A graduate of Purdue University in 1982 with a degree in Landscape Architecture, Darren Williamson began his career creating landscapes, naturescapes, water features, patios, walls and walks for residential and commercial clients along the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Since returning to his Midwestern roots in 1987, Darren has continued to focus on creativity and quality, but with an added dimension of personal service that grew out of his own commitment to client satisfaction.By establishing North Star Landscape Design & Installation, Darren calls his teams to go beyond "industry standards" to execute his vision for unique design, quality construction and personal service.
Services
A solid landscape plan is the heart of any landscape project. Not only does it give structure to your vision.but it gives purpose to every action - whether you're buying perennials for your patio, or making big decisions - such as choosing the color of your house! A plan provides a snapshot of your ultimate destination, and acts as a guide as you move toward that goal.
The occasional wisp of warm air tells us that SPRING is just around the corner! Are you ready? It will be here before you know it, and unfortunately, once warmer weather settles in - everything begins to "pop" - including weed seeds! The point is - NOW is the time to prepare your lawn and beds by performing a spring clean-up, followed by applications of pre-emergent herbicides to help control weeds before they germinate, and plant-specific fertilizers to encourage strong and healthy growth this season!
Reviews (8)
Jane Dailey
Nov 28, 2021
I cannot recommend North Star highly/loudly enough! Dana and her hardworking crew reworked our backyard in fall of 2020, including building a beautiful rock wall (with rocks already on the premises) and landscaping a tricky hill. In fall 2021, we tackled the front beds, enlarging them and landscaping. Dana is expert at choosing plants she knows will thrive here in Michigan, and she plants for all seasons, especially fall, and she chooses plants for aroma, too.
She also happily transplants existing plants, including a big oak leaf hydrangea and far too many hostas. The quality of the new plants is always high, especially--this matters--trees. She has now planted four trees for us, pretty big ones. Each is very happy. North Star has replaced the very few plants that died the first year, usually with something else that thrives where the former did not. Dana has been unbelievably helpful with (free) advice about plants, future projects, etc., as well as tolerating dogs and unsolicited (human) advice.
Our neighbors are now working with North Star so that our backyards will harmonize. People slow down as they drive by; one person refers to us as "the people with the beautiful garden." That garden is surprisingly low maintenance for the beauty it provides. We couldn't be happier, and are plotting for next spring! Reserve now is you want to enjoy your garden all summer.
She also happily transplants existing plants, including a big oak leaf hydrangea and far too many hostas. The quality of the new plants is always high, especially--this matters--trees. She has now planted four trees for us, pretty big ones. Each is very happy. North Star has replaced the very few plants that died the first year, usually with something else that thrives where the former did not. Dana has been unbelievably helpful with (free) advice about plants, future projects, etc., as well as tolerating dogs and unsolicited (human) advice.
Our neighbors are now working with North Star so that our backyards will harmonize. People slow down as they drive by; one person refers to us as "the people with the beautiful garden." That garden is surprisingly low maintenance for the beauty it provides. We couldn't be happier, and are plotting for next spring! Reserve now is you want to enjoy your garden all summer.
Mike Marola
Nov 28, 2021
Michael Schroer
Nov 24, 2021
I am very impressed and satisfied with my experience with North Star! Dana did a great job in creating an imaginative landscape design and was very responsive to my comments and suggestions. They've been very dependable in terms of their ongoing maintenance visits and open to special projects like dealing with a spreading vine that was consuming a bunkhouse on the property. North Star is a professional high quality company that's a pleasure to deal with.
Marcia King
Nov 21, 2021
Geoffrey Stone
Nov 11, 2021
Mark Korody
Oct 28, 2021
We worked with Northstar to refurbish our backyard area landscape design, plant selection and installation. This was a bare ground up project. The design and plant selection development was spot on for our vision of the area. The actual installation went well, was quick and professional. The end result is an area that will mature and we will enjoy for years to come.
Communication and follow up support was very good. We are very pleased with the result and are planning another project for the near future. We would easily recommend to others.
Communication and follow up support was very good. We are very pleased with the result and are planning another project for the near future. We would easily recommend to others.
Rich Vegter
Oct 17, 2021
AVOID THIS COMPANY. They are great at making nice proposals, charging high prices and having you sign contracts full of all of the things they are not responsible for. We thought we were paying more for quality when we hired them for our home in Cassopolis MI. We ended up with a crooked wall (which they were paid to fix in the first place) and a landscape bed full of incredibly invasive weeds, which never existed on the property, after they cleared and reinstalled the entire area!
We received ongoing broken promises to come back and deal with this "horsetail" weed which had now spread over the entire area. At the end of it all, a year later, we were told they will NOT come back as they are too busy with other customer commitments and gave us email of how we can fix it ourselves and advice to hire someone else to fix it! NEVER AGAIN will we consider this company. Highly recommend people look elsewhere.
We received ongoing broken promises to come back and deal with this "horsetail" weed which had now spread over the entire area. At the end of it all, a year later, we were told they will NOT come back as they are too busy with other customer commitments and gave us email of how we can fix it ourselves and advice to hire someone else to fix it! NEVER AGAIN will we consider this company. Highly recommend people look elsewhere.
Jorge
Dec 09, 2016
This company was hired to do landscaping on our property in 2016. Our experience was terrible. The owner talked a good game but was absent from our site during almost the entire project. We found a tremendous lack of attention of detail on the project. We will never have this company involved in any of our future projects.
