Gulf Shores lawns, beds and palms.

A builder working in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach says Coogan is the first landscaper he calls, and that his buyers usually keep the crew on for maintenance after they move in.

For a new house, that usually means landscape design and irrigation going in around the fresh build, then weekly care to keep it looking the way it did on closing day.

Gulf Shores is right next door to our Orange Beach base, just west along the beach road.

The properties in Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores has beach houses and condos near the water, older neighborhoods off the main roads, and a steady run of new construction further back from the beach. New builds usually start from bare sand and builder sod, so the first landscape plan sets the look for years.

What the beach does to a yard

The sand drains fast and the summer sun is hard on new sod and beds, so irrigation and plant choice matter more here than in heavier inland soil. Near the water, salt spray rules out a lot of plants. Coogan's plant guide flags the salt-tolerant ones.

What we do in Gulf Shores

• Landscape design and installation. A reimagined front yard for curb appeal, a backyard set up for dining and entertaining, or both, designed to fit how you live.
• Irrigation installation and repair. Full irrigation systems with pop-up heads for the lawn and drip heads for palm trees, plus repairs when a zone acts up.
• Weekly lawn maintenance. Mowing, trimming and edging on a steady weekly schedule, done the way you would want your grandma's yard kept.
• Mulch and pine straw. A fresh layer evens out soil temperature and holds moisture for your plants. It is also the fastest makeover a landscape can get.

Around Gulf Shores

Coogan works around the beach-side neighborhoods, Little Lagoon, Fort Morgan Road and the new subdivisions north of the beach, and next door in Orange Beach too.