Which of these sound familiar?
• Your garden is looking a bit shabby, but redoing it yourself is overwhelming.
• You’ve moved into a new home whose landscape is tired and worn out, or just plain old and ugly.
• You’ve brought home plant after plant from the nursery, but, somehow, your garden just doesn’t look the way you envision it.
• Your water bill is skyrocketing and you keep looking at the sprinklers watering the lawn, thinking, “Do I really need that?”
• Your children have grown and you need help creating a “grown-up” garden.
If any of these applies to you, it’s time to call a landscape designer. Professional landscape designers are the wizards of garden design. They transform tired out, obliterated or greedy gardens into spaces that give you joy.
Working with a landscape designer is like working with any design professional. The more you understand what they do and how to work with them, the more successful your project will be.
According to Pamela Berstler, president of California chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, “landscape designers are the people who work with homeowners to design their landscapes. Landscape design involves client consultation, research, planning, analysis and design with an emphasis on water conservation and pollution prevention. We create design drawings, do cost estimates, and offer our clients coaching and support.”
Before you hire a landscape designer, do your homework.
Notice gardens and plants you like, and even those you don’t like. Since design is visual, collect photos, take snapshots and browse the Internet as well.
Keep in mind that your garden should complement your home’s architecture, and work in your location. A Japanese garden, for example, fits a Craftsman style home beautifully, but looks out of place with a Mediterranean home. Similarly, thirsty plants don’t mix well with drought-tolerant ones; shade-loving plants fry in a full-sun garden, while full-sun plants fade away in the shade. Creating well-matched combinations is one reason your garden designer might steer you away from some favorite plants and toward new ones.
If your household has multiple decision makers, know each other’s dreams, hopes, and desires for the new landscape, not that you all have to agree. Your designer might find an elegant way of fulfilling what seem to be conflicting desires.
Develop a realistic target budget. Like remodeling, much more goes into landscape than you might expect. In addition to design costs, there are installation costs such as labor, demolition, hardscape, plants, soil, mulch, lighting, irrigation, and sometimes permits. Share your project budget with the designer so he or she can adjust the scale of the project; your contractor will develop detailed installation costs.
If you live in an HOA, ask it about design review, what kind of documentation to submit, whom to submit to, when to submit it, and how long reviews take.
Tell your designer about any unusual property setbacks, height requirements, issues with neighbors and so on.
If the landscape is part of a larger remodel, involve the landscape designer during the architectural design. Collaboration between architect and landscape designer helps ensure that outdoors integrates with the indoors.
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