About to embark on your garden renovation? No doubt you will have countless ideas, your favourite plants pinned to Pinterest boards and be looking at how to really get started. We may be biased, but believe working with a landscape designer is key to smoothly bringing your dream garden to life!
We have roped in our Landscape Designer, Rory Graham, to share his experience in the industry and highlight five key points on what a qualified landscape designer can really bring to a project to create that perfect outdoor space.
Expertise in all areas of Landscape Design
With extensive vocational training as well as industry experience, a landscape designer is able to generate functional and beautiful ideas that make the best use of the land, meet your requirements and advise on likely budgets. Alongside creating concepts, landscape designers are qualified to prepare detailed landscape plans at scale that can be used for council submissions, contractors or as a master plan for your future use.
“We try to create beautiful outdoor spaces. Our experience in plants, soils, structures and design, we try to take all of that and create three dimensional spaces and advise clients on likely budgets. At the end of the day it’s creating spaces which are going change people’s way of living.” – Rory.
Knowledge in Plant Selection
The plant palette chosen for a specific design will reflect not only the style that you are trying to achieve, but also site-specific factors such as soil type, aspect and any environmental conditions.
With an extensive knowledge of plants and horticulture, a landscape designer will also apply this expertise when selecting and positioning the plants to ensure that they thrive in their given setting.
“Plant selection really sets mood. But not just that, it’s about selecting plants which are going to work in that environment and setting. There are many factors which influence what to choose, but mainly has to be selected in line with the style that the client wants and create the effect that you want and can cope with the local site conditions as well; soil, moisture, drainage, wind, sun.” – Rory.
Assistance with Council Submissions
With any landscaping project, there are certain protocols that need to be followed and a qualified landscape designer will understand that local and state government legislation. This is something that may be overlooked by the resident.
“Part of our expertise is in navigating through council codes and bylaws. We advise clients accordingly if the things they want to do to their site are going to require approval or not. We are qualified to prepare plans that will meet council standards for the submission.” – Rory.
Knowledge in Planning Hard Structures
A landscape design is not just about planting, and can often include a combination of retaining walls, stairs, pools and terraces. A landscape designer’s knowledge of site surveying, level changes and quality hardscape construction mean that the features in a design can be planned correctly.
“Landscapes are not just about soft things like plants and lawn. You use hard structures to define spaces sometimes but also use them to divide up a space or allow for level changes. Retaining walls, steps or even grading slopes, its all different methods of dividing up a space. Hard structures are always part of it.” – Rory.
They can see the Big Picture
Working with a landscape designer will of course increase the overall cost of a project, however it can also save you time and money in the long term and will likely deliver better results.
A landscape designer will be able to look at the bigger picture and connect with you, to provide alternative ideas, advice on probable budget (depending on your wish list), and what your budget might achieve.
“One of the biggest things is that a designer can take all of your ideas and refine them into what they need to or site them appropriately, and that might require a change in grades and retaining, so the site can accommodate all of the thing that you want to achieve. Clients will have their wish list, and then you need to try and marry that wish-list with what can actually be achieved on site - that is where a designer can really help.” - Rory.
Still not sure whether a landscape designer is right for your next project? Contact us to have a chat about your garden, ideas and inspiration and we can discuss your next steps.