DH and I are having a landscape designer come for a *free* consultation tomorrow. We have been looking at a lot of pictures, both of this person's company website, as well as, things that we like. We want them to do hardscaping (fence, patio and/or deck, front walk), as well as, bedding design and potentially some planting. Although we're considering doing that ourselves. I guess what we want to know is - Has anyone ever had experience with a landscape designer? Any tips? --- What questions do you wish you had have asked before?
Thank you.
Comment Guidelines
We welcome your feedback on Houseandhome.com. H&H reserves the right to remove any unsuitable personal remarks made about the bloggers, hosts, homeowners and/or guests we feature. Please keep your comments focused on decorating, design, cooking and other lifestyle topics. Adopt a tone you would be willing to use in person and do not make slanderous remarks or use denigrating language. If you see a comment that you believe violates any of the guidelines outlined above, please click “Alert a Moderator.” Thank you.
good point made!
Definitely have your hardscape and beds done by a professional.
The plantings can be done by yourself if money is a concern. You can go by the design and plant on own.
Mulch is excellent to have in your beds. Retains moisture and reduces weeds.
You may have to turn it over once or twice a year. Also replenish it every two years depending on its depth.
from Lee Valley are supposed to be the very best available, they import them from Germany I believe.
I'm not sure what the issue is about weeding, do you mean in the flower beds or the lawn? Flower beds - after you have planted everything apply a 3-4" layer of mulch, shredded pine bark or cedar ( I prefer pine because it stays brown whereas cedar turns grey) and you will see the odd weed but they are so much easier to hand weed in the mulch and best to get them when they are small. Lawn weeds are a big pain to hand weed, I know using chemicals is frowned on these days but really, in order to maintain the nicest looking lawn you really have to use them OR be able to live with some weeds. Those organic products are well intentioned but really don't do as good a job as the traditional fertilizers. I personally try to do without chemicals so I'm not totally PRO chemical or anything, I am just happy to have them when they are really necessary. Turf is the highest maintainance plant you can grow when you think of all the mowing and fertilizer applications. It is recommended that you fertilize 4 times a year but you can get away with 3 applications if you want. I just feel if you are going to take the time to get your spreader out you may as well use that time wisely and get better results than using organic lawn products. When applied correctly, weed and feed products are very safe.
For the hardscaping, you might be able to get someone that costs less to do the work but make sure they use the detailed plan, because it's important to get that done right, for resale value and because it is so expensive to get redone. I have to have mine ripped up and redone, fortunately it is covered under the Home Warranty because it wasn't graded properly and the downspout has made the grading situation worse but it still bothers me because I just feel if it had been done correctly the first time.......... Most designers will tell you that when they do consultations they are fixing someone elses mistakes.
Landscaping can be very expensive but it is a luxury item, not a necessity. You don't want the guy who is doing your interlock or flagstone to be paid minimum wage, an experienced stonemason gets paid about $25/hr but you will get a problem free installation for that.
Make sure you get planting soil brought in, most unestablished gardens have only a few inches of topsoil which is not adequate. You want your planting beds to retain moisture so you are not watering constantly in the summer and you want the roots to grow deep so have planting soil brought in - not topsoil - planting soil. I have about a foot of planting soil over my very hard clay soil and really I should have 2 feet but I skimped.
The consultant should be able to provide you with a breakdown of what everything is going to cost so you could easily compare quotes for the hardscaping. My builder thought they knew how to install interlock but they are finding out the hard way they didn't. However, one of my neighbours across the street did his own rear patio and driveway himself and he is a teacher with no previous interlock experience. He took the time to learn the tricks, applied the correct depth of base, graded it properly, etc. and you would never know he did it himself, he saved a bundle of money and he did a great job. He was off all summer though so he wasn't pressured to get it done quickly, it took him about a week and a half to do the laneway and patio and a professional would have taken about 5 days so I thought he did a really good job. Most people that don't have enough time get overwhelmed and rush through it and get less than professional results, it's not rocket science and anyone can do interlock but it's another story to get it looking professionally done.
For the plant list, Canadian Tire sell the hardiest, easy care plants and they go on sale often too. They tend to sell stock that is smaller than nursery product so you save on the size. You can often get specimen sized plant material at Home Depot though. If you can get most of your plant material from a national chain, rather than a nursery you will save a bundle. It may look wimpy and small the first year but the stuff grows. In some cases a nursery and chain get their product from the same supplier but the nursery has to mark the product up more and can't take advantage of bulk pricing.
I would guess the designer is part of Landscape Ontario, he seems to know what he is doing from what you have mentioned, so there would be no reason for him not to be part of that. If budget is a concern when you get the final quote, tell him and he may be able to offer lower priced alternatives. It is unusual to get all the work done all at once, many people do things in stages. They do the hardscaping one year, then the planting another. Depending on the extent of work to be done it may take 3 years to complete.
I hope I haven't overwhelmed you, perhaps this is why so many people opt for the do it yourself route :o
I absolutely agree with DH about the reel mower, we got it from Lee Valley and it's very simple to use. I guess my beef with DH is that he likes to implement these standards, but then doesn't want to do all that it takes to uphold them - for example the weeding. But, I guess that's a relationship issue and not a gardening problem. LOL
Thank you for your advice about getting the hardscaping done by someone who knows what they are doing. I absolutely agree, which is mainly why we want to hire someone and not do it ourselves. I don't think that it is something that is within our skill set and certainly not something that I would want to learn on the fly. I understand that the guy who is coming tomorrow, will be bringing his showbook to add to the pictures he has posted online. I will have to check to see if he is certified. I guess sometimes I'm a bit cynical about certification - I belong to a "College" in my profession, but their main role seems to be in making up rules and being around to enact punishment, if needed - rather than truly ascertaining whether I'm actually qualified in my role.
Most credible landscapers have books of photos of projects they have worked on they can show potential customers. You will get a feel for what they can do and to see if they give the same cookie cutter designs to everyone.
The prices Jeep gave for plans and plant list are about right, landscaping IS expensive if you are dealing with a good company, you get what you pay for. There's a big difference between guys who dabble in landscaping along with renovating kitchens and a specialized landscaping company - they are registered with Landscape Ontario and there are requirements that organization requires to get that designation. My existing walkway was done by the house builder and it's all wrong - the rise of the steps are too high, for example. I would suggest the hardscaping be done professionally, if you can't afford it now, save the money up and get it done right when you can.
The no spraying and local species is all very do-able. A push or reel mower is good exercise, they are quiet and non polluting and I wish more people in my neighbourhood would get them :)
Lastly, take notes so you can refer back to what the designer said. You're going to be taking so much in that it will be easy to forget small details.
that you should note that Inglewood, because that is exactly what the designer said on the phone to me when we arranged the consultation - essentially that he found people in new subdivisions would plant too much, too close with no thought to the growth of the plants down the road. So, that makes me feel pretty good.
One more thing to consider...........when it comes to plantings be aware that some landscapers tend to "overplant" purposely to to make money. In a case as such, it may look good the first season but will start to crowd the second season. It is better to be sparse both esthetically and financially. Ask the designer how large each plant will eventually grow both in heighth and width.
Unfortunately, my landscaper is not in your area.
Inglewood and Jeep for your responses. I'm south of London, in zone 6a. I just did some drive bys on some addresses the guy suggested and at one of them the people were outside, so I stopped to chat. They were happy with the work- had no issues. I suppose he doesn't hand out the addresses of those that may have had problems though, huh :) I like the idea of getting more quotes/consultations. I suppose we're so "green", that we're not even 100% sure that even when we get answers to our questions that they'll even mean anything to us. I read a Mark Cullen gardening/design book that was pretty helpful and I've also been poking around the net - but it seems to be trial and error to some extent. Either that, or there is just so much info that it's swimming around in my brain! DH certainly has some definitive ideas about the whole situation, however some of them seem hard core to me (no spraying, no mower with motor, local species) especially since he isn't hard core when it comes to the "work" end of it all.
We had one for this house and she came and we spoke with her for about 1 hour. She did not charge us for this but I am sure it was in the final cost. We walked the yard she measured and we told her what kinds of things we wanted. Ours was just for plantings and design of bed no hardscapes. She did up the plans for beds including all the plant names of course most of the plants she suggested were only available at her nursery. We downsized what she gave us and we did all the work ourselves. It was expensive about $600.00 -$800.00 I can't remember but just for plant lists and drawings. I wouldnot use one again except we were new to the zone and didn't know what kinds of plants to look for.
Not sure where you are located in SW Ontario. If you are in my location, I will forward the name of the small company I use. They are the BEST
Excellent design and use of plant colour.variation.
Yes, I have used a landscape designer many times over the years. Have pictures in hand ready to show them what you like. I have used the same company for all my projects.
When it comes time to planting, go to the nursery to pick out "your" plants. Otherwise, some put in what they grab from the nursery.
I would get quotes from several if this is your first time. This appt with the designer will be your only "free" visit. They usually will not hand you the plan once designed on paper unless they are hired.