Business is Blooming: Landscape Designer Celebrates a Successful Season

Cathy Rosenhaus never expected her business to be doing as well as it is. About a year ago, the entrepreneur left a large landscaping company to start her own landscaping business this past January. Based in Farmington Hills, Garden Designs is a design-build company that specializes in site enhancements.

“It was scary, but I wanted to be on my own again,” said Rosenhaus who ran her own company years ago before going to work for a large nursery.

“I like the control I now have over the variety of jobs,” added the designer, who has three grown children. "I’m surprised that I’m so super busy.”

Rosenhaus attributes her bounty of clients to the fact that people are becoming more and more committed to creating nice outdoor environments.

“Both commercial and residential clients understand that they need to take care of their property.”   

Beyond yards and home layouts, Rosenhaus is especially excited about parking-lot landscapes.

“Why do parking lots have to be ugly?” she asked. She now is putting the finishing touches on landscaping that she designed for the Hunter Square shopping complex in Farmington Hills near 14 Mile and Orchard Lake roads. “We’ve designed a little court yard in front of Marshalls,” she explained.

She’s also overseeing the design for an entrance to an apartment complex in Traverse City. “We’re using boulders, whitespire birch and lots of native plants,” Rosenhaus explained. “There’s so much snow up there, so it’s good to use natural plantings.” Ferns and sage are just a couple of the plants that Rosenhaus selected.

Transformation begins with questions 

The first thing Rosenhaus asks her residential clients is how they live outside their home.

Questions include “Do you grill and where? Is there a pool that you swim in or do you want one? Will you be planning for a swing set or play area? Do you entertain?”, she said. Clients can also plan for how they’ll live in the future. A swing set can eventually give way to maturing plants.

“Or, if you have a sunny area,” Rosenhaus said, “maybe you eventually replace the play area with a vegetable garden.”

The designer said it’s all about how you blend your hardscape with gardens and green areas. Hardscape is defined as those areas that include patios, walkways, porches, etc.

“I help people organize their outdoor space,” she said, sounding not unlike an interior designer. “We adapt gardens for what people want and add quality to their lives.”

If you’re planning a garden or landscape renovation or are starting a new layout, Rosenhaus said, “Don’t over do it with the beds.” She has seen too many people over the years work too hard in their gardens and not have time to enjoy the space. “The goal is to make it pretty and enjoy it but not be a slave to it.”

Passion stems from long ago

Rosenhaus’ love of gardening began as a child growing up in Maine. “A little old lady who lived near us taught me a lot about plants,” she recalled fondly. Eventually, Rosenhaus majored in art in college. Her artistic eye complements her career in gardening. 

Besides a client’s outdoor lifestyle, Rosenhaus suggests homeowners think about a focal point (a particular plant, garden art or seating area, for example), maintenance and budget.

“It adds up,” she said. “Before embarking on an overhaul, come up with a budget and be honest with your designer on what that budget is.”  

Naturally, sun availability and soil type also play into landscape plans.

When Alicia Chandler of Birmingham called on Rosenhaus, she explained to the designer that her walk-out basement was a challenge for the overall design. "But Cathy did a great job adding not only a deck off the main floor, but also a screened-in porch below it, off the basement," said Chandler.  "She did a great job."

Today, Chandler looks out to a gorgeous setting brimming with white and purple hydrangeas, lilacs and more. "I love purple and Cathy did it just right," Chandler said. "There's not too much purple but enough that it suits me perfectly. She came up with a beautiful design."

Rosenhaus’ personal preference includes using a variety of textures and plants with lots of color.

“I especially like that real chartreusey green and often mix it with deep purples and burgundies.”

And if you can’t do flowers due to bee allergies, Rosenhaus has just the ticket … plants with lots of gorgeous leaves.

“Foliage can absolutely be as pretty as blooms,” she noted. “I just finished a job that had a lot of variegated Japanese forest grass, very nice.”

Your gardens should suit you and your lifestyle, she explained. “They should make you smile.”

Correction: The name of Cathy Rosenhaus' business was incorrectly reported in the original version of this story. It is Garden Designs.