Neighborhood Landscaping & Development
Serving the greater lakes area since 1999.
Or call Skip directly 218-831-7289What we do
Full service, from the base course up.
Six things we do, and everything under each one. Hover or tap a line to open it.
- Block retaining walls
- Boulder retaining walls
- Paver patios
- Permeable paver driveways
- Sidewalks & paths
- Natural stone steps
- New system design & install
- Renovate an existing system
- Rain & freeze shutoff automation
- Zone efficiency tuning
- Spring startup
- Fall blowout
- Built-in BBQ areas
- Outdoor fireplaces
- Fire pits
- Seating walls & bar runs
- Riprap
- Beach work
- Shoreline restoration
- Dock removal
- Excavation & site prep
- Final grading
- Drainage correction
- Black dirt
- Seeding
- Hydroseeding
- Yard maintenance
- Cabin care
- Seasonal cleanups
- Off-season property checks
Also available: stamped and decorative concrete — interior floors, patios and approaches. Ask when we walk the site.
Recent work
Work you can go and look at.
A mix of recent projects around the lakes — walls, patios, stonework, shoreline and everyday property care.
Who you're hiring
Started because the lakes needed someone who'd show up.
Scott Nelson — Skip to just about everyone — started NLD in 1999 for a plain reason: people around these lakes needed a landscape company they could trust to do the work right and come back when they said they would.
That's still the whole idea. We handle design and installation for homes and commercial properties, and the person who walks your property and writes the quote is the same person running the job.
- Founded
- 1999, by Scott “Skip” Nelson
- Based in
- Lake Shore, Minnesota
- We serve
- Residential & commercial
- Season
- Hardscape April–November; docks spring & fall
Ask about permeable pavers They look like standard pavers but are set so rainwater soaks back into the ground instead of running off into the lake. Worth a conversation on any shoreline lot.
Questions
The things people ask first.
Not covered here? Call Skip — he'd rather answer it now than have you guess.
What does a patio or retaining wall cost?
It depends on access, grade and material more than square footage — a wall you can drive a machine to is a very different job than one hauled in by hand. We give a written number after walking the site, and it holds. No allowances that balloon halfway through.
How far out are you booking?
The hardscape season runs roughly April through November and the calendar fills through the spring. Calling in winter or early spring gets you a summer date; calling in July usually means fall.
Do I need a permit to work near the shoreline?
Often, yes. Work within the shore impact zone can involve county and DNR requirements, and buffer rules vary by lake and classification. We plan for it up front and will tell you honestly what your project needs before anything starts.
Do you do commercial work?
Yes — residential and commercial both. Resorts, associations and business properties around the lakes are a regular part of what we do, including ongoing grounds maintenance.
What if something settles later?
Base preparation is where we spend the extra time, because that's what prevents it. If something does move, call us — we're twenty minutes away, not gone.
Can you work while we're not at the property?
Most of our jobs run that way. A lot of our clients are here on weekends or seasonally, so we're used to keeping owners updated with photos and handling access on our own.
Where we work
Lakeshore work has its own rules.
Shoreline grade, buffer requirements, hauling material down a narrow lot access — building near water isn't the same job as building in town. We've been doing it on these lakes since 1999, long enough to plan around it before the first machine shows up.
Not on the list? If you're close, call anyway and we'll come look.
- Gull Lake
- Nisswa
- Lake Shore
- East Gull Lake
- Brainerd
- Baxter
- Pequot Lakes
- Breezy Point
- Crosslake
- Merrifield
- Pine River
- Jenkins
- Fifty Lakes
- Emily
Free estimate
Tell us what you're picturing.
- Call or text Skip
- 218-831-7289
- info@nldservices.com
- Estimates
- Free, on site, typically within a week.
- Booking
- The season fills by spring — earlier calls get earlier dates.