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What’s the Process?

We offer a variety of garden design, master planning, and gardening coaching. All of our designs are earth-friendly and are focused on plants.

No garden or consultation is too large or too small. Our projects vary in scale from a single morning of consulting to a multi-year planning design, and their components vary accordingly.

The general process looks like this:

Getting clear about what you want.

This usually begins with a phone call, and then we like to follow up with an on-site visit and walk-through.

Preparing a proposal.

Once we understand what it is that you're looking for, we prepare a proposal for you that includes budget and estimated timelines for your project.

Designing your garden.

This is when we create your personalized garden design and the master plan for making your new garden come to life.

Installing your garden.

During this stage, we work with our hand-selected network of contractors and craftsmen to build and plant your garden. Depending on the complexity of the design, we may work with a range of professionals including landscapers, talented woodworkers, artisans, or experienced stonemasons.

Garden coaching and long-term maintenance.

If you feel like you need help in maintaining and growing your newly designed garden, we are there for you. We coach many of our garden-design clients to ensure that their garden continues to thrive for years.

Now that you have an idea of the general process, here's a closer look at examples of our designs that range in complexity. These example gardens underscore the "how," of our process: we remain flexible, respond to the needs of our client, control for budget, and encourage the spirit of a garden space.

1.  Digitized Master Plan for a New Home.

For this garden, we planned the property and gardens for a new home with a sophisticated, digitized master plan as the final product.

Over the course of several meetings, we visualized the property's flow: where the owners might have parties, the best place for a veggie garden, where they might store a boat, etc. Then, we outlined priorities based on the desires of the homeowners. Our final master plan was based on long-term phases of planting and construction that achieved a complete garden over a period of eight to ten years.

The homeowners used the master plan to give them direction, ability to budget, and ultimately install their garden as they felt suited.

2. CAD Designed Master Plan for an Older Home.

A couple asked us to create a master garden-design plan for their older home. They wanted the master plan created in CAD (Computer-Aided Design program), complete with a detailed plant list, budget, and even photos and descriptions of all plants to be used. We gathered the information in the same way we did for the example above: through on-site meetings and walk-throughs.

The couple also wanted us to manage the construction of trellises, custom containers, stonework, and the selection of garden furniture, right down to choosing fabrics.

We worked with an artisan to create original garden artwork. We also worked with landscapers to help realize the large-scale hardscaping. From start to finish, this garden design and management project took three weeks.

3.   Private Business Parking Lot.

The owner of an architectural firm contacted us because he wanted his parking lot to be as cool as the inside of the building he'd just renovated. For this project, we prepared quick sketches on paper, selected plants, and prepared a soil work plan.

His architectural firm translated the sketches to CAD and worked with city permitting while we worked with the installation contractor. This was a quick three-day process.

Since the initial design and installation, we've been called back to make some amendments and renovations.

If any of these scenarios sound fun, interesting, and something you're ready for, let us know! To find more information on our garden-design process and request a quote: please send an email or call.