Have the garden planned – important information about professional landscaping

If you are planning your garden and want to hire a good landscape architect to do it, you can find a few useful tips in our guide. There are some essential questions to answer before you hire a professional for this job.

The best thing to do is to write a wish list first before contacting a professional. This means that you have a clear idea of ​​how you want to plan and design your garden right from the start. First, set your priorities and budget. Think carefully about which parts of the process you want to involve a landscaper in. When you have everything on paper, you can contact the professional help with whom you will plan your garden together.

The first thing you can do is ask about the services that are being offered. First and foremost, determine what exactly a landscape architect can help you with to see if they are the right person for your project. The best question a potential client can ask is whether the horticultural professional has the right experience for the job and whether they can design and implement the desired project for your garden. Depending on the services offered, landscape architects can be divided into three categories:

Simple garden design

Some professionals specialize solely in the design process when planning a garden. This usually includes a site analysis and a discussion of the client’s needs, as well as a preliminary draft and corrections based on your feedback. Finally, a detailed overall concept is drawn up with which you can plan your garden. This will then be given to you or a contractor together with the rest of the documentation.

Design and implementation

Other service providers offer the service described above, as well as management of the entire project. Contractors are required for the approval and installation of paved areas. Some landscape architects are also registered contractors themselves, and others can easily recommend a subcontractor for the job.

Planning your garden – full service

For the best service, some horticultural companies offer a full-service maintenance program. This includes the above plus ongoing maintenance of the garden. A landscape architect selects the plants and building materials for you that are optimally usable for future growth and maintenance, as well as for the visual impression of the garden. The garden design is mostly offered on a regional level. Look for a gardening professional who is familiar with the local climate and flora.

Second, you should ask the desired service provider for examples of their previous work. When planning your garden, consider the designer’s style in relation to the garden you want. For example, if you want a modern or minimalist garden, you should ask whether the professional has already designed one.

If a garden designer’s portfolio doesn’t have the style you want, then you should check out their references to help realize your garden’s vision in the best way possible. Qualifications from accredited institutes for landscape architecture and memberships in professional organizations are good indicators of this.

Next, you can ask for a consultation when planning your garden. Many landscape architects offer this service. A garden designer can usually come to your property during the meeting. They can then listen to your wishes and share their ideas for the design of the garden with you.

This is a good opportunity to see if the chemistry between you as a customer and a service provider is right. Only then can you decide whether you are interested in working with us. During the consultation you can also determine whether you are implementing your own ideas or would rather rely on full service. In most cases, an initial consultation is not free because it takes a few hours. The costs for this are usually included in the total bill.

After you have shared your wish list and budget with the garden designer, ask them what vision they have for your outdoor area. Designers can present their ideas in a variety of ways. Starting with a collage mood board with inspirational pictures for plants and materials for the paved surfaces to a two-dimensional drawing that was created with a CAD program or by hand.

Now is the time to comment on what you don’t like about garden design or whether you want to change something on your wish list. Following this meeting, the designer can use your feedback to create a revised draft drawing.

Get to know the work process when planning your garden. When it comes to garden design, this depends on the services that are offered. Before concluding the contract, find out whether you or the representative are responsible for project management. So you will be able to monitor every step when the project is in progress. Unless you have chosen a full service option, you need to make sure you have the time and experience to do so when planning your garden.

As a responsible customer, you also need to be honest with a landscape designer about your budget for the project. The costs invested dictate what is realistically designed in the garden. Often times, if a look you like is over your budget, the designer can offer you creative alternatives. Clear communication about the estimated project costs is essential. Ask your hired garden designer about the financial part of the design. Most estimates are made based on the cost per square meter when planning the layout of your yard.

Since unexpected changes to the plan often crop up in the middle of the project, check with the contractor beforehand whether they will charge additional fees for the design if they need to change the paved areas or the construction plan. This saves you any wasteful effort.

When planning your garden, the time to complete the project depends on a few factors: the size and scope of the project, availability of contractors and other specialists, order and delivery times for materials, equipment, etc. Instead of asking a landscape architect to design the garden for a specific one Time, you can first find out about the estimated scope of the project. Remember that expert implementation and careful planting take time. While landscaping on television is inspiring entertainment, the actual construction site rarely has a 24-person team working around the clock. Quality work in the garden is a mixture of art and science that takes a certain amount of time to be realized.

The time it takes for a garden to grow depends on the scope of the design. The proposed types of plants and their maturity at the time of planting also have a big impact on this. A small area of ​​ornamental grasses and perennials can grow in a single season, but larger and more complex tree and shrub species can take years to mature. Ask your horticultural professional which plants are useful for propagating similar specimens and which plants can be bought quickly.

When planning your garden, you should also find out what kind of garden maintenance your future green space will need in order to look good. Different types of gardens and plants require very different levels of care. Get advice from a professional on whether you are able to take care of it yourself or need to hire a gardener to take care of it. Your landscape architect may also be able to recommend a specialist for you. Ultimately, when you have invested the time and money in your dream garden, you will want to keep it alive and well for years to come.