The Importance of Selecting the Proper
Landscape Designer
There are several basic concepts to
landscape design that I will share with you during this month’s
column. First of all, you must understand that a good landscape
design is actually a piece of art. This concept was first taught
to me by one of my early mentors. To further explain what I mean
I’ll give you this example: Both Picasso and your local corner
artist have the same materials to work with. They both have a
canvas, brushes, oil paints, etc. Now what makes a difference
between a Picasso and the local street corner artist if they
both have the same materials to work with? Well obviously this
is a loaded question because Picasso had a unique eye for art
that stood apart from most of his colleagues. This same concept
can also be seen in landscape designers. When you, the client,
begin to select a landscape designer try not to place a lot of
attention on the materials that he is using and if possible, try
to be open minded about the pricing because you are really
buying a piece of
artwork
and not just plants and objects. Like Picasso and the corner
street artist, both had similar material cost, but the return on
the investment of hiring a Picasso to do your artwork has a
considerably higher return. In my opinion, truly nice works of
art in landscaping are few and far between. Maybe one for every
1,500 or more homes would qualify as a true piece of artwork. We
pretty much have all seen homes of this nature. All you have to
do is drive down the road and look. You will come across one
home and yard that stands out as just the perfect mix of colors,
hardscapes, textures, grasses and combination of plants. This
home owner either is an artist or has acquired the services of
an artist in its design and implementation. Our company has
flourished due to the fact that we will often present customers
with over the top designs- which sometimes have a price tag of
2- 3x what they had planned to invest in their yard. Even though
our cost may run 2-3 x what someone else has proposed, the
actual cost per plant or per unit is similar. After seeing the
true nature of the artwork available it is often hard for the
client to lower their expectations later on. We often see our
competitors following the customers’ basic plan for landscaping
and not expressing their own creativity into the design- thus
rendering a mediocre project. While this is not necessarily the
fault of the homeowner or the landscaper it does happen. Often
times the landscape designer is just following the homeowner’s
lead. In actuality, it is our job as industry professionals to
actually lead the homeowner into creating beautiful places and
unusual spaces in order to create a true piece of art to be
enjoyed by many. So the next time you decide to have a designer
come out and give you his or her ideas for your yard, you should
start by looking at their past projects. Don’t be afraid to ask
for a portfolio, references or design examples. Any true
landscape designer will have these materials on hand or readily
available. Also, don’t be afraid to knock on someone’s front
door and ask them, “who designed your yard?” This will help you
to identify the true artist(s) that are located in your area.
Remember that
landscaping is a work of art and not just plants and things that
get put into your yard. And as always, if you have any gardening
or landscaping questions please feel free to call or email me
and I’ll try to answer you as soon as possible.
James Parker
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