Royalview’s Summertime Landscape Refresh

Royalview from front bridge view.
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It’s Summertime! We’ve put out the flags for the fourth!

Hey everybody!

This blog post has been about a month in the making. We’ve had a new landscaping team working with us to get Royalview’s landscaping all refreshed and looking her best again. All of our gardens looked fabulous, and bloomed all through Springtime, but some plants got a little crazy, and grew over the other plants, or died out, so we really needed some professional help.

Willie and I had been in search for a company who has a great lawn maintenance team, as well as a gardener. We decided to head to our local gardening center and inquire about any known possibilities. We were given a card for Green X Scape, located in Huntsville, TX.

We were very happy to meet Albert Tsai, owner of Green X Scape. He is a very nice young gentleman who went to school at Sam Houston State University. He began his business while he was still in college, and now hires college students.

Upon their first visit, Green X Scape got to work on our back yard garden, clearing out all the under, and overgrowth.

Albert Tsai and team from Green X Scape, LLC, Huntsville, Texas.
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They even cleared out our ivy plants and transplanted those along the back fence.

You can see how overgrown it got back there. They did a fabulous job!

There were a few plants that needed to be replaced, so Willie and took a trip to Growers Outlet, and picked out some new ones that would stay in their spots and not spread.

Grower's Outlet, Willis, Texas.
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We love visiting here. Our landscape design team got a lot of Royalview’s original plants from here as well.

We chose some Silver Star Sage, and Southern Star Blue Ruellias.

Silver Star Texas Sage, and Southern Star Blue Ruellia.
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These are so pretty! I love the purple flowers.

Southern Star Blue Ruellia in Royalview's back yard garden.
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On their next visit, the Green X Scape team planted all the new plants for us. And, we did end up getting 2 more of the Texas Sage to plant along with the others, to balance everything out.

Royalview's backyard tiered garden.
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It’s looking so much better. We do have a gardenia that doesn’t look like it’s going to make it, so Albert said he would bring another to replace it, or perhaps we’ll put some more Liriope in back here. I love Liriope, as you’ll see in the front garden pics.

Today, Green X Scape visited again. They visit every 2 weeks. This time around Albert worked on our two front gardens, getting them all cleaned out and rid of dead plants.

Both of the front gardens look much better now.

Royalview's front South garden overlooking the lake.
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Royalview’s Front Southern Garden
Royalview's front North garden with swing.
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Royalview’s Front Northern Garden

We are so thankful to team Green X Scape for all they’ve done for us here at Royalview. Beyond the fabulous work in all our gardens, the lawns are looking great as well.

The front lawn at Royalview.
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I’ve had fun putting out American Flags along our front walkway, and some festive ribbon on our Northern bridge today.

American Flags down our front walkway for the 4th of July.
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American Flags along our front walkway at Royalview.
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And our Liriope are blooming! I love it!

Welcome to Royalview!
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And we certainly love Royalview. We are so grateful that God led us here.

Till next time, be kind, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Visit Green X Scape’s website

Summer Landscaping, Landscape Refresh, Conroe, Willis, Texas Lake House

Happy News for Royalview!

Royalview receives Yard of the Month honor for May, 2025.
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Willie and I are very honored that Royalview received the recognition of Yard of the Month for May, 2025. We share this honor and good news with the team at Eagle A. Improvements (Houston,TX), who worked with us to design her gardens and landscaping, as well as performed the installation.

Cheers!

Johanna and Willie

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Royalview’s Solar Garden Lights at Night

Ohhhh…. I love outdoor lights at night…. How about you?

This is one project I couldn’t wait for. I’ve been praying for a beautiful garden all lit up at night for several years now, so I was very excited to shop for some gorgeous lighting for our new gardens.

I knew I wanted to shop my favorite go-to, Amazon, as they always have a very large selection of everything to choose from, and I love being able to shop from home sometimes, so yeah, they definitely had some exciting offerings to choose from.

We went with three different varieties of solar lights. Swaying Outdoor Lights (or Firefly Lights), Cracked Glass Ball/Globe Lights, and Pathway Lights (Lantern look).

Everything arrived very quickly and very nicely boxed.

We had a fun afternoon getting all the lights opened and seeing how everything worked.

Everything was pretty much assembled and ready to go. The only assembly was attaching the posts to the Pathway Lights, which Willie accomplished brillliantly.

We chose these particular Pathway Lights for their height. We wanted to make sure they would shine high above the plants going down our front steps.

We purchased 2 packs of 8 of these Pathway Lights. They come in packs of 2, 4, 6, or 8.

We love that all the solar lights we purchased are automatic on/off. You just have to set them to “on”.

We acquired all the lights in March. It is now April and they have been coming on like clock-work every evening, and staying on all night long. I have risen very early before sunrise, and they’ve all still been on, and shining bright. They are all so beautiful, and have been very durable as well. The only evenings that they have not all stayed on overnight, has been due to rainy days. On sunny days, they are good to go, which makes perfect sense; they are powered by the sun.

They add so much enchantment, so effortlessly. Let’s take a look from our front door at dusk:

Lighted front door path with solar pathway lights from Amazon.
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Amazon Associates Link
Royalview’s Front Door Lighted Path

We love this view so much, and now it’s been made extra special with the addition of the Solar Pathway Lights.

Front Lakeside Steps Lit Up with
Solar Pathway Lights from Amazon
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Amazon Associate Link
Front Lakeside Steps Lit Up with Pathway Lights

And, our backyard garden:

Beautiful garden lit up at night with firefly lights and globe lights.
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https://amzn.to/4jmAh12
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Amazon Associate Link
Garden Lights at Night

These lights are all just too much fun. As our gardens have grown, the lights still are holding their own, and shining tall and bright every night. We couldn’t be more pleased with every one of them.

Which is your favorite? Or, are you like me, and love them all? Feel free to leave a comment!

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is good!

Johanna and Willie

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(Willie and I are Amazon Associates. All links that you follow from our posts are directly connected to Amazon. Any purchases you make from our links will earn us a commission. Thank you!)

Solar Lights, Solar Pathway Lights, Solar Cracked Glass Ball Globe Lights, Solar Swaying Lightening Bug Lights, Amazon Finds, Amazon Associates, Garden Lights, Texas Gardens

Our “Mystery” Dianthus Has Bloomed!

Bright pink Dianthus.
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Bright Pink Dianthus

Wow, you guys, look how stunning the color is on our “mystery” Dianthus’ blooms! I’m still not sure of the species. I Google Lens’d my photos, and a lot of options came up: Dianthus Plumarius, Neon Purple, Fuchsia, Sweet William, Floral Lace Lilac, Jolt Purple, and more.

All I know for sure is, that they’re gorgeous, and I adore the color.

I’ve taken several photos over the past couple of days as they have been opening up. Here’s one from afar so you can see how tall this plant is, compared to the other plants in the garden. When this was planted up front, it was a lot smaller than the others.

Very tall bright pink Dianthus.
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Very Tall, Bright Pink Dianthus

You can see how many more buds are getting ready to open. This will be glorious in full bloom.

Bright pink Dianthus.
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Bright Pink Dianthus

There was no filter used for this photography, and no edits. They are just this vibrant.

Beautiful Fuchsia Dianthus.
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Beautiful Fuchsia Dianthus
Bright Fuchsia Dianthus
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Bright Fuchsia Dianthus

I hope you enjoyed the blooming of our Dianthus as much as we have.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Bright Pink Dianthus, Flower Garden, Spring Flowers, Fuchsia, Hot Pink Flowers, Texas Flower Garden

Royalview in the Spring, Our Beautiful Texas Gardens in Full Bloom

Our home, Royalview
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Royalview

Willie and I are very excited to be experiencing our very first Spring here at Royalview.

The trees and flowers are now in full bloom. We’re witnessing more and more water birds every day. It’s looking glorious here at home, and also across the lake.

View of lake across the street from Royalview.
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View of the Lake Across the Street from Royalview

Our gardens and landscape are looking so pretty, especially after our first maintenance service call from our new landscaping company. Their team did a wonderful job getting us Spring ready, and Royalview’s gardens looking their best.

Royalview's South Garden
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Royalview’s Front South Garden
Royalview's South Garden
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Royalview’s Front South Garden
Royalview’s Front North Garden
Royalview's Back Garden
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Royalview’s Back Yard Garden
Royalview's Backyard garden.
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Royalview’s Back Yard Garden
Texas Backyard Garden Closeup
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Our Texas Garden in Full Bloom

We are both so thrilled that we’ve been blessed with our very own Texas Bluebonnets. These were a surprise from our landscape design team, Eagle Improvements.

Texas Bluebonnets at Royalview
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Texas Bluebonnets at Royalview

We chose an array of blue, white, and purple flower varieties for our gardens, but there is one pop of pink in our back garden. This beautiful plant (Pink Dianthus) was a housewarming gift from our nieces Amy and Loralie.

Pink Dianthus at Royalview.
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Pink Dianthus at Royalview

Here are some beautiful closeup pictures of various flower varieties planted in our gardens.

Purple Salvia in our Front North and South Gardens.
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Purple Salvia in our Front North and South Gardens
Purple Verbena
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Purple Verbena
White Verbena
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White Verbenas in all Gardens at Royalview
Plumbago
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Plumbago in all Gardens at Royalview
Daisys
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Daisys in Front Gardens

Now, this next plant is a real mystery to me. When our landscape design company first came out, I spoke with Keren and requested another Pink Dianthus to go with the one that was gifted to us by our Nieces. Keren returned with this Dianthus. It was very small at the time it was planted, but it has sky-rocketed into a very tall and unusual looking plant.

Dianthus
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“Mystery” Dianthus

It has a lot of little buds, so I cannot wait to see what it’s going to look like.

Dianthus Buds
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“Mystery” Dianthus Buds

It is a Dianthus. The tag read Dianthus when Keren brought it, and when our new landscape company’s owner (Boone, of Boone’s Landscaping) came by to look at our property, he saw it and called it some type of Dianthus. I cannot remember what he said it was, and when I Googled it, it just says Dianthus. So, it’s still a mystery to me as to the variety, and what color it is.

I’ll be sure to keep watch, and snap some photos when she blooms.

Till next time, Willie and I hope you’re enjoying your beautiful Spring blooms wherever you may be. Stay safe, and follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Texas garden, Spring Garden, Texas Bluebonnets, Lakehouse, Garden, Conroe, Texas, Spring Flowers

Royalview, 3 Months Later

What a difference 3 months can make.

Here is Royalview at the present time, and the 2nd picture is from when we first arrived in December 2024.

If you’ve been following our journey, then you know all the projects that have gone in to getting Royalview to where she is now. It’s been quite the journey, and we are thankful to all the wonderful people who have worked so expertly to get her looking and functioning at her best.

Now that most of the outdoor projects are complete, (and I say “most”, we still have a few little things that we’re finishing up) I can now turn my main focus to getting the inside completely unpacked, organized, and decorated.

Willie and I have already been doing a little shopping around our new hometown, visiting a couple antique malls and such. I’ll keep you updated on the progress of all that. It’s been a lot of fun. We’re enjoying getting to know our townsfolk around here in the Conroe, Texas area.

Till next time, be safe, and follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Before and After Home Improvement Photos, Landscaping, Landscape Design, Texas Lakeview Home and Garden

Royalview Landscape Makeover, Dramatic Before and After Photo Reveal: Backyard Areas

I asked Willie, after all of the landscaping was complete, which area he believed had the most dramatic transformation. His reply was the front lawn. I do agree that the transformation is definitely dramatically different, but… my thoughts are that the backyard areas were definitely transformed the most.

Here are the before and after photos. You can decide which you choose as well. You can see our front lawn transformation before and after photos here.

Upon our very first visit to Royalview, we were encountered with a make-shift outdoor kitchen, and a very large stump from a downed tree, right in the middle of the yard.

We did not let this thwart our enthusiasm for this home. There was much potential to be unlocked here.

So, from a right side angle before picture, you can see the kitchen and the stump right behind it, in the yard.

Before photo of Royalview's backyard.  acrossthelake.blog
Before photo of Royalview's back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

In the after photo, the kitchen is gone, the stump is gone, and a beautiful tiered garden can now be seen from behind the pillar of the covered back patio upon approach.

After photo of Royalview's back yard garden.  acrossthelake.blog

This stump was the before lawn decor. And even though it was quite the sight, I could envision a beautiful tiered garden here that flowed naturally with the land’s own organic lines.

Before photo of Royalview's back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

And here it is now. I still cannot believe that it actually exists, outside my imagination. The Eagle A. Improvements team brought it to life just as I had envisioned.

Royalview's backyard 3 tiered garden.  acrossthelake.blog
Royalview's tiered backyard garden.  acrossthelake.blog

I was able to choose the plants that were to go into this garden, as well as the front gardens, and I also gave Eagle A. artistic freedom to add others that they thought would work well.

Everything is so pretty. I couldn’t be happier with the results. And bonus! We now have Texas Bluebonnets blooming in the back garden. That was one of Eagle A.’s surprises for us.

Bluebonnets are blooming in Royalview's backyard garden.  acrossthelake.blog

For the far right side of our backyard area, there wasn’t really anything but grass, and water would stand in that back corner area of the house. We had a generator and a propane tank installed, and then Eagle A. custom poured steps for the maintenance of this equipment so that mud would no longer be tracked back and forth on our patio and sidewalks.

Before:

Before photo of Royalview's backyard.  acrossthelake.blog

After:

After photo of Royalview's backyard.  acrossthelake.blog

We, and others, can now easily access this area and no more tracking in dirt and mud. That’s a big Yay! And a huge win! And so cute, Willie wrote our names in the cement.

Next, is the other side of the patio, going toward our back gate. This before photo is how it appeared when we first saw the house.

Before photo of Royalview's back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

After the Eagle A. team finished their beautification, it is now clean, simplistic beauty. The grassy areas are all newly laid sod. Eagle A. also installed irrigation for the backyard grass and garden.

Royalview's After Photo:  Backyard  acrossthelake.blog

In the gravel area, there are built in drains, and this line follows the drain line.

Here is a before picture of the drain line area:

Before photo French Drains
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Eagle A. made sure that all drains were clean and flowing. And the whole area is so much neater.

Look closely at the after picture and you can see one of the little hidden sprinkler heads. These rise up when the water comes on.

After photo:  Drain line in back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

On the other side of the gate, across from the grassy area, is a small little nook between our garage and house. This area houses the outdoor a/c condenser.

Before, there were stacks of landscaping bricks piled up against the outside of the garage.

Before photo.  AC area in backyard.  acrossthelake.blog

Now, everything is cleaned/cleared out, and white gravel has been installed.

After photo:  AC area in back yard.  acrossthelake.blog

So much better! And thankfully Eagle A. was able to use those landscaping bricks in our backyard tiered garden. So fabulous!

I think you can probably see why I thought the backyard makeover was so dramatic. There was a lot to clean up, make useful, and beautify.

It’s so much more peaceful out here now. We’re looking forward to getting our patio all decked out so we can sit back here and enjoy.

3 tiered backyard garden on a hillside.  acrossthelake.blog

We’ve put out a few solar lights already, so it’s really pretty after dark.

3 tiered backyard garden on hillside lit up at night.  acrossthelake.blog

Willie and I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the progress of our property being renovated and given new life. It’s been quite a fun journey for us.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Landscape Design, Home and Garden Renovation, Before and After Photos, Houston, Conroe, Texas, Best Landscape Company Eagle A. Improvements, in Collaboration with HOU-TEX Outdoor Services

Royalview Landscape Makeover, Dramatic Before and After Photo Reveal: Front Lawn

The transformation is complete!

Willie and I are very happy, very pleased, ecstatic, all the above, with the results of our completed landscape makeover. So, if you’re all ready… Drum roll please… Sit back and enjoy these very dramatic before and after photos detailing our front lawn makeover.

I’ll begin with our front door entryway. This has to be my favorite. Although, every area is my favorite, there’s just nothing like the view from our front door.

Before photo:  View from our front door.  acrossthelake.blog
Before: View from our Front Door

This view already had me in awe. Being able to open my front door and see the lake across the street was very exciting and unbelievable to me on our first visit to our new home.

This is now the view from our front door:

After photo:  View from our front door.  acrossthelake.blog
After: View from our Front Door

And, it’s very functional as well as beautiful. I was not able to walk up to, or down from, our front porch. This was also the case with visitors and mail/delivery people. Our mailman made the comment to us that we just made his life a lot easier. No more traipsing through the ditch and climbing a hill to get to us. Awesome!

Next is the Southern front corner of our front yard. We are on a corner lot, so this area is seen the most by passerby’s and this area also has a great view of the lake. We can see the lake from our front porch, as well as from our yard in areas between our neighbor’s houses, and this is one of the areas, so we decided this would make a great place for a garden and seating area with a swing.

These photos also show the transformation of our front facade.

Before:

Before Photo:  Front Porch to South Lawn View and Front Facade.  acrossthelake.blog
Before: Front Porch to South Lawn View and Front Facade

After:

After photo front porch to South lawn and front facade.
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After Photo Front Porch to South Lawn and Front Facade

A closer look at the front South Lawn garden from the road:

After photo:  South Lawn Garden Area.  acrossthelake.blog
After: South Lawn Garden Area

A closer look at the bridge:

After photo:  South Lawn Bridge.  acrossthelake.blog
After: Front South Lawn Garden Bridge

Where there once was nothing but brush, we can now stroll across the bridge and enjoy a beautiful garden as well as a lovely view of the lake. A nice place to enjoy an ice cream bar or ice tea, and a friendly chat.

Next, let’s stroll on over to the Northern corner of our front lawn, and visit our second garden with seating area:

Before:

Before Photo:  View from our porch to our front North Lawn area.
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Before: View from Front Porch to our North Lawn Area

After:

After photo of our North front lawn from our front porch.
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After: View of our North Front Lawn area from our Front Porch

That is really quite the difference, isn’t it? We can now simply walk down our front steps and across a path to sit and enjoy another garden and beautiful lake view.

I’d also like to share a before photo of Keren of Eagle A. Improvements, in collaboration with Albert of HOU_TEX Outdoor Services, from when they first came out and took a look around to gather ideas, and then an after photo of their very beautiful work after completion.

Before Photo:  Albert and Keren visiting our property for the first time.  acrossthelake.blog
Before Photo: Albert and Keren Visiting our Property For the First Time

After:

After photo of our front yard from our driveway.
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After Photo View of Landscape Transformation

Here are more after photos of Royalview from a road view:

Royalview after landscaping makeover.  
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Royalview after Landscape Makeover
Royalview after landscape makeover.  acrossthelake.blog
Royalview after Landscape Makeover
Royalview after landscape makeover.  acrossthelake.blog
Royalview After Landscape Makeover

Willie and I are both looking forward to seeing everything in full bloom soon. Spring, and pollen, are in the air for sure. It’s so nice having butterflies and bumblebees stopping by to visit all the lovely flowers.

Next post will be the before and after photo reveal of our back yard, so stay tuned.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy!

Johanna and Willie

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Before and After Landscape Photo Reveal, Landscape Design, Houston, Conroe, TX, Landscape Makeover, Renovation, Garden Bridge, Beautiful Gardens, Lifestyle Blog, Home and Garden

Front Door Bridge and Back Yard Garden Complete!

Custom build landscape bridge by Eagle A Improvments, Houston, TX acrossthelake.blog

There she is! In all her glory!

Royalview can now be visited by front door! And I can now walk down to the mailbox from our front door, and bonus, there’s another pathway leading to a swing/garden area off to the left of our home.

This is just so fabulous. Before Eagle A Improvements began our project, it was quite a task to enter Royalview by the front door. Delivery people and visitors were often confused as to how to approach. You’d have to first go into the ditch, and then climb the hill to get to the front steps.

Here is a before construction photo:

Royalview Front Porch View Before Construction

And after construction:

Royalview Front Porch View After Construction

So much better in many ways!

Another of Albert Einstein’s (Albert of Eagle A Improvements) genius creations!

And our back yard is now complete! We are loving our new tiered garden.

Custom built tiered garden by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX
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This is so special to me. I could envision this garden upon our very first visit to see our new home. At the time, there was a huge stump that was left by a felled tree from a hurricane, but I could still see it in my mind’s eye. Albert could see my vision, and brought it to life. I am so grateful.

Custom built tiered garden by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX
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See how it flows naturally with the land. The hillside had it’s very own design already in place, and Albert followed the natural lines to create this beautiful garden.

Custom built tiered garden by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX
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Thank you Albert, and thank you Eagle A. Improvements team. Everyone at Eagle has their own “superpower”, or talent, and everyone went above and beyond. We are super impressed with this team of young people who are all family and friends. They’ve really put together a dynamo group.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your joy. God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Best Houston Landscaper, Landscape Designer, Eagle A. Improvements, Custom Built Landscape Bridge, Custom Build Tiered Garden

Our First Bridge is Complete!

Landscape bridge designed by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX  acrossthelake.blog

So exciting! Eagle A. Improvements have designed 2 bridges to be built on our property. One on the South side, and one leading to our front door. The first of the 2 bridges is now complete. The first one completed is the bridge on the South side, which is actually the side that gets seen the most from the road, as we sit on a corner lot.

They did such a wonderful job! The bridges are much larger than we had anticipated. I, myself, had pictured just a small one-person width little bridge in which to cross, but these could most likely afford a golf cart across!

Here is a look at the South bridge from the road.

Landscape bridge designed by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX  acrossthelake.blog

These bridges are the brain-child of Albert (I’ve been calling him Albert Einstein), of Eagle A. Improvements. He has fabricated and constructed these all by hand.

Landscape bridge designed by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX  acrossthelake.blog
Landscape bridge designed by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX  acrossthelake.blog

We couldn’t wait to try it out as soon as we were given the go!

This has been quite the journey! I don’t think we could even imagine it now without the team from Eagle A. Improvements LLC. They have been so wonderful throughout the entire process. These are very entrepreneurial young people with big goals, and even bigger hearts.

Landscape bridge designed by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX  acrossthelake.blog
Willie and I with Keren of Eagle A. Improvements
Landscape bridge designed by Eagle A. Improvements, Houston, TX  acrossthelake.blog

We’re certainly going to miss seeing these smiling faces everyday. They’ve become like family to us.

They will be back, however, this this coming week to paint the bridges and do some final tweaks.

This has been a very joyful event in our lives and we feel privileged to have been able to collaborate with this fantastic team to bring our dreams to life.

Till next time, stay safe, and follow your dreams! God is truly good!

Johanna and Willie

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Best Landscape Designers Houston, Conroe, Texas, Young Entrepreneurs, Landscape Bridge Construction and Design

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