The design process

This is a brief overview of how I get from a blank piece of paper to a completed landscape design.

The First Visit:

This is the very first time I meet some of my clients if we've only spoken on the phone or by email. I come out to the property and discuss with the potential client what they would like to accomplish. I do a lot of listening at this meeting and ask various questions to help me understand the scope of the design and the client's wishes. I will take photos of the potential client's areas of concern at this meeting so I may have them for my files and refer to them for when I draft up my proposal/contract for design services.

Site Inventory and Analyst:

If the client chooses to hire me for design, the next step is for me to measure the areas we discussed at the meeting described above. In the event there are no plat plans or architect plans available or do not give me critical information, I will visit the site and measure to get the information I need. I measure the residence (doors, stairs, windows, faucets, etc.), major trees, driveways, walkways and other things in the landscape I need to take into consideration. I may take a sample of the soil so I can determine basic soil composition. If you have existing plant material and would like to reuse it, I will also take an inventory of those plants.

Base Map Preparation:

A base map is the basic drawing of everything I measured while at your property. It is the first layer of the design. I convert all of the measurements taken and then draw them in the scale I use for my designs.

Client Interview:

This is where I really get to know my client. I meet with the client for sometimes several hours and we discuss in depth what they would like to see in their developing landscape. We will pour over gardening books for ideas, I will bring their base map I have drawn and develop ideas on that with tracing paper, and we may walk around the property gathering thoughts and ideas.

Design:

I will take all of the information I have gathered at my site analyst, the initial meeting and the client interview to develop the rough draft or preliminary design. I start by gathering my list of suitable plants for the site and the client's desires. From that list, my notes, and my base maps, I draw in the landscape features as desired by the client and the site will support. I do hand draft all of my designs and the preliminary design drawn in color.

Preliminary Design Meeting:

I meet with the client once again with the plan and my computer. Here, I show the client what I have drafted up with a slide show of the plant material. This meeting like the client interview can be lengthy but I make sure I am thorough with explaining what I created and why. I then leave the plan and the slideshow with the client so they may review it at their leisure for a pre-determined amount of time.

Preliminary Design Follow Up:

After the client has had ample time to review the preliminary design, I return to see them and pick up the preliminary design to create the master plan. At this time, we discuss any input and/or changes the client may have about their design.

Master Plan:

The master plan is the final step of my landscape design process. With any changes the client wishes and the existing preliminary, I create a final draft of the landscape plan in black ink. I create plant lists with name, sizes, and quantities that are featured on the plan itself. If the plan is more than one page, each page has a corresponding list. With the master plan, the client will get a packet of information like local garden centers and nurseries, how to correctly care for their new landscape, approximated retail plant expense, and a plant list with depth information about each plant. The client will receive 2 copies of each page of their plan and I retain the original for my records or if there is a need for more copies.