Each designer has their own process and when choosing a landscape designer, it’s an important topic to ask about. This will help you find the best fit for your project, and you’ll know exactly what you’re going to get throughout the process.
Initial Consultation
After having a phone consultation to learn about our design process and services, an on-site consultation is scheduled. The on-site consultation is our chance to see your property in person and get to know your goals and dreams for the space. This meeting typically takes 1-2 hours. After evaluating the scope and services needed a design proposal will be provided and discussed in detail with you.
Site Analysis
Upon approval of the design proposal site measurements, elevation grades, and photos will be taken to use as a base for the design. Any additional information like surveys, as-builts, easements, HOA regulations, etc that you may have about your property are very helpful. We then take those measurements and put them into CAD to create a baseplan that we can then use for planning out your concept designs.
Concept Designs
Our second meeting will be to review the design concepts. Two conceptual layouts will be developed and presented along with idea photos for material and style options. At this meeting, we will also discuss our vision for the plant palette. We’ll also guide you through the feedback process. At this meeting you’ll receive a physical & digital copy of both concept designs. You are welcome to mark them up all you want. Some clients also like to take them outside and walk their property with and even paint out rough lines of patios, walkways, etc to get a feel for what their new space could look like.
Revisions
The revision stage is the most collaborative part of the design process. Selecting from the ideas presented on the conceptual designs, we’ll combine your chosen elements from the concept designs together to create the final layout. Typically this part of the process is done over email and does involve some back and forth to get the final layout exactly how you want it before we proceed with working on the planting plan.
Final Plans
The final presentation drawings will include the planting layout, lighting layout, material selections, and details of selected items as necessary. This is the last meeting in the design process. At the final design meeting, we review the final layout with you and go through the planting layout as well. We tell you about each plant we selected for your property and general maintenance guidelines. At the end of this meeting, you receive a final set of plans and a plant packet with plant information and pictures. From this point, the drawings can be taken to a contractor of your choice for bidding, or you can have us do that for you. If you are interested in having us procure a bid for you, we will discuss that process with you at this meeting.
Construction Consultation Services
While this is a separate process outside of our design process, many of our clients proceed directly into bidding and project installation after their final plans are complete. A detailed outline of the materials needed to complete your project will be developed to solicit bids from select contractors that we have relationships with. The contractor(s) will provide their bid in our easy-to-evaluate format. Once the final scope has been selected, we will facilitate on-site meetings including pre-construction, material selection confirmations, and a final walk-through. Through the installation process, our role is to be your representative providing updates, checking on progress, fielding questions, and design oversight. We get very involved in the layout of walls, patios, of course plants, and especially boulders. We also procure the plant material and place it for the contractor to install. Upon project completion, we provide a package of maintenance guidelines and material selections. We will also check in during the first year to answer any questions you have and assist in follow-up on any warranty issues that may arise.
Typically, our design process takes 8-10 weeks from initial consultation to final plan delivery for a full landscape design. If you have a very large property or a much smaller property these timelines can shift to fit your needs. If you have any questions about our process, please reach out, we’d love to hear from you!
