AC LIVING GARDEN & LANDSCAPE
Hiring a design professional pays Garden and Landscape Editor Steve Montgomery Discusses the Benefits of Hiring a Professional Landscape Designer
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So, you’re at home much more this year than you were in the past with all the crazy things going on in the world and you’ve decided to improve your property. Updating the kitchen, remodeling a bathroom, and painting a bedroom or two are common upgrades. Then there’s the outside, you want to do something, but you’re not sure exactly what. You have some general ideas but how do you put it all together so that it makes sense and does what you want or hope for? Does it make sense to hire a landscape/hardscape designer/architect for your mountain property or any other property? Do you really want someone else telling you what you should and should not do to your property? The answer is, YES. Would you do anything on the inside without a plan or plan of action, NO. The same is true for the outside as well, especially the outside as it can be overly complicated to plan for and to execute. Let’s walk through the advantages and one disadvantage of hiring a professional designer/architect so that you can make an educated decision. Right away I’ll tell you that the disadvantage of hiring a professional is the cost, but as you will see, that is easily explained away. A designer/ architect will charge a wide range of fees for the services they offer. The fees can be as low as $200 to $300 for a quick on-site sketch and consultation up to several thousand dollars for a detailed 2d design and 3d modeling images. So, let’s look at the several levels of service you can get from a professional. A designer usually has a lot of hands-on experience and some, or a lot of education in this realm. They may also have a degree in horticulture or another related discipline, but designers are not registered architects with credentials. An architect has a degree in landscape architecture, is certified, registered and has an official stamp to put on their plans. Architects often charge more for their services than a non-registered designer.
But that doesn’t mean that their services are better. Quality service depends squarely on the individual. What are the normal services that you can expect to get from a designer or a registered architect? As stated earlier, at the lower end, you can get a quick sketch (see example above) and consultation for a couple of hundred dollars. This would be appropriate for a smaller, specific space that you want to improve or change. The next level cost-wise would a full design plan (see example on next page) for the front and back yard areas that addresses all of the challenges and details of your property, usually presented on a 24” x 36” paper and a PDF file. This will include all the items you may be considering, things like a pool, a water feature, a fire pit, walls, lawn areas, plants, irrigation, drainage, lighting, steps, decks, and patios are considerations. You can expect to pay in the range of several hundred dollars to a few thousand, depending on who you hire and the size of the project. You can also have 3D modeling done in the design phase as well (see example on next page). This is great for people who have a difficult time visualizing the finished product. You can expect to pay $1-2k for this service depending on the size and the designer. The next level of service is having the professional oversee the build phase of the project. You have a couple of options here. You can take the
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At the lower end of the cost spectrum you can get a quick sketch and consultation for a couple of hundred dollars. This would be appropriate for a smaller, specific space that you want to improve or change. design and then get bids on the project from build companies yourself or turn this over to your designer. The designer is a great resource for getting bids for you, as it’s not just the price that you should be looking at, it’s the details. A professional will be able to see those details and qualify the bid. In my experience I have seen many times where people hire someone because the price was lower and then get burned with a project half done or very poor quality work that will have to be re-done in the near future. A third option here is to take the design and install it yourself over time depending on your level or desire for the workload and your knowledge. Next would be If the company/professional is a design/build firm, you can get a quote from them and use them to install the project. Here you get the benefit of having the designer oversee the project to make sure everything is done the way it should be and the way you envisioned it. Usually this is not for any additional fees as the designer is part of the build firm and gets compensation from them. If the designer is not part of a build firm, then you can hire them to oversee who you do hire to ensure the quality and the success of the project. This is usually charged on an hourly basis and agreed to ahead of time. By going through this process with a professional you’ll get the benefit of a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience which is invaluable. A professional knows plants– when they bloom, how big they get (plants are often WWW.ACLIVINGMAGAZINE.COM
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