Frequently Asked Questions
What does the initial consultation include?
I visit with you on your site and we discuss your soil type, sunlight exposures, existing bed sizes and restrictions, the existing plant material, your likes and dislikes within your current landscape, your visions and hopes for your future landscape, the maintenance level you wish to achieve with your landscape, and costs for a design plan, maintenance plan and/or both.
This takes about 1 hour.
This consultation can also be approached as an onsite tutorial/workshop. I have my tools with me and can show you the best care techniques for your landscape. This is often the service chosen by Homeowners who want to learn how to maintain their existing landscape with minimal desired changes.
This typically takes 1-2 hours (additional fee for time over 1 hour)
Do you do the work?
No. I am a consultant not a contractor and my services are geared towards homeowners who want to complete their own work (DIY), and/or homeowners who simply want to be informed on how the work should be completed prior to hiring a full service landscape company.
Are you a Landscape Architect?
No. I am a Landscape Designer and my specialty is Landscape Plant care and placement.
I do educate on landscape functionality, layout and ease of maintenance in the process of planning your landscape, but I do not formulate building plans for deck work, patios, fencing or any other structural components.
Why are your services worth it?
You are more capable of caring for your landscape than you may think, and I hope to motivate you to embrace your ability to do so.
All of my services focus on you (the homeowner) being the primary care taker of your landscape. My goal is to educate you on what you NEED to know pertaining to YOUR landscape. You do not need to know about ALL plants in order to care for the select few that currently reside (or will reside) within your landscape.
By retaining my services you are investing in your knowledge of your property (as it is and as you want it to be in the future). I aim to educate you in planning for the short term and long term installation and maintenance of your landscape. My goal is to lead your confusion and/or uncertainty into confidence.
In doing this you can cut out the middle man (typically an untrained seasonal laborer), and give yourself more confidence that your landscape is being maintained as best it can be from season to season and year to year.
I also teach you tips and tricks to get the most out of your plants from the time of their purchase up to their maturity.
I try to simplify the complexity of your landscape for you, so you can see that you do not need to sacrifice beauty, time and loads of money in the process.
Upfront costs in the planning and learning of your landscape can help prevent future recurring costs of redoing, undoing, and/or extra unnecessary ‘doing’ due to poor and/or uneducated installation and/or maintenance practices.