Why Hire a Landscape Professional?
Landscape Architects Keep Projects On Track and on Budget
Apr 17, 2008
So you’re going to do it: the landscaping project you have visualized, dreamed about, sketched out in your head a dozen times, and you’re convinced that now is the time. Great! The current economic climate with new mortgage restrictions, home prices dropping, new home sales soft, and most economic indicators pointing to a recession also dictates that it is a buyer’s market for the goods and services that you will need to complete your landscaping project.
Start with a Plan
The complexity of the project you envision for your home’s exterior will often determine how detailed you need to be in the planning process. For instance, if your project simply entails a repair or redo of an existing external structure such as a deck or patio, a rough drawing by you or your contractor may be all you need to proceed. If you plan on adding a swimming pool to an existing space, the pool contractors may be sufficient to help you create a successful project.
But if your project calls out for a more involved plan entailing ground surfaces, irrigation, possible shade structures, planting, and possibly water features, the time is right to bring in a professional to work closely with you to fine-tune your plans. A professional landscape designer or architect will listen to your goals for the remodel, discuss your family’s needs for your home’s exterior spaces, think about the budget you have set for the project, and generally assess how the external areas of your house can be maximized for your family’s needs.
Finding the Landscape Designer or Architect
At this early planning stage you may already be talking to a contractor or several contractors about your project. Usually they may have worked with a particular landscape designer or architect that they feel comfortable with so recommendations may be available from these sources. For more comprehensive listings of licensed landscape architects in a particular area, you may choose to contact the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) who can provide references for landscape architects in your area.
During the Planning Process
Following a comprehensive analysis of the household needs for its external spaces, a landscape designer may request any surveys done on the entire property as well as soil surveys, if they are available. Many designers use their own photographs and will do site surveys on their own as well. Landscape architects and designers take into consideration such factors as prevailing winds, sun and shade during various times of the year, drainage, water tables and groundwater, as well as design elements of the home. A successful landscaping plan will help to pull the design features of the home into the newly created outdoor living spaces.
Finalizing the Plan
Generally once your landscape design is beginning to take shape another meeting is called to go over the emerging plan. This is the time that the family can review the drawings and make last-minute modifications. Some landscape designers will actually have two sets of plans for their clients. One set of working drawings will be designed to give the specific details to landscape contractors so they can provide line item bids and one set of less detailed color drawings to allow the client to visualize the finished product.
Upon final approval of the detailed plans the landscape designers will generally be available to contractors to help with questions during the bid process as well as the actual construction phase. The cost of a professional landscape design is generally a fraction of the total construction costs, but is essential to the overall success of the project.
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