Taking the Field

Lisa Jordan Spires

February 27, 2008 4:36:03 pm

GWINNETT DAILY POST

2/14/2008

Taking the field
Former football players branch out with landscaping business

By Lisa Jordan Spires
Lifestyles Editor

They started out as teammates, but now former Dacula High School football players Thomas Boyce and Des Williams are storming a different kind of field - the backyard.

At just 23 years old, Boyce, who went on to play football at the University of Louisville before transferring to the University of Georgia, and Williams, who played at Georgia, are at the helm of Innovative Outdoors, a landscape and maintenance company specializing in high-end outdoor living spaces.

"We're the two oldest people in the company," Boyce says. "I think both of us have business-minded ambitions. When I started this back in high school as just kind of a way to make extra money, it just kept growing and kept growing. I enjoyed doing it and went from just cutting people's grass with a pickup truck and a push mower to doing this project."

The project Boyce is referring to is an outdoor living room complete with a built-in grill, a fireplace and even a television set that's been waterproofed to withstand the elements.

"It's the first time I've ever done a TV actually outside," Boyce says. "Our big thing now is outdoor living spaces, doing a lot of woodworking, taking a patio area and really turning it into an extension of the home."

Standing on the back porch of this Duluth home, it's hard to believe you're not tucked away in a cozy indoor den. That, Boyce and Williams say, is the idea.

"What we want to do is create a room that's an extension of the home," Boyce says. "They can entertain out here. ... You can go as far with it as you want to. It's a neat thing to do that probably wasn't being done 15 years ago."

Recent college graduates comprise the bulk of Innovative Outdoors' staff, and they collaborate with friends in the landscape architecture program at Georgia, as well as a registered landscape architect. It's a combination of youth and teamwork that has served the company well.

"Our big thing is relationships. We've got really close relationships with all the guys that we work with. Everybody's a close-knit group, good friends," Boyce says. "It's really been a fun thing to grow with our customers and work with friends every day. We've got a unique work dynamic."

"We're young, ambitious, but we're not scared to get out there," Williams adds. "A lot of other companies are older, they're set in their ways. They've done things for 20 years, and that's just the way they do it. We're always anxious to find the newest ways, the newest technologies to use.

"We're just really excited to be young and to be able to break into the industry with new techniques."

Boyce and Williams are gearing up to bring their fresh perspective to the Georgia Home & Garden show in Duluth this weekend, where they'll be displaying drought-tolerant landscapes, a full-scale outdoor fireplace and outdoor lighting, among other things.

"Outdoor living's a real big thing for us, and we've found every time that we do it, the customers really end up spending a lot more time outside and really enjoying the outdoors," Boyce says. "That's really what we're focusing on at the show."

In addition to continuing the growth of their business, Boyce and Williams have some community service activities in the works. The child of a single mother, Williams has an eye toward helping single moms with projects around the house.

"We're looking to start some community service events that have to do with going and finding a single mom and spending the day out here and sprucing up her landscape, doing things around the house that are easy, but it's hard for a single mom either to afford or just to be able to do," he says. "I think it will be good for our work force to see that, how happy you can make somebody."

Stover's Success Story

Colbert

February 8, 2008 10:15:17 am

Stover Success Story

Overview:

Since moving into their home more than a year ago, the Stover's had
not been able to enjoy their back yard. Their home is situated on a
large lot, however the back of the home was an eyesore with a large
weed infested hill, and a seemingly out of place brick retaining wall.

Challenge:

With a family of four the Stover's wanted to be able incorporate outdoor living space for entertaining, while having a beautiful view of their landscape from the back of their home. Mrs. Stover also wanted to incorporate in a water feature as a focal point of the backyard landscape. The Stover's wanted to improve the look of their
backyard, but they were unsure of the overall vision and potential for the space, "Our back yard was a mess, the builder stuck us with a huge hill with a few junipers on it. There wasn't much to work with (Mr. Stover)." The most challenging aspect of the project was in fact the grade of the back yard, being situated on a hill with such a sever
slope, it was difficult for the family to imagine any possible solution for the property.

Innovative Outdoors Solution:

By working with the Stover's to identify their specific desires for the project, the Innovative Outdoors design team was able to develop design ideas that both worked with their challenging lot and satisfied
their desires for the space. "It was amazing working with Thomas and the designers, they really listened to what we were looking for. They were able to come up with a design that far exceeded our expectations
(Mr. Stover)."

The Innovative Outdoors Design Team created a design that incorporated all of the elements that the Stover's were looking for. The design consisted of a large water feature framed by a custom arbor, a
flagstone patio covered by a pergola with an outdoor kitchen and stacked stone fireplace, that was met by a meandering flagstone patio with raised flower beds. To compliment the hardscape features of the
project a variety of plants were selected for the landscape to provide softer accents that provide transitional color throughout the year. To top off the project, a custom lighting system was designed to
highlight the landscape and hardscape features in the evening hours.

The project did however present its challenges, the large hill in the back yard actually presented more challenges as there were large amounts of rock in the area of the water feature. Also during the
construction process additional components were added to the project including an additional patio, pergola, walkway, and fence. "I was very impressed with Innovative Outdoors throughout the construction
process. They kept me up to date throughout the project, they stayed on schedule, and the entire staff was very easy to communicate with (Mrs. Stover)."

Results:

The end result for the Stover's was a functional and beautiful outdoor living space. Their new landscape provides them with both beauty and utility for their family to enjoy. "I am so pleased with our new
backyard, I have always wanted a waterfall at my home and this is better than I ever could have imagined. The view from my bedroom window is amazing, I like to sit in my room at night with the window
opened listening to the sound of the waterfall (Mrs. Stover)."

"Innovative Outdoors did a great job on our home, it was a true transformation. I have already recommended them to my friends and family and I look forward to working with them again in the future on other projects (Mr. Stover)."