Landscape Designer near you

Q: What do landscape designer services include?

A: Landscape designers are professionals who make your garden look a piece of art. They come to your home for an interview, listen to your preferences, then take photos and leave you for a week or so. After the waiting time, landscape designers present you their ideas on how to rebuild your garden and make it look stunning. Once you agree to the project, these experts will get down to business.

After you agree on the general view of your new garden, a landscape designer will prepare your garden: remove any existing useless trees, bushes, and plants. Get the soil ready, match the plants to your home’s design and climate. And in the end, they will plant everything in the garden turning the paper-project into the real-life masterpiece. Landscape designers handle garden transformations from A to Z: from planning to the final touches.

Q: How do landscape designers charge?

A: Depending on the service you require from a landscape designer, you might face three different charging methods. Per-hour rates are applicable for clients who need a consultation or some minor on-site works from a landscape expert. Per square foot or acre rates usually apply if you’re planning to transform both back and front yards together; such rates allow combining these two territories into a single project. Per project rates are the most common in the industry. In this case you pay initially for the project design and then separately for its implementation.

Q: What is the average cost of the landscape designer services?

A: Hourly rates of landscape designers equal $50-$150 while works including on-site involvement may cost even $200 per hour. Per project rates begin from a couple of hundred to thousand dollars depending on the project complexity and your requirements. You can learn more about pricing methods and exact costs in this industry by reading our landscape designer cost guide.

Q: What factors affect the cost of the landscape designer services?

A: Since landscaping projects may vary a lot in their scope and complexity, there are a number of factors that can change their initial cost:

• Yard size. The bigger the yard the more expensive the project is.
• Plants used. Commonplace plants cost less than some unusual or unnatural for your climate zone. If your landscape designer uses exotic plants or fully grown trees, you will pay more than for the small plants. In this case it depends on your needs and willingness to wait. If you need everything to look amazing now, you will pay more; if you agree to grow the plant and wait a year for a perfect look, you will pay less.
• Supplementary constructions. Very often landscaping works include the building of flower beds, stone wall, small ponds, a gazebo or deck, etc. All those small building projects add up many hundreds of dollars to your landscaping improvement project.
• Materials used. Natural materials always look better in the garden, yet cost more than artificial replacements.
• Permits. Landscaping and building permits are frequently required even for small backyard projects. Keep in mind that the cost of permits is never included into the total sum you’re paying to a landscaping expert.

Q: How to hire a good landscape designer?

A: Since the industry does not require a landscaping artist to have any formal education or obtain a license, there are a few other signs of a good landscape designer.

• Experience. In this business, you can rely only on the experience, namely the previous projects, of a landscape designer. Check the previous works and consult with the former clients of a chosen expert to evaluate their level of expertise.
• Communication. Professionals always know how to listen to their clients and implement their ideas into the project. Novices to the industry will try to give lots of advice and prioritize their ideas. Pay attention to the way you communicate with a landscape expert to hire the most fitting one.
• Knowledge. Great landscape designers know everything about your local climate, ground, and so can recommend and choose the best plants and trees that will survive in the area. Try to cooperate with an expert who knows this kind of information so that your marvelous project doesn’t die after the first winter.