How a job runs
The Process
Most of what goes wrong on a landscape project goes wrong before anyone digs. So the deciding comes first.
The visit
Finding out what you want and what the ground will allow.
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Consultation
Listening, then looking around.
An hour on the property, listening to what you want from it and looking at what is already there.
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Design brief
Your goals, written down.
What the project has to do, written down from the visit, so there is something to check the design against later.
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Site analysis
Soil, drainage and levels, recorded.
Dimensions, existing planting, soil, drainage and the fall of the land, recorded properly rather than remembered.
The drawings
Deciding everything on paper, where changing your mind is cheapest.
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Concept design
Sketches to react to.
Sketches, a layout and a first pass at planting and materials, shown to you for a reaction rather than approval.
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Design development
Every plant and surface decided.
The plan resolved: specific planting, hardscape, lighting, water and any outdoor living space.
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Design presentation
The final drawings, with costs.
The finished drawings with costs against them, and a plain account of what building it will involve.
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Approval and permits
Permits, where the town needs them.
Permits and approvals obtained where the town requires them, which on the Peninsula is more often than people expect.
The build
Building what the drawings say, in the order that makes it last.
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Pre-construction meeting
Scope and sequence, agreed first.
Scope, sequence and budget walked through before anyone digs, so surprises happen here rather than later.
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Site preparation
Clearing, grading and drainage.
Clearing, grading and drainage. The part nobody photographs and everything else depends on.
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Hardscape
Patios, paths and walls go in.
Patios, walkways, retaining walls and structures go in first, because planting around them is easier than the reverse.
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Planting and softscape
Trees, shrubs and beds.
Trees, shrubs and beds, placed for the light, the soil and how the garden will look in ten years.
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Irrigation and lighting
Water by zone, light where it counts.
Watering laid out by hydrozone so the thirsty and the drought-tolerant are not on the same valve, and lighting where it earns its place.
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Outdoor living
Decks, pergolas and fire pits.
Decks, pergolas, fire pits and outdoor kitchens, where the project calls for them.
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Final touches
Mulch, stone and a clean site.
Mulch, gravel and stone, then the site cleaned and the debris taken away.
After
Handing it over, and coming back.
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Final walkthrough
Checked against the drawings, together.
Walked with you, checked against the drawings, with anything outstanding written down rather than agreed verbally.
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Handover
What the garden needs, and when.
What the garden needs and when, so the plants stand a chance in their first year.
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Ongoing maintenance
We come back, if you want us.
The same company coming back to look after it, if you want that. A garden is not finished when the crew leaves.
Starting
The first visit has a fixed price.
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Design consultation
$175
Covers the first hour on the property. If the visit runs past the hour, we agree the extra time with you first.
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Maintenance walk
$75
To price care for a garden that already exists.
Neither is credited toward a later stage: you pay for the visit, not a deposit on work you have not agreed to.
A $100 travel charge applies once, on the first visit, outside the towns we list.