Christiane Holmquist Landscape Design

  • Home
  • Portfolio
  • Projects
  • How I work
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

How to make the best use of a landscape consultation

May 5, 2011 By Christiane Holmquist

To consult or not to consult  -  How an initial consultation can help you move your landscape project forward.

For many of our landscape improvements we have the self-confidence and the vision that directs our creative minds and our energy.  But then comes the moment where we’d like to embark on a project that is more complex than anything we’ve undertaken before.  If you are not certain about how to go about your project, or have ideas already (such as a diy landscape design ) but are unsure if they flow together well, or if budget is a big consideration, this would be the moment where you’d be best served with a consultation with a design professional.

A back yard waiting to be designed

The goals

You might have one or several goals for your landscape:  For example an outdoor space for relaxation and rejuvenation, or a sanctuary for your children, or an entertainment space for adults.  It’s your property into which you will invest a considerable amount of energy, time and money, and you want to see your investment pay off and add value to your home.  For some clients the prospect of hiring one of the landscaping companies San Diego also causes some anxiety:  “Will this be the right professional for me”?  Will she or he hear you? Does she have the expertise, the vision, the skill and talent to guide you in the process and express your desires in a delightful way? The first meeting with the professional landscape designer is therefore a very important one, and here’s what it aims to achieve:

Getting to know you

front yard renovation in Ramona landscape

Front yard installation under way.

A consultation is an important first step to getting to know you and your landscape desires, whether this is for a landscape re-do or re-hab, or a completely new landscape.  It is a meeting in which I visit your home or project site and, while walking your property, listen to your likes and dislikes, and learn how you would like to use your property.  I will ask a series of questions that will help me to get an idea of what you are looking for.  As I listen to your ideas, I will make suggestions to help you assess the landscape challenges and to address your concerns.  Listening to my clients is my number one priority, and helping them to articulate and document their desires, dreams, and wishes in a way that a landscape contractor can understand them is my job.

This consultation provides also valuable learning points for you:  I’ll address what seems to be going on with your soil (prior to taking a soil sample for analysis – this I will do if you hire me for the design.)  I’ll comment on what seems appropriate for your microclimate and architectural style, and I will advance some ideas for site use, surface materials, potential cost of project, possible phasing, planning for pets, children, and edibles, multi-use areas, etc.

Mediterranean garden with pergola and fountain and raised vegetable beds ‘Honesty’ and ‘partiality’

The consultation is also an opportunity for you to get to know the person you will be working with.  As most landscape designers are also horticulturists you can use this opportunity to ask all the questions you ever wanted to ask about how to plant, prune, and solve problems. The landscape designer will educate you about plants (the softscape) or hardscape materials (these are the ‘built’ elements, such as patios, walkways, arbors etc.), and will do this without any ulterior motive, product sales, kick-backs and mark-ups or profitability issues that could influence his or her recommendations.  It will be focused expertise from an experienced designer who listens to you and helps you express your own ideas, and you will actually be amazed at what you will know about your property after a comprehensive landscape consultation.

My clients have appreciated this consultation as helpful part of the landscape process, because it provides an abundance of valuable information; the practical and creative suggestions help them articulate their needs and develop a greater understanding of the potentials of their property. You just might be amazed at what you will know about your property after a comprehensive landscape consultation. You can make this meeting even more profitable if you prepare for it, by assembling for review with the landscape designer your landscape ideas, supported by cutsheets, photos, magazines and books, just anything that has attracted you in some way and expresses some of your likes and dislikes.  Lastly a copy of your plot plan and/or your house would also be useful –  it will be needed anyway in the design phase.

Filed Under: Landscape Design Tagged With: beneficial part of the landscape process, experienced landscape designer, expert landscape designer, green space for rejuvenation, green space for relaxation, hardscape materials in the landscape, home landscape, horticulturist, initial landscape design consultation, investment in landscape to pay off, landscape consultation, landscape design consultation in southern California, landscape design consultations, landscape design for architectural style, landscape design in San Diego, landscape ideas, landscape investment, landscape process, professional landscape service, reconnect with nature, sanctuary for children

Search our blog articles

Get your free eBook “15 Things To Do Before You Hire A Landscape Designer”

Blog Contents

  • Backyard Landscape Design
  • Container Gardening
  • Drought Resistant Landscape
  • Drought Resistant Plants
  • Gardening tips
  • Landscape Design
  • Landscape Design Portfolio
  • Landscape Design Projects
  • Low Maintenance Plants
  • Low Water Landscape
  • Outdoor Kitchen
  • Places to visit
  • Rocky Mountain landscaping
  • Shade Structures
  • Special architectal landscape elements
  • Sustainable Landscape Design
  • Trees
  • Uncategorized
  • Water Features for Gardens and Yards
  • Xeriscape designs

Blog Index

backyard landscape design diy landscape design drought resistant landscaping drought tolerant gardening drought tolerant landscape design drought tolerant plants drought tolerant shrubs drought tolerant trees dry climate design front yard landscape design garden design gardening ideas home landscape design irrigation restrictions in Southern California landscape design landscape design consultations landscape designer San Diego landscape design help landscape design ideas landscape ideas landscaping in San Diego County lawn removal limited water resources low-volume water features in the landscape low maintenance plants low water landscape low water landscaping Mediterranean-type plants perennials residential landscape design Shade sails sustainable garden design Sustainable landscape design trees useful tools for the water-wise gardener water-wise landscape design Water Conservation Water Conservation Garden Water Conserving plants xeriscape xeriscape design xeriscape designs xeriscape landscaping xeriscape plants xeriscape San Diego
Christiane, your design is beautiful. Viewers love the design and color. Thank you so much for all your support while the project was being developed. It would have been more stressful for me had you not held my hand regularly.

Rachel Michel

CHRISTIANE HOLMQUIST LANDSCAPE DESIGN


Download my article published in San Diego Home and Garden Lifestyles Magazine!
Contact Me I offer phone and/or onsite consultations and landscape design.

Phone: 406-246-6065

Latest Articles

  • Winter landscaping with Billie Gray : A lifelong love affair of gardening in the Rockies
  • Portfolio: Gardens with Water Features
  • Portfolio: Arbors And Dividers
  • Starting my new life in Montana
  • A Bench and How It Came to Be

Connect with me

Follow Us on Facebook

Copyright © 2022 · Agency Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in