When a client hires a landscape designer to help them re-imagine their property, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of what's possible. There are, however, a lot of mistakes you can make in the process. Here are 5 of the biggest ones you'll want to avoid.
Putting Plans Before Budgets
Coming up with a design before you've fixed a price to the project is a formula for cost overruns. Professionals who provide landscape design services tend to follow the client's creative flow. That means they'll follow you in the planning process, come up with a design, and present you with the projected costs.
It's better to start with a budget and work your way toward a design that fits it. Make a list of have-to-have items, and then create a second list of like-to-have ones. As you work through the design, you can subtract the like-to-haves to make the budget work.
Failing to Think About Erosion
Especially in hilly areas, landscaping features and erosion go hand-in-hand. Caring about erosion can even help you make decisions. If there's a spot where tons of run-off occurs during rainstorms, for example, you might elect to place several bushes with deep roots there to reinforce the soil.
Overlooking the Environment
When creating a landscape design, you should think about the impact it will have on the environment. Even a local space can have an impact. For example, will your location provide sufficient cover for birds to come into the yard? Are certain plants invasive or aggressive species that you might want to skip? Think about how the new landscape you're creating will foster a healthy ecosystem in your corner of the world.
Ignoring Functionality
Look at the existing landscape to identify where functionality is important. Do you see a spot that is the natural walking path, for example? It might be better to put some hardscaping features there, such as pavers, as opposed to plopping a few bushes down. You might find there's a reason people naturally prefer to walk through a part of the yard.
Excessive Density
Packing plants into a space can create a couple of problems. First, it can make the spot visually busy. Second, it may cause the plants to start growing aggressively upward to out-compete the others for sunlight. Use space to open up the design from a visual standpoint. Also, you can use a mixture of low- and high-growing plants to populate the space without creating density.
To learn more, contact a landscape designer.