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  • Searstone Retirement Community
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    A sunset aerial captures one of the community’s primary outdoor gathering areas, integrating the putting green, walking paths, resident garden areas, seating and ornamental landscapes into a cohesive resident experience. Maintaining this highly visible and heavily used space requires exceptional turf quality, horticultural detail and coordination while preserving an inviting environment for residents throughout the day.

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    A central gathering area demonstrates the horticultural standard maintained throughout the community. Layered seasonal color, contrasting foliage, flowering shrubs, crisp bed lines and closely maintained Bermudagrass surround a shaded seating area designed for residents to stop, gather and enjoy the landscape.

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    Sweeping planting beds create a continuous ribbon of color and texture along one of the community’s principal pedestrian corridors. Seasonal displays are managed alongside mature ornamental plantings and Bermudagrass to provide a consistently polished experience as residents move throughout the campus.

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    Raised garden plots were constructed to give residents the opportunity to grow vegetables, herbs, flowers and other plants of their choosing. Residents are supported throughout the year with horticultural guidance and hands-on assistance, making the landscape something they actively participate in rather than simply observe.

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    Walking paths connect ornamental landscapes, resident garden plots and common areas throughout the community. Because these spaces are continuously occupied, crews are trained to remain highly aware of residents—pausing work and yielding pedestrian areas rather than requiring residents to navigate around landscape operations.

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    The health center illustrates the multi-use nature of the property and the need to deliver the same landscape standard across very different residential and healthcare environments. Seasonal color, maintained shrubs, clean bed lines and healthy turf create a welcoming arrival experience for residents, families, staff and visitors.

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    A broad view across the community demonstrates how residential buildings, pedestrian circulation, common lawns, ornamental landscapes and resident amenities are tied together visually. Creating greater continuity between newer and legacy areas is a central objective of a five-year landscape renewal plan developed in partnership with community leadership and residents.

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    The maintained landscape transitions into an expansive walking corridor along a preserved woodland edge, demonstrating the range of environments managed within the property. Healthy Bermudagrass, clean edges, maintained trees and an unobstructed pedestrian route provide residents with a safe and inviting connection to the surrounding natural setting.

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    More than 30 estate homes add a distinctly residential component to the account. These areas require close attention to turf quality, pruning, bed presentation and individual home appearance while being maintained as part of the larger, cohesive campus landscape.

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    Estate-home streetscapes are maintained with a residential level of detail, including tightly managed Bermudagrass, defined bed edges, carefully pruned shrubs and ornamental grasses. The result must feel personal to each resident while remaining consistent with the standards of the larger community.

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    This aerial view demonstrates the scale of the estate-home portion of the community and helps illustrate the complexity of extending irrigation through an already developed campus. The large-scale expansion required significant design and planning to reach previously unirrigated areas while navigating existing homes, streets, driveways, sidewalks, utilities and established landscapes.

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    Expanding the irrigation system across a fully developed and occupied community required far more than routine irrigation work. The project included system design, permitting and coordination with the Town of Cary, specialized boring beneath streets, driveways and sidewalks, and careful integration with existing infrastructure while minimizing disruption to residents and daily operations.

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    A construction-phase view documents the installation of a new bocce court created as an additional outdoor amenity for residents. The project required coordinating construction within an active residential environment while maintaining access and minimizing disruption to surrounding resident spaces and ongoing community operations.

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    This residential courtyard features a cascading waterfall and interconnected koi ponds that serve as a focal point for residents and surrounding common areas. Each year, the koi are carefully removed and later returned so the water feature can be thoroughly cleaned and maintained, with the process supported by the onsite landscape team. The surrounding plantings, turf, pathways and water feature reflect the broader goal of maintaining every part of the campus—from highly ornamental spaces to specialized amenities—with the same level of care and attention.

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Searstone Retirement Community

Category

Exterior Categories > Commercial Landscape Management > Multi-use Properties

Description

 

Company:

Granite Hills Group


Designer:

Winner Status

  • Award Level 2 - Silver
Awards Management Software