Getting Started

Getting started on any landscape project, of course, involves a good deal of deliberation and planning. A meticulously laid-out landscape design can save you precious time, money and frustration. For example, the knowledge of zone-hardy plants will keep you from spending money on replanting species that actually are appropriate for your climate. Catching potential glitches before they happen is much more efficient than having to perform damage control after the fact.

If you are indeed considering starting a serious landscaping project, then you might want to think about hiring a professional landscape designer whose drawing, planning and creative concepts will be well worth the fees involved. As a landscape novice, you may find yourself rather surprised about the extent of planning and the weight of logistics that go into landscaping, even before the hard labor commences.

If all the advisable issues are accounted for in the landscape plan, you most likely will not find yourself in the predicament of a hitting a gas line or a surplus of evergreens due to poor measurement. A good landscape designer will tackle all of the intricate planning work and the difficult manual work, but leave you with at least some of the fun choosing and creative planning.

During your first meeting with your landscape designer, the two of you will discuss the size implications of the project, your own personal ideas, and the variety of plants and architectural elements you wish to include in the design. Provide a copy of your lot plan for your landscape professional so that he or she knows the exact boundaries and potential space to work with. The planner will also mark utilities on the blueprints to avoid later disaster. During the meeting, don't forget to note which plants on the property that you would either like removed or integrated into the new landscape design. Based on all of the information you and your landscaper have gleaned over the course of the meeting, a budget will be set for the project and a written agreement will be prepared for you to sign. In this agreement, what is expected, cost and the timeline are clearly described for both of your understanding.

As soon as all the planning is complete and the paperwork signed, the project will be underway!