Landscaping Garden Design
A landscape and garden designer should the creative in their design thought process as well as also having a good knowledge of horticulture. Using a specialist designer will provide a coordinated and well thought through exterior impression which will reflect the character and design of the home. They are generally all-rounders who also need to have a good knowledge of building and construction in order to implement their design ideas.
The process of landscaping and designing a garden is a fairly structured at logical one. The initial step is where the designer comes to home and does an initial interview meeting in order to understand the customers needs and requirements. Usually the customer will have a general idea as to the nature of the landscape and they wish to built around their home ( although sometimes homeowners will lack ideas and seek creative inspiration from a third-party designer). The designer will identify major steps in the interview process and seek clarification on the client’s needs in order to draw up a sensible budget.
The next step will be a survey of the garden area to analyse the physical aspects plots to develop conceptual plan. this will involve documenting the available areas, the nature of the soil and the existing plant life, an analysis of the type of soil ( to determine which flowers and plants will be suitable), a survey of all of the drainage and other utilities coming in and out of the property that are buried underneath the current plot. They will also assess the ability to access the site from a building perspective, as some gardens may be small or have parking problems on the road. The survey will essentially rule out some aspects of design and horticulture due to the physical restrictions of the plot. Armed with the final survey the garden and landscape designer can then draft some conceptual plans for the clients to rubberstamp. These will not be the final plans but merely provide a visual concept of the final product in order to obtain approval by the client at this very early stage.
Following approval by the client the final draft plans will provide detailed schematics on the exact building work to be undertaken. This will include exact measurements levels, drainage needs and depths, architectural quality plans related to any extensions not forgetting the location and inventory of any flowers, plants or trees to be included. Clients can expect to pay an upfront fee for the initial survey and design work and may or may not decide to proceed to implementation. It’s an expensive business and one which is suffering badly in credit crunch as people fight to cut down on luxury items and unnecessary expenses (such as shopping around for home insurance or that new car) or putting off building a new conservatory.
Finding a suitable landscape and garden designer can be tricky if you do not have a personal recommendation from a trusted friend or colleague. Always ask references before agreeing to enter any form of agreement. This may include videos or photos of previous work or perhaps telephone calls to other satisfied existing clients. Check their credit history online to see how long the company has been established and any links to associated building companies or previous directorships. The prices for hard landscaping building work will generally be a lot higher than those of general soft landscaping, planting, and redesigning the horticultural aspects. As the cost of some plants can be quite expensive there is a risk that very large potted display plants may become the target for local thieves who will become aware that a major landscaping project is underway during the build phase. Check your home insurance policy can be adapted to include any additional items incorporated into the landscape build. These may include the contents of outbuildings, accidental damage to ornamental aspects of the landscape as well as theft of valuables from garages or other outbuildings.
Assetsure provides UK home insurance for buildings and contents for homeowners in the United Kingdom.
