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Landscape
Design Services &
Garden Construction
Operations
If you have a
garden space you'd love to transform into some place special, we'll
help you select the landscape design services appropriate to your
needs and budget.
If you're ready to start looking at ways to transform your
garden, we've outlined the steps involved to make this a
reality.
- Check Our Credentials
We always advise that
you do this whenever you hire a professional, so we don't expect
you to make an exception for us. If you haven't already done so,
please visit our Testimonials page to see some of our clients'
comments and the relevant portfolio photos. We can also provide
you with the e-mail addresses of all client
references.
Keith breaking ground with a
mini-excavator
- Start Researching Ideas
Either before you
contact us, or shortly after, it can be useful to browse through a
number of garden magazines to get some preliminary ideas of what
you like, qualities you enjoy in a garden, and styles that you
don't want.
You might want to talk your hopes and thoughts
over with other family members. At this stage you should keep anmind about the possibilities. Even if you know which definite
elements you want, you'll be amazed at the additional
possibilities that have probably never occurred to you. You cannot
only have what you want, you can have far more than you've
imagined.
You might also like to take a picture or two and
send it to us so we can begin thinking about your
property.
If you don't have time to do this before we
meet, don't worry. We'll cover these areas in any case in our time
together.
- The Initial Consultation
When you contact
us, our first priority is getting a sense of you, what you're
like, and what you like. We want to hear your ideas on how you
imagine your new garden will look and how you plan to use
it.
A garden can be anything and it can be many things.
Think about how you want to use the space, not only how you want
it to look.
We'll ask you questions about your children
and your pets, and get some input about your spouse's ideas for
your new garden. We want to make sure your design will work for
everyone who shares the space. Our experience has proven that no
matter the differences, there is a design that will more than
satisfy all of you.
It is useful to think about what sorts
of garden features you like. Do your ideas for the garden include
a fountain? A waterfall? A stream? A pergola or other garden
structure? What kinds of plants do you like? Do you want to
include a vegetable or herb garden? How about garden ornaments?
Lighting?
Supervising the crew as they lay a new
lawn
- Where Will We Meet?
Wherever possible, we
prefer to meet you in person on your site, where we'll spend a
couple of hours talking about your ideas, photographing the site
and taking measurements.
If it isn't possible for some
reason to meet on site, we'll ask you to take some photos yourself
and send them through the post or by e-mail. We'll discuss your
property by phone and then go to work on a design.
Here are some suggestions for
taking photos
- Stand in one corner of your garden and take a series of
pictures that show the entire space from that spot, with one
picture slightly overlapping another. Then do the same from the
other corners.
- If you have an upstairs room looking down on the garden
area, take one or two from there too.
- Include a rough sketch of your property which shows the
dimensions (length and breadth) and any permanent structures or
features.
- If You Live In Another State Or
Country
We're happy to come to you to work on
your garden project. Keith, or one of our other designers, will
come to your city or town for the first consultation, then hire a
competent local crew to complete the project under our
supervision. We've built gardens all over the United States and in
Europe. We know how to get the job done, and done
well.
Once the design is finalized, our designer(s) will
meet with contractors and the selected project manager, lay out
the garden, and leave it to these professionals to implement.
We're always able to source laborers and skilled professionals in
any location, as well as the materials and tools necessary to
implement a landscape at the highest level, so it's an unnecessary
expense to bring our own crew and tools to out-of-state
locations.
Travel expenses and all other costs will be
presented to you ahead of time for your approval.
Chiseling brownstone for a
wall
- What Kind Of Project Fees Are We Talking
About?
There are two kinds of fees involved in a
landscape design and build project:
- The Design
Fee
Generally, landscape design fees and garden
design fees are between 15% and 20% of the cost of a project.
Before we begin the design work, we will give you a minimum and
a maximum price for it, and no matter how much time it takes, we
will not go over the maximum price.
- The Construction
Fee
Once we have a completed design, with
construction drawings, we can calculate the full project fee,
which includes a breakdown of reasonable costs for both
materials and labor. You will receive the blueprints and cost
analysis by mail, and when you give your final approval, we will
organize the crew and schedule the project.
During the
construction process, you may call or e-mail us with any number
of questions until your garden is completed. If spot visits are
needed, they will be added in.
Our Fee Range
Our design
fees start at about $2,000 for a small and simple garden project
and can go up from there. (Our online design service obviously costs
less.)
- Your Payment Schedule
When you first contact
us we'll propose an initial (and generally nominal) consultation
fee. After meeting with you, discussing your property and
analyzing the pictures, we'll give you the design fee range, from
which the consultation fee will be subtracted. You are under no
obligation beyond the consultation fee until you say, "Yes, I'd
like you to do the design."
We then ask for a retainer of
two thirds of the design fee, as the bulk of the work is done
during the design phase, before the construction drawings. Once
you have a design you love, we ask for the remainder of the design
fee.
Once the drawings are completed and bids have been
received, (which we will attend to, or you can solicit, as you
prefer), you'll receive a total project cost, which will not vary
unless you choose to add something to the project.
We'll
give you an estimated completion date and strive to complete your
project early or on time.
- Our Guarantee
If you are not completely
happy with the design we do, we will take it back to the drafting
table and rework it until you have a design you love, or we'll
refund your deposit. We will not begin construction until you are
100% satisfied with the final design.
To
discuss your project with us, please send us a short message via
this form:
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