Terracare Landscaping operates out of Oakland, NJ, a Bergen County municipality at the base of the Ramapo Mountains, and has served homeowners across Northern New Jersey since 1988. The company is a family-owned design-build landscape operation -- one that holds both the design function and the construction execution under a single roof. That structure is not universal in the landscape trade. Many residential landscape projects move through a handoff from designer to installer, sometimes with a third-party contractor managing ground trades. Terracare runs the whole sequence internally, which changes how accountability flows on a project and how consistently design intent gets executed in the field. (Terracare Landscaping - About)
The company is reachable at 201-891-1700 and by email at info@terracarenj.com, and maintains its primary office at 90 Ramapo Valley Road, Oakland, NJ 07436. The website is at terracarelandscaping.com, with terracarenj.com redirecting there. Bergen County is the core territory, though the firm's project reach extends across Northern New Jersey. (Terracare Landscaping - Contact)
Founded in 1988 by Gary Kayal
Gary Kayal founded Terracare in 1988, entering the Northern New Jersey residential landscape trade as Bergen and Morris County suburban markets were expanding. The company has operated continuously for 38 years through multiple market cycles -- the recessions of the 1990s and 2008-2009, the shift toward outdoor living in the 2010s, and the supply-chain pressures of recent years. Growth has been built primarily through referrals. That is a meaningful signal: it means quality standards have stayed consistent enough that satisfied clients recommend the firm to neighbors, and the business has not needed advertising to sustain itself. The hands-on model -- keeping the principal close to the work, prioritizing site-specific judgment over organizational scale -- is a deliberate operational choice. (Terracare Landscaping - About)
Service stack: design through maintenance
Terracare's service model covers the full lifecycle of a residential outdoor environment. On the design-build side, the company executes pool and spa installations, water and fire features, outdoor kitchens, custom stonework, driveways, and general landscape design. The scope of that list describes a firm capable of taking a residential property from raw grade to finished outdoor living environment -- not just planting beds and sod, but the entire hardscape and softscape package. (Terracare Landscaping - Services)
Specimen plantings represent a distinct discipline in the company's offering -- large-caliper or high-impact trees and plants placed as focal points, from mature ornamentals to statement conifers. Sourcing and installing specimen material requires horticultural knowledge, specialized equipment, and supplier relationships that signal a firm operating at the upper end of the residential market.
Landscape maintenance completes the offering: weekly lawn cutting, lawn care programs, pruning, spring and fall clean-ups, and seasonal decorating. The maintenance side matters for clients who want a single firm to carry continuity from the build phase through ongoing property management -- a company that installed the landscape knows what was planted and how drainage was graded. (Terracare Landscaping - Services)
Snow removal rounds out the year-round service model. Terracare handles snow plowing, shoveling, ice management, and snow relocation -- the full suite of winter property services that Bergen County homeowners require from November through March. A company that executes snow removal maintains year-round site access and client relationships rather than going dormant for four months. (Terracare Landscaping - Services)
The design-build model and what it means in practice
The term design-build gets used loosely in the landscape trade. In its full form, it means one firm holds the design, manages the client through design development, and executes construction with its own in-house fleet and crews -- not subcontractors hired project to project. Terracare's model aligns with the complete version: the company has built an in-house fleet and invested in specialized training specifically to avoid relying on outside subcontractors. When a contractor subs out pool excavation, masonry, or grading to third parties, control over quality and schedule diminishes. On a high-end residential project, those execution gaps are costly. Controlling the trade work with an in-house crew eliminates that class of risk. (Terracare Landscaping - About)
Northern New Jersey: Bergen County and beyond
Bergen County contains some of the highest-value residential real estate in New Jersey. Towns like Alpine, Saddle River, Franklin Lakes, Mahwah, and Wyckoff sit at the upper tier of NJ residential markets, where outdoor living investment is a significant component of total project budgets. Terracare has operated in this environment for nearly four decades -- which means established supplier relationships, familiarity with local permitting and HOA requirements, knowledge of the Ramapo Valley corridor's soil conditions and plant zones, and a referral network built through consistent performance over time. These are not advantages that can be acquired quickly.
How this connects to Restrepo Innovations
Restrepo Innovations is an Elite Pro Crestron Dealer, HTA Luxury Certified, OSHA Certified, and a Ubiquiti UISP/Pro Partner. We design and install technology systems -- structured cabling, networking, AV, automation, and lighting control -- for luxury residential and commercial projects in NJ, CT, and NY. Our trade is not landscape construction. The connection to Terracare is a cross-trade one, specific to how luxury residential projects in Northern New Jersey come together.
When a high-end residential property receives a Crestron-controlled outdoor audio system, a low-voltage landscape lighting network integrated into the home automation platform, or pool-area AV, those systems live inside the outdoor rooms that a landscape design-build firm constructs. The patio where the outdoor speakers are mounted, the fire pit area where the lighting scene is set via a Crestron touchpanel -- these are spaces that a firm like Terracare has designed and built. The landscape architecture shapes what the technology deployment looks like. Both firms operate at the upper end of residential construction in Bergen County and Northern New Jersey, called onto the same properties.
"In luxury residential, the outdoor environment is not an afterthought -- it is designed and built with the same rigor as the interior. When we are deploying outdoor audio, Crestron lighting control, or pool-area AV on a Bergen County property, the landscape firm that built those spaces sets the standard we are working within. Terracare has been doing this work in North Jersey since 1988. That track record speaks for itself." — Michael Restrepo, Founder, Restrepo Innovations
Working with Terracare Landscaping
Terracare Landscaping is located at 90 Ramapo Valley Road, Oakland, NJ 07436. Phone: 201-891-1700. Email: info@terracarenj.com. Full service information is available at terracarelandscaping.com. The company serves Bergen County and Northern New Jersey and has operated continuously since 1988. (Terracare Landscaping - Contact)
If you are working on a luxury residential project in NJ, CT, or NY and need technology systems design and installation, call Restrepo Innovations at 201.405.2022 or email office@restrepoinnovations.com. (Contact Restrepo Innovations)
FAQ
What services does Terracare Landscaping offer?
Terracare Landscaping provides full design-build landscape services including custom outdoor living construction, hardscape, specimen plantings, pool and spa installation, water and fire features, outdoor kitchens, custom stonework, driveways, landscape lighting, and lawn maintenance. They also offer snow removal and seasonal decorating. The company is based in Oakland, NJ and serves Bergen County and Northern New Jersey. (Terracare Landscaping - Services)
Where is Terracare Landscaping located?
Terracare Landscaping is located at 90 Ramapo Valley Road, Oakland, NJ 07436. Phone: 201-891-1700. They serve Bergen County and Northern New Jersey. Full information is at terracarelandscaping.com. (Terracare Landscaping - Contact)
Who founded Terracare Landscaping?
Terracare Landscaping was founded in 1988 by Gary Kayal. It operates as a family-owned business and has maintained a hands-on design-build approach for over 35 years, growing primarily through referrals. (Terracare Landscaping - About)
Where does Restrepo Innovations work?
Restrepo Innovations designs and installs technology systems for luxury residential and commercial projects in NJ, CT, and NY. The firm is an Elite Pro Crestron Dealer, HTA Luxury Certified, OSHA Certified, and a Ubiquiti UISP/Pro Partner. Call 201.405.2022 or email office@restrepoinnovations.com. (Contact Restrepo Innovations)