Landscape Designer

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Do your research. There are a lot of people out there that claim to offer landscape design services but really are just landscape contractors who paid $100 for some knockoff design program and are only familiar with the same handfull of plants that they use on every job. These kinds of people will often offer "Free" design services. Be leary of any design that is "Free". If a design is free, what does that say about the time and thought that went into it?

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. There is a lot that goes into a good landscape plan. Landscape designers need to make a lot of observations of the landsacpe site before coming up with a plan. Besides the obvious like where are the sunny spots and shaded parts of the landscape we also need to consider views to accentuate, views to screen, and views to create. We need to take note of neighboring conditions and observe how we can integreate those into the landscape. Enviromental impact must also be taken into consideration.
You can't put together a functional design plan without spending some time gathering site info. I see a lot of imitation designers that draw a patio with curvy edges, and a wavy edged lawn, throw in a few plants and think they have designed a landscape.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I use a lot of different design techniques to help my clients visualize their new landscape. One tool I use is a 3D modeling program that allows them to see the completed landscape in a virtual video tour before the project even begins.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I love the creativity that is involved and being able to see the pleased look on my clients face when I've turned their landscape into something that they would have never thought possible.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Customers always ask if it is possible to have a beautiful looking no maintenance garden.

There is really no such thing as a no maintenance garden, unless your idea of a garden is fence to fence concrete. However, there are so many options of plants to choose from that provide year round or seasonal interest and require very little if any maintenance throughout the year. If you can handle spending a 2-4 hours 2 Saturdays a year then I can design a garden for you that will look great and not require much of your time to keep it up.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. My pricing method is really pretty simple. I charge on average $65 per hour and set a fixed final price before I begin to design so that you know exactly what you will get from me and at what cost. The total design fee will vary depending on the size and complexity of the project and how many hours I estimate it will take me to produce a design.
Other factors like revisions, alternative design layouts, or perspective or 3D drawings can also add to the overall fee.
I am very flexible with how I work, so if a client just wants a rough conceptual sketch I can provide that at a fairly low fee. Or if a client prefers a complete CAD plan including planting, irrigation and lighting I can provide that at a higher fee.