Designscapes of Long Island: Making Landscape Design Dreams Come True Since 1985

As we gear up for the summer season, it’s time to start thinking about making the most out of alfresco living — refreshing the landscape, sprucing up the patio or even splurging for a plunge pool, one of the hottest trends of the season.

This time of year, Dan Steigerwald, president of Designscapes of Long Island, kicks into high gear, working overtime to turn peoples’ dreams for their outdoor paradises into realities.

Based in East Patchogue, Designscapes of Long Island is a one-stop-shop for outdoor projects, from design to construction, garnering more than 35 landscaping awards in its three decades in business.

A Focus on Plants

With his extensive background in horticultural work, Steigerwald moved onto landscape design, learning about the use of color, texture and layering of plants from a friend who happened to be an expert in the field.

“I took his design knowledge and my plant knowledge, melded it together and created Designscapes of Long Island,” Steigerwald says.

As a landscape designer, Steigerwald works with clients from Manhattan to Montauk to achieve their goals, offering his guidance and expertise at every turn, to seamlessly meld their indoor world with their outdoor paradise.

“I need to be a chameleon in this design world. I need to be able to go in there and look at their artwork and their decorations, and the color palettes they’ve already decided upon in their house and I take those ideas and work them into the landscape,” Steigerwald says.

From there, Steigerwald employs his knowledge of hardscapes, landscapes, and the various aspects of design, including passive and active use, sights in/views out, and  the environmental effects of wind and sun.

“I sit down, listen to them, learn what they’re trying to accomplish,” he says. And understanding what they like is probably the most important thing because when you’re done with the design, it’s theirs.”

Utilizing his horticultural background, Steigerwald chooses plants that are hardy for the evolving New York climate.

“We’re starting to integrate some of the southern varieties,” Steigerwald says. “We’re using crepe myrtles now for the last 10 or 15 years and southern magnolias and skip laurels – all these things that are relatively new to the area over the last 15 years because of global warming.”

Understanding plants — what needs shade vs. sun, what grows well near the water and other growing factors — is everything, says Steigerwald.

“Without it you’re not going to be successful and people aren’t going to be happy with their gardens as they mature,” he says.

Generational Customers

Known for customer satisfaction, Designscapes of LI boasts a significant amount of returning customers.

“Because I’ve done such a good job with their layouts, they mature into these almost year round, colorful gardens,” Steigerwald says. “As my landscaping designs prove themselves to be exactly what I told my clients they were going to be, thankfully they come back to me for more projects, as do their kids and now … their grandkids!”

One year, Designscapes  of LI had 17 repeat customers come back for jobs for their second home and one client contracting work for the third house.

“And then it becomes generational,” Steigerwald says. “I’m starting to work with their grandkids. And that’s probably one of the most rewarding things of my career. All that good work comes back to you.”

For Steigerwald, landscape design/build is all about quality.

“It’s about being the professional, being responsible, being proactive in dealing with the problems,” he says.

Over the years, Designscapes of LI has become proficient in construction.

Steigerwald has his “A” team of experienced employees who have been working with him for decades. He also contracts with a group of top-notch specialized contractors who he has known for over 30 years and for whom can attest to the high caliber of their workmanship and guaranteed professional standards.

“This business model allows me to efficiently tackle small projects or I can take on million dollar projects because I have plenty of talent out there who know my style, and we can pull off any type project one, two, three,” he says.

Skilled and knowledgeable about all the nuances of design and construction, Designscapes of LI can design and build anything you’d find outside a home:  pools, patios, sports courts, tennis courts, fireplaces, fire pits, drainage systems, lighting, irrigation, and more.

“We don’t cut lawns or rake up leaves,” Steigerwald says. “But we do offer professional ornamental pruning, dividing of perennials, cutting back gardens and over 50 years of horticultural expertise.”

A Beachy Backyard

For the past few years, Designscapes of LI  has been building the ever popular Biodesign beach-sculpted swimming pool, which creates an oceanic backyard oasis.

“It’s like building a pond with a liner in it, while it’s really a swimming hole!” Steigerwald says. “We sculpt out a form into a natural-looking area, which can vary in depth. But there are no structured walls. This is a hand-sculpted hole in the ground and we create ledges, drop-offs and a sloping sand beach entry.”

After creating the design, Designscapes of LI lays down a fabric to protect the liner, then a heavy duty rubber liner, adds the plumbing lines, covers the pipes, outlets and inlets with two layers of quartzite sand and gravel that mixes with an epoxy.

“And when we’re done, it looks like sand, but it’s firm,” he says. “It’s sand firmly in place, it doesn’t move. Now you have this beach sculpted look to it.”

These beach entry pools can be saltwater or chlorine, heated or unheated, and enhanced with boulders, caves, grotto waterfalls, a hot tub within the pool, lights, and numerous jets.

“It’s very unique. It’s very natural,” Steigerwald says. “This is the new, freeform natural pool.  It’s modern and sleek-looking and for people who don’t want a square pool, this is the modern vibe of the whole thing.”

Taking the Plunge

Designscapes of LI is now the authorized dealer of Plunge Pool Concepts, offering the world’s largest, customizable precast plunge pool, which is the latest craze in pools.

“It fills the void between a vinyl pool, a gunite pool and a bio-pool,” Steigerwald says.

The average vinyl pool will cost between $50,000 and 75,000; gunite pools run $100,000 to $150,000.

“The plunge pool comes in in the middle,” Steigerwald says. “They start off at about $60,0000 and they go up to about $90,000 to $100,000.”

With prefabricated concrete walls and floors, the plunge pool is generally about 4 feet deep.

“They can come pre-finished,” Steigerwald says. “The inside can be tile, it can have this special liner: a PVC liner welded in place. Or we can gunite it on site, like we do with a gunite pool, which is marble dusting it.”

Requiring far less maintenance than standard pools, plunge pools, which can be hot or cold water, are also considerably smaller, typically ranging from  6’ x 6’ or 8’ x 8’, but can be as large as 9’ x 21’, and are designed for relaxation, hydrotherapy and cooling off.

“When you’re tight on space and you don’t have enough to make the offset rules with a bigger pool, this is the advantage,” Steigerwald says. “It gives a high end appeal in a more reasonable budget than gunite and it’s definitely a step up from a vinyl pool.”

For further information on Designscapes of Long Island, call 631-475-0677 or visit designscapesoflongisland.com 

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