McKinney turf and outdoor living
Yes, we build in McKinney
McKinney is one of the towns where we can point at finished work rather than talk about it. The photo on this page is one of our own jobs: a stepping stone walkway bedded flush into turf, running along the back of the house.
The city itself splits in two. The historic streets around the downtown square have old houses, mature trees and yards with real character and real drainage problems. Out east and west, the newer subdivisions have space but very little shade. We run up US 75 to both from our home base in Richardson, and the approach changes depending on which McKinney the address is in.
The two halves of a McKinney yard
Around the historic square the housing is old by North Texas standards, and the yards come with everything that implies: enormous trees, deep shade, ground that has been built on and dug up repeatedly, and levels that were never quite resolved. Grass in those yards has usually been a losing project for a long time, and water often runs the wrong way because the grade predates anybody thinking about it.
The newer subdivisions have the opposite problem. Plenty of space and full sun, no mature canopy, and builder ground that was compacted flat during construction. Both halves sit on Collin County Blackland clay, which swells and shrinks through the year and moves anything built on it that was not properly based. So whichever end of town a job is at, the work starts underground and the design starts with where the water goes.
What we handle here
What we build in McKinney
Landscape Design
Older McKinney yards especially need a plan before a product, because levels, drainage, mature trees and a century of previous decisions are all tangled together. We walk the property, work out where water actually goes, decide what stays and what changes, then set out the lawn, the beds, the stone and the routes as one scheme that can be built in stages. Our landscape design is where the difficult yards get untangled.
Walkway Paving
The stepping stone walkway in the photo above is exactly the kind of detail that makes a yard feel finished. Stones bedded flush into turf on a compacted base, spaced to fall on a natural stride, with the turf cut tight around each one so nothing catches underfoot. For front entries and anywhere things get carried we build a continuous walk instead. Our walkway paving sets the route before it builds it.
Artificial Turf Installation
In the old part of town the lawns are shaded out, and in the new part they are cooking in full sun on compacted clay. Turf answers both. We strip what is there, build a base that drains, set the falls away from the house, and lay a surface that holds its color through a Collin County summer. The way we build a lawn is the same standard at either end of the city.
Retaining Wall Construction
Plenty of McKinney lots sit on a grade, and a slope is either solved once or fought every storm season. A wall with a real footing, free draining backfill and a drain line behind it holds the ground, turns a useless bank into flat usable yard, and stops soil washing across everything below it. Our retaining wall construction spends its time on the parts nobody sees.
Why McKinney calls us
Why McKinney homeowners choose Palms
Because a McKinney yard usually needs more than one trade, and we are all of them. Levels, drainage, walls, stone, walkways and turf come from one company, so the wall holds the grade the lawn sits on and the path lands where the design put it. Split that across three contractors and the joins are where the money disappears.
We are also honest about what a difficult yard needs. If the real problem is water running the wrong way, we say so before we talk about surfaces. Palms Living Oasis is family run, has worked North Texas since 2008, and takes pride in the work from design to installation.
Where you will see us in McKinney
US 75 brings us up from Richardson, and the historic downtown square is the landmark that anchors the older half of the city. The streets around it are where the mature trees, the shaded lawns and the awkward levels are, and they are some of the most interesting yards we work on.
East and west of the highway, the newer neighborhoods off Virginia Parkway, Eldorado Parkway and Custer Road give us the open, sunny lots. Both halves of McKinney keep us busy, and there is usually a job somewhere between them.
Ask a turf installer
Straight answers about artificial turf in North Texas
Have you actually worked in McKinney?
Yes. We run up US 75 from Richardson to McKinney regularly, and the stepping stone walkway and turf work pictured on this page is exactly the kind of job we build here.
My historic McKinney yard floods every storm. Can you fix it?
Usually. In older yards water problems are almost always grade rather than rainfall, so we work out where it comes from and where it should go before choosing any surface.
Will turf work under the old trees near downtown McKinney?
It is the best answer for them. Turf does not need light, so the shaded ring that has not held grass in years finally stays green, and we keep the tree roots intact.
Do I need a retaining wall for my sloping McKinney lot?
It depends how much ground you are losing. If mulch and soil wash out every storm or the bank is too steep to use, a properly footed and drained wall solves it permanently.
Can you do a new subdivision back yard in McKinney?
Yes, and it is common. New lots have compacted construction ground and no shade, so we rebuild the base and use turf and stone that do not depend on soil that is not there.
Do you do the whole yard or just the turf?
The whole yard. Design, levels, drainage, walls, stone, walkways and turf come from one family run crew, which is what keeps a complicated McKinney project from falling between trades.