Paradise in your backyard

Rick Ferrier can turn any lawn into a practical and beautiful space

Ferrier's Water and Landscaping can turn your yard into an outdoor haven. — Photo courtesy Corrine Holden

 Ferrier’s Water and Landscaping opened for business in 1999 and has recently won a B.C. Small Business Success Award from the British Columbia Small Business Roundtable. Rick Ferrier, the owner of Ferrier’s Water and Landscaping, was a gardener for the City of Cranbrook for 21 years and is a certified arborist and pond builder. Lately, Ferrier has seen an increase in people naturalizing their lawns to make the space usable.

“There is more demand for natural restoration or ‘natural-scaping,’ ” said Ferrier, “meaning to restore the land to a natural state using indigenous material like plants and trees.”

Ferrier started his business in Invermere, B.C., and said most people are more interested in creating low maintenance, usable space as opposed to maintaining their outdoor property. While landscaping and waterscaping is more of a luxury, there are some things anyone can do to improve curbside appearance and increase the property value of the home.

“I try and enforce with people, if nothing else, to beautify the roadside of their lot,” said Ferrier. “This goes a long way to increase the value of their property with beautiful trees, flowering perennials and a good mix of colourful shrubs.”