COMMERCIAL PROJECT PROFILE: Arbor Daze

Though Michael Hatcher & Associates won their bid to design and build the landscape for a Dollar Tree distribution center, the firm’s creative design was worth much more than a buck.

"The goal of the project was to exemplify the owner’s desire to have a really nice looking building," explains Michael Hatcher, president of the Memphis, Tenn.-based design/build firm. "Dollar Tree is an environmentally conscious organization and they recognize the importance of landscaping, which not only makes for a comfortable working environment, but also draws potential employees in to work."

Hatcher and his design team, led by Chris Reifers, incorporated those client values into the design for the 40-acre property, which included a full irrigation design in addition to the landscaping. The results are priceless.

SIX-THOUSAND-DOLLAR TREE. Hatcher & Associates was shortlisted early on by Dollar Tree’s general contractor Clancy & Theys Construction Co. During the design phase, Landscape Designer Chris Reifers started with a base map of the property and worked with the property owner to determine a budget and the approach the firm would take to create the ideal landscape.

"The property owners wanted a nice looking landscape that would be easily maintained," Hatcher says. "One of the features that was important to them was to screen some of the employee parking from the roadway and also to complement the architecture of the building."

Though the building itself was an average warehouse facility, Hatcher explains that the property also had a separate, stand-alone office building and a courtyard separating it from the warehouse. Later in the project, the courtyard became a focal point. "Dollar Tree is an employee-oriented company and the courtyard is designed as a place for employees to relax," Hatcher says. "We used a crane to bring in a 10-inch caliper Zelkova to this area from a nursery in Princeton, N.J., at the owners’ request. They wanted a nice tree in the patio area to represent the company’s dedication to the environment and to benefit the employees. What’s so impressive about that is that this huge tree is not in the front of the building as a focal point – it’s in the patio area for employees to enjoy."

And with a price tag of more than $6,500 for the specimen, there’s a lot of tree to enjoy. Hatcher says the Zelkova installation was the excitement of the job. "Any time when there are specialty needs for outside equipment – cranes or lift trucks or concrete pumps – is when things get fun," he says. "It’s not uncommon for us to use cranes to set larger trees. We have a good working relationship with a crane company and we feel comfortable rigging and lifting trees into position."

Hatcher says the company’s three-person planting crew handled the tree installation, though the crane was operated by a crane company employee. The crane rental, including labor for the operator, cost $160 per hour and installation took about 6 hours.

SITE SPECIFICS. Beyond the excitement of the Zelkova installation, Hatcher says the remainder of the Dollar Tree project went smoothly. Extensive plantings of Cleyera, Leatherleaf Mahonia, Big Blue Liriope, Azalea, variegated Hosta and annuals filled in the courtyard area, creating a lush, rejuvenating atmosphere for hardworking employees.

Outside the courtyard, Hatcher says the three-person grading team ran into challenges with partially wooded areas of the site that had undergone extensive undercutting and required the team to create contours and elevation changes of 6 to 8 feet in some places. "The biggest challenge with that was to coordinate our efforts with the other contractors in the area so we were able to leave the site accessible to other trades," Hatcher says. "In those instances, it’s really just a matter of communication and knowing when other contractors need to be in that area. You may be able to work on a certain part of the site one day, but if there are deliveries coming in or someone needs to work on the curbs or lay a base for the asphalt, we need to make sure they’re able to get into those areas."

While one crew was grading, Hatcher & Associates’ irrigation team was able to start installation. "We were responsible for both the landscape and irrigation installation, which required us to be on the site early on in order to do the sleeving for the irrigation in the courtyard areas and parking lot islands," Hatcher says. Though the entire area of the Dollar Tree property was about 40 acres, Hatcher explains that about 10 of those acres are warehouse space and 3 acres make up an asphalt parking lot. The remaining area was landscaped by the company and 2 to 3 of those acres, plus the courtyard, were irrigated at a cost of about $28,000.

"For us, commercial design/build projects usually run between $100,000 and $150,000, and this project fell right in that range," Hatcher says. "For a job this size, irrigation usually will be about 33 percent of the cost, and for this it was a little less."

The total cost for the Dollar Tree project was $126,200, with 22 percent going to irrigation and the remainder to green goods and grading. "Our materials cost is usually between 25 and 28 percent and the rest is incidentals, overhead and profit," Hatcher explains, adding that the company usually tries to get 12 percent profit on commercial jobs. On this particular project, because the job site was a mere three miles from Hatcher & Associates’ home office and travel time was minimal, the company came out ahead with 15 percent profit.

As for the $100,000 for plant materials on the job, Hatcher’s plant list includes 8,400 square yards of Bermudagrass sod on the property and several different types of trees and shrubs. Plant texture was an important consideration for this aspect of the design. "We were able to mix a lot of coarse-textured plants with fine-textured plants to create an interesting design," Hatcher says. "For instance, the Nellie R. Stevens hollies have a coarse texture with their broad, glossy leaves, but a lot of the perennials like Spirea and Abelia that we used on the site were more delicate and delivered the blooms that we wanted for more color and interest."

Additionally, Hatcher & Associates installed bright daylilies around the building entrance, as well as chameleon-like burning bushes that turn a fiery red when the weather cools. Big Blue Liriope and variegated Hosta also are among the plants adding color and texture to the site beneath numerous tree species including Leyland cypress, redbud, crape myrtle, willow oak and flowering dogwood. In combination, these plants add seasonal interest and achieve the owner’s goal of concealing the employee parking area from the road running in front of the building.

"Our designers recognized the need for the use of deciduous trees to allow for winter warmth and summer shade, and the need to incorporate different varieties of plant material to create interest in the landscape," Hatcher says. "For this project, we brought in Southern Magnolia for summer color and Yoshino cherries for spring color. To create the screen for the parking area, we installed more than 50 Nellie R. Stevens hollies on either side of the front driveway up to the building, so you can drive along the road and when you come to a break in the hollies you get a nice view of the building."

TALKING IT OUT. From grading to irrigation to one giant tree, Hatcher & Associates had several issues to handle during the course of the Dollar Tree project. Moreover, this particular property was also a construction site with steelworkers, electricians and concrete contractors on the site at different phases of the job. Because of that, Hatcher says constant communication with the project’s general contractor and other subcontractors was critical.

"We really had no surprises on this job because we made sure there was constant communication not only between our own crews, sales representatives and office staff, but also between the other subcontractors and the general contractor," Hatcher says. "We always make sure to attend all job meetings from the beginning to the end of a job, even though there may not be any information that affects us or we might not be on the site that week. But in case something does come up, we’re aware of it."

Though his team was only on the site for about one month, Hatcher says a representative from the company attended every weekly meeting for the entire six-month duration of the project. That coordination left Dollar Tree with a highly functional property highlighted by an employee-pleasing landscape.