Renovating or creating a new landscaped area can seem like a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be! Just like anything complicated, if you break things down into their most basic elements and work through them one step at a time, it becomes a manageable process. At J Cordell we work hand in hand with home owners and commercial property owners through this process. This is a general outline for how we work with you:
- Find the plot plan for your home or business (if you don’t have one that’s ok too!). By having the plan which lays out the building on the property, it saves a lot of time for the base and helps ensure you don’t develop landscaping onto someone else’s property!
- Initial design consultation. We will meet and walk through the spaces and talk through wants and needs, likes and dislikes, and anything else related.
- Conceptual sketching. We’ll take the information from the initial design consultation and sketch out broad themes and function for the areas to be designed. Some of the things you might expect to see on this plan is areas bubbled or circled identifying “sun”, “shade”, “turf”, “views”, “hide”, etc. The conceptual work may or may not be shared with the client. Sometimes we will use it to confirm we are still on the same page, sometimes we will just use it internally to help with the design progression.
- Develop master planting list and layout bed areas. Unless we are told “you pick the plants” we will always attempt to draw out of the client what plants the like or don’t like. We want to make you happy! We may send plant photos and information ahead of adding to the list.
- Locate large materials on the plan. These are typically trees, large shrubs, and boulders.
- Layout of smaller plant symbols on the plan. First we will layout the symbols, then we will refer back to our conceptual sketch showing sun and shade and pick the right homes for the right plants. We’ll also look at how big each of the plants will get and the desire for hedges or natural form and layout/space each plant accordingly.
- Finally we will add detail, and labels to the plan.
- Send for your review! It is often rare that the design will be ready to go from the first round. We EXPECT that you will see some things you would like to change or adjust, and won’t be offended! We’ll work with you to fine tune until we get the design where it needs to be.
Depending on the size and scope of the design we may or may not require design fees for going through this process with you. Typically for smaller residential or single bed commercial planting renovations we won’t charge for the design. As we get into incorporating irrigation and hardscape (concrete, masonry walls, shade structures, etc) we do require a reasonable fee for this work, but our intent is to get a plan developed that we can install and maintain for you! Text or Email us today to schedule a consultation! 469-609-7733
