Few people outside of the industry have an in-depth knowledge of how professional landscaping companies operate. The days of simply driving a pickup truck around to mow lawns have given way to concepts of precision architecture, digital age technology (such as digital virtual tours), and more environmentally friendly practices. Companies today work to implement these concepts while keeping costs down for their clients.
While every company works their jobs a bit differently, here are some steps that many take to plan a professional and as near perfect as possible final product.
Create the Grid
The first step in landscape architecture and planning lies in creating the basic grid. A grid determines the measurements of the plot or plots of land used, as well as the dimensions of obstacles. Creating the grid enables the professional to use modern digital tools to take the design to the next level.
Use Modern Digital Tools to Help
The digital age has helped landscape architects and designers achieve precise results much more easily than in the past. Tools such as digital virtual tours bring a concept to life in three dimensions, allowing workers and clients alike to visualize the final product before work even starts.
Using digital virtual tours and other programs allows the client or others to adjust the plan more quickly and with less cost.
Plan First for Landscape Access
One of the most important early steps in the planning process involves figuring out access for any equipment that might need to be used. Mistakes that make it difficult to bring in necessary equipment will cost time and money.
Figure Out Focal Points
Another important part of planning lies in planning out the focal points of the landscape. Where does the client want people’s eyes drawn? How do these focal points relate to other features in the landscaping plan? How can the work team install the vision in the most effective and efficient manner possible? These questions all go into the work to determine focal points and their role in the plan.
Keep It Simple
Formal gardens have an element of grandeur, much like the royal families, aristocrats, and other assorted rich folks who pay people to maintain them. Experts suggest that people who maintain their own landscaping and have limited time and financial resources adopt simpler and less formal plans.
Simpler and less formal often translates to using more low maintenance plants, such as trees, bushes, and banks of wildflowers. A small number of time or labor-intensive items will not overwhelm most people, but most professionals advise to use them sparingly.
Should It Stay or Should It Go?
Finally, landscaping professionals and clients need to decide what objects already in the grid need to remain or be removed. These can include trees, bushes, small rises in the ground, large rocks, and man-made structures or debris.
Some designers will offer this advice before creating a tabula rasa. Consider what those features could add to the landscaping if left in place. Trees could provide shade for plants that do not do well in day-long direct sunlight. Bushes could make great features, or even focal points if trimmed properly.
Even man-made objects can also serve as focal points or conversation pieces. Old benches with distressed surfaces make for popular decorations. Even used tires, painted, cut down, and used properly, can form retaining wall looking features that can hold flowers, small bushes, or even edible plants such as tomatoes.
Professional landscaping planning has limits set mainly by imagination, time, and resources. Consult your respected professional landscaper today to learn more about how to plan your property’s landscaping project.
