Whole-property design-build for new custom homes and full renovations: grading and engineered walls, stone terraces, fire and kitchens, irrigation and mature planting under the pines.
Custom landscape installation in Castle Pines means taking a new custom home or an established property from a rough-graded lot to a finished landscape in one contract: design, engineered retaining walls, terraces and patios, drainage and irrigation, trees at estate size, lighting and design review approval. HLE Landscaping & Concrete builds full-property installations here for roughly $75,000 to $250,000+, in eight to sixteen weeks on site.
Custom homes deserve the landscape they were drawn with. Here is how that gets built.
A custom home in Castle Pines is handed over with the hard part of the landscape undone. The lot is rough-graded to the builder’s drainage plan, the walkout drops a story to the yard, the front is dirt to the curb, and everything the family imagined about living outside is still on the architect’s rendering. In The Canyons, Castle Pines Village, Hidden Pointe and Lagae Ranch that gap is closed by one of two paths: five separate contractors over eighteen months, or one custom landscape installation.
We build the second. A custom installation starts with a whole-property design that respects the builder’s swales and the community’s design guidelines, then puts the infrastructure in first: grading, drainage, engineered walls, sleeves, gas, water and power stub-outs, irrigation mains. Only then do the terraces, the kitchen, the fire lounge, the entry walk, the trees and the lighting go in, in sequence, on one schedule, under one warranty.
The difference shows in year ten, not in the photos. The terrace is still flat because the base was specified for clay. The wall is dry behind because it was engineered and drained. The trees give privacy because they were planted at estate size on their own irrigation zone. And nobody had to cut a finished patio to run gas to the kitchen, because the line was already there.
A Castle Pines property is a forested ridge lot with a custom home on it. The landscape should look like it was always there.
The Castle Pines palette is quartzite or buff sandstone, moss rock and boulder walls, heavy timber or steel structures and blackened steel details, in the earth tones design review committees favor. It looks like it grew out of the ridge because the materials came from one.
Walkout lots drop a story from the main level. We terrace them: a dining terrace at door level, a lower patio under the deck, a fire lounge on the middle bench, connected by lit stone stairs. Two engineered walls with a planted bench between them cost less than one tall wall and look like a garden.
Custom lots sit close on the street side and open to the ridge on the other. Columnar oaks and upright junipers screen the neighbor, steel slat panels block one window, a raised terrace changes the sight line, and the view side is left open with a low steel edge instead of a railing where grade allows.
Deer-resistant natives and Plant Select perennials massed in drifts, structural evergreens for winter, aspen clumps in cool pockets, and a small turf panel within the metro district’s water rules. Near the house, a non-combustible zone of stone and rock that reads as design and doubles as defensible space.
Design review is part of the design. Most Castle Pines communities review hardscape, wall heights, structures, colors and plant lists. We design to the guidelines from the first sketch and prepare the packet, so approval is a scheduled step rather than a redesign.
Six things that happen before the property looks like anything. They are why it still looks right in year ten.
We start from the builder’s grading plan. Swales are preserved or rebuilt, positive slope away from the foundation is confirmed with a level, downspouts are extended underground, and every terrace is pitched to a drain that daylights. On a ridge lot, water management is the first design decision.
Walls over four feet, or carrying a patio, driveway or slope, get a stamped engineered design, a Douglas County permit and inspections. Every wall gets geogrid, clean drainage stone, perforated pipe and a compacted base. Segmental block with a natural stone cap for long runs; moss rock and boulders where the wall is a feature.
Before a single stone is set: sleeves under every walk and terrace, conduit for lighting, gas to the fire lounge and kitchen, water and drain to the kitchen, power for heaters and appliances. It costs little now and saves cutting finished stone later.
Six to eight inches of compacted road base over moisture-conditioned subgrade under every hard surface, thicker under drive aprons, with edge restraint on every segmental surface. National minimums do not hold up on Castle Pines soils.
Mains sized for the whole property, drip to every bed and tree, turf on its own zones, a smart controller with flow sensing, and programming to the metro district’s watering rules. Installed before planting, tested before the first tree goes in.
Low-voltage runs, transformer locations and fixture stubs go in with the irrigation, so uplights, downlights, step and wall lights can be placed and aimed at the end without trenching through finished beds.
Every material is judged against freeze-thaw, high-altitude UV, expansive clay, wind on the ridge and what the design review committee will approve.
| Element | Premium choice for Castle Pines | Why here | Typical installed range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terraces and walks | Quartzite or buff sandstone flagstone; 20 mm porcelain for covered rooms and thresholds; large-format pavers for drive courts | Freeze-thaw rated, UV-stable, resettable or rigid where each belongs | $22–$40 / sq ft pavers; flagstone 50–100% above; porcelain premium tier |
| Retaining and seat walls | Moss rock and boulder walls, board-formed concrete, block with a natural stone cap | Belong to the landscape; engineered footings and drainage | $35–$75 / face ft block; natural stone above |
| Front entry and drive apron | Exposed-aggregate or sandblasted concrete walk, granite cobble or paver band at the apron | Traction on steep drives, plow and de-icer resistant | $12–$22 / sq ft concrete; cobble band by linear ft |
| Structures | Steel-framed or powder-coated aluminum louvered roofs; thermally modified wood or ipe; cedar with a maintenance plan | Hail, UV and snow-load rated; ember-resistant materials near the house | $18,000–$75,000+ |
| Outdoor kitchen surfaces | Honed granite, quartzite or porcelain slab; full-bed or high-grade thin natural stone veneer; stainless or aluminum cabinetry | No fading, no yellowing, freeze-proof plumbing | $15,000–$60,000+ complete |
| Ground plane | Stabilized crusher fines, 1.5 in and larger local rock, half-buried boulders, steel edging | Stays put in wind, reads as design, permeable | Varies by area |
Typical 2026 installed ranges in the south Denver metro. Elevation, access and material selections set the exact number on your proposal.
Estate-size stock at 3–4 inch caliper and specimen evergreens from premium nurseries, hand-selected, planted with amended pits, staking and a dedicated drip zone. Privacy in year one, not year eight.
Colorado buff sandstone and moss rock are quarried along the Front Range. They match the ridge, they cost less to freight than imports, and they age into the site instead of fighting it.
Travertine outdoors, manufactured stone veneer that fades at altitude, quartz composite counters that yellow in UV, bark mulch on a windy ridge, and big-box pavers that cannot be matched later.
Whole-property numbers, so the proposal lands where you expect.
A new custom home or full renovation where the front is finished or deferred and the backyard is built as connected rooms.
The typical Castle Pines custom home: entry, drive apron, side yards and a complete backyard with a covered room and kitchen.
Larger ridge and canyon lots, or a property adding a pool, spa, casita or motor court over one to three years.
Design is a line item, not an extra. It is the part of the project that decides whether the other ninety percent is spent well, and on a Castle Pines property it is also the design review packet, the wall engineering coordination and the sequencing plan.
New build? Start design while the house is framed. Approvals run while the builder finishes, and the landscape is installed the month you move in instead of a year later.
A full-property installation is a construction schedule with a nursery at the end of it.
Brandon walks the lot with you and the builder’s grading plan, shoots the grade, checks access and utilities, and listens to how you will use the property.
Week 0 · 60–90 minScaled plan, material board with full-size samples on site, tree and plant list, itemized proposal by element. Wall engineering starts here.
Weeks 1–5Community design review submittal, Douglas County permits for walls, structures, gas and electrical, utility locates. We prepare and submit everything.
Weeks 4–14Grading and walls, then sleeves and stub-outs, base and hardscape, structures and kitchen, irrigation, trees and planting, lighting. Site protected and cleaned daily.
8–16 weeks on siteDusk lighting walkthrough, irrigation programmed to the metro district’s rules, first-season tree and plant care notes, written warranty on file.
Final week and first seasonThe spring calendar: Castle Pines installations that start design in December are approved by March and finished by early summer. Waiting until the house closes to start the landscape usually means a fall install.
A custom landscape is the last major build on a custom home. It should be run like one.
HLE Landscaping & Concrete is locally owned and owner-led. Brandon designs each property with the homeowner, walks the lot with the builder’s grading plan in hand, and then our own concrete, wall and landscape crews build it on one schedule. That matters on a Castle Pines lot because a full installation is five trades that have to happen in the right order, and a gap between them is where drainage, sleeves and warranties get lost.
We have built retaining walls, patios, turf, walkways and full new-construction landscapes across the south metro for years, we engineer and permit every wall that needs it, we source trees at the size that gives a new home privacy now, and we leave a finished custom home as clean as we found it. The awards and the 350+ Google reviews are there to be checked.
“Brandon and his team at HLE Landscaping did an absolutely phenomenal job on our complete backyard re-do! He got us a quote and then started the work 5 days later. They got it finished quickly and affordably. The finished work is high quality and beautifully done.”
— Google review, complete backyard build
| What you should ask any contractor | Our answer |
|---|---|
| Can you build from my architect’s plan? | Yes, and we flag base, drainage and wall engineering that Castle Pines soils require before we price it. |
| Have you been through design review here? | We design to community guidelines from the first sketch and prepare the submittal ourselves; ask about specific communities on the site walk. |
| Who engineers the walls? | A licensed Colorado engineer stamps every wall over 4 ft or carrying a surcharge; Douglas County permits and inspections are ours to manage. |
| Will the trees survive? | Estate-size stock from premium nurseries, planted for clay, on their own drip zone, warrantied in writing when we install the irrigation. |
| Are you insured for heavy equipment on a finished custom home? | General liability and workers’ compensation; certificates come with the proposal, and site protection is part of the plan. |
| How do you handle changes mid-project? | Written change order before work continues; the itemized proposal is the baseline. |
Ask to see a whole-property installation on the site walk. Full gallery · client reviews.
A designed backyard-only installation on a Castle Pines custom lot typically runs $75,000–$120,000. A full-property installation covering the front entry, drive apron, walks, backyard terraces, engineered walls, irrigation, mature trees and lighting runs $120,000–$250,000. Estate master plans with a pool, second structure or motor court go beyond that and are usually built in phases. Slope, wall length, tree size and structures are what move the number.
Plan on three to five weeks for design and selections, four to ten weeks for design review, engineering and Douglas County permits, and eight to sixteen weeks on site. A backyard-only installation is at the short end; a front-and-back estate with walls, a kitchen and a structure is at the long end. Starting design while the house is still being framed means the landscape is installed the month you move in.
Both. If you have a plan from an architect or landscape designer, we build to it, and we will tell you before pricing where the base, drainage or wall engineering needs to be specified for Castle Pines soils. If you do not have a plan, Brandon designs it with you on site and the proposal covers design and construction under one contract.
Yes. Communities such as Castle Pines Village, The Canyons, Hidden Pointe and Lagae Ranch review hardscape, walls, structures, colors and plant lists. We design to the guidelines from the first sketch, prepare the submittal, and handle Douglas County building permits for engineered walls, structures, gas and electrical. Approval timelines are built into the schedule before construction starts.
A grading and drainage plan that keeps the builder’s swales and positive slope away from the foundation; sleeve and conduit locations under every future walk and patio; gas, water and power stub-outs for the kitchen, fire and lighting; irrigation mains sized for the whole property; wall locations with engineering where needed; and the design review submittal. Getting those into the ground before hardscape is what a custom installation buys you.
We source 3–4 inch caliper trees and specimen evergreens from premium nurseries, plant them with amended pits sized for clay soils, drip irrigation on their own zone, staking for the first season and mulch rings, and we match species to the site: ponderosa, pinyon and upright junipers in the open, aspen clumps and Rocky Mountain birch in cooler pockets, columnar oaks for privacy lines. Deer pressure and wind exposure are part of the selection, and plant material on irrigation we install is warrantied in writing.
Both are design inputs. We favor deer-resistant plant palettes and protect young trees through establishment. For wildfire, the five feet closest to the house is non-combustible hardscape or rock, structures use ember-resistant materials, and fire features are gas. The forested character of Castle Pines is kept by planting the right trees in the right zones rather than by clearing.
Yes. A custom installation is the whole property. Front entries in Castle Pines are usually a stone or exposed-aggregate walk, a granite cobble or paver band at the drive apron, low walls or boulders for grade, specimen planting and entry lighting, designed to the same palette as the backyard so the property reads as one design from the street.
One installation is cheaper, faster and kinder to the finished home, because every return trip brings machines back across the property. If phasing is required, the infrastructure goes in first: grading, drainage, walls, sleeves, stub-outs, irrigation mains and the primary terraces. Structures, the kitchen, the motor court and the final planting layers can follow. We design the whole property up front so nothing built in year one is undone in year two.
Look for a company that can show you whole-property projects, not single patios; that engineers and permits its walls; that has a design review track record in Castle Pines communities; that specifies base and drainage for clay soils; that sources mature trees and warranties them; that carries general liability and workers’ compensation; and that itemizes its proposal so you can see the cost of each element. Then read its reviews for schedule, communication and how the site was left each night.
Send the builder’s site plan if you have it, or just tell us where you are in the build. Brandon will walk the lot and come back with a whole-property plan and an itemized number.
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