We are often asked when we meet someone new looking for a new landscape when we begin to explain our design process: “Why do I have to need a design?” or “Why do you charge for a design when some people will do it for free?”. The answer to both starts with the answer to […]
We are often asked when we meet someone new looking for a new landscape when we begin to explain our design process: “Why do I have to need a design?” or “Why do you charge for a design when some people will do it for free?”.
The answer to both starts with the answer to a simpler question of “what exactly IS a landscape design?”. That may seem like a stupid question, but the truth is that a design CAN BE many different things.
– A quick pencil sketch on a napkin, based on a quick look around and eyeball measurements.
– A quick design on some of the entry-level landscape design software based on a few quick measurements, shown to a customer and brought back with the designer after the meeting.
– A 3D view without descriptions, quantities, sizes or labels.
– A fully-scaled CAD plan based on in-depth measurements of the existing site and conditions, including grades.
It’s revised and honed to the perfect plan through several meetings between the customer and designer until its perfect, and then it’s owned by the customer to have and hold and review with proposals.
These differences may seem of little consequence if someone is planning to move soon- but if you’re planning on living in your home for any length of time, not choosing to spend a little more money at the beginning usually pays huge dividends in the long run.
We charge for our designs because we want be able to spend the time needed to give our customers that creative, well-thought out end result that lasts and THRIVES for years to come. Revisions are an important part of the process of turning your thoughts and goals into tangible, engineered plans to suit your needs, desires and budget.
Unfortunately, we spend a great deal of time helping customers fix problems that should have been prevented by better planning by a landscaper or landscape designer or builder. It’s no still no fun watching people have to spend more money after spending a great deal of money already to solve such issues.
Between the cost of a well-planned design up front and the sometimes added cost of problems no one else sees till later, we are sometimes thought of as “expensive landscapers”, but all too often we see good people spend even more on projects installed incorrectly, or without enough planning necessitating more work later. We’ll have another article on our best advice when choosing a partner in your new landscaping project. We hope this helps!
