our edges are cut to perfection with a spade shovel, the old-fashioned way with a spade cut finish for an eye appealing curve or line. It is harder, more labor intensive, and time consuming, but makes for a fantastic edge compared to motorized methods. Whether the edging is a simple spade cut, plastic, metal, natural stone, or bricks, they will have a great gentle flow that would impress a 17th century artist.

Last to be mentioned is Rick, the lead designer, owner operator of Hente Gardens will periodically visit your project weeks and months after completion as a type of quality control. He will let you know of any plants are in need of attention and keep a watchful eye for any problems and advise. However, should you have any concerns Rick will visit and inspect and meet with you the homeowner all at your preference.