For homeowners who frequently entertain friends and family, it is important to make a good first impression. It creates an awe-inspiring introduction to your home that you can truly take pride in.
There are lots of options you can turn to to make a great first impression when guests come to your home. You could dazzle them with sophisticated floors, a fancy kitchen with a modern design, or even stylish and comfortable furniture. But, if you want to make a truly outstanding first impression, it is not what’s inside that counts. You need to make your mark before they even step foot through your front door.
A one-of-a-kind first impression can only be made with a one-of-a-kind landscape design. Here is everything you need to know about landscape design so you can start planning your own project.
What is landscape design?
Landscape design is the planning and arrangement of an outdoor living space that incorporates elements of both functionality and aesthetic value to create a space that provides you the best of both worlds.
Great landscape design first takes into account the space’s primary purpose. Then using your likes, dislikes, design tastes, and anything on your wish list, design elements ranging from trees, stones, water features, flowers, bushes, walkways, and more that will help enhance the space visually without disrupting the intended purpose are selected.
After some dirty work reshaping the area, voilà, you have an entirely reimagined outdoor paradise at home for you to enjoy. Essentially, a landscape design is a full-blown makeover for your yard!
Going about the design can be tricky and doing the labor yourself is even more of an ordeal. That is why you should always look for a design-build landscaper.
What is a “design-build” landscaping company?
A design-build landscaper is a landscaping company who acts as a trusted partner from start to finish. Many landscape companies will just come in for the hard work, leaving the design to you alone.
But, with a design-build landscaping company, you get the advantage of experienced and helpful eyes on the design of your new landscape design from day-one. A design-build landscaper can offer advice, provide ideas, and help you finalize the design. Then they get to work with the actual design execution.
With your landscaper being involved in all aspects of the landscape design, they are equally invested in the design as you are and have a much clearer direction. Working with a design-build landscaper will help your project flow much smoother and avoid unnecessary costs as a result.
How much does it cost to have my backyard designed and built?
No two landscaping design projects are identical. Different design elements chosen, the size of your space, the extent of major renovations, and other factors all come into play when it comes to the cost of landscaping design. Your project’s scope will greatly determine the final quote for your landscaping estimate.
However, one surefire way to keep your project within a budget you are comfortable with is by working with a design-build landscaping company. This kind of landscaping company will have a chance to understand your vision and goals before the first blueprints are drawn up. Having this perspective will allow them to provide you with accurate upfront quotes and help you make the best decisions for your budget.
Keeping your project under one roof with a single landscaping company also helps keep the process simple. And, as we all know, keeping a project simple means keeping it on budget. This way, you eliminate the headaches, hassles, and additional costs that occur when you have to pay one company for the design and another for the construction, coordinating between the two, and tasks being done incorrectly as things are lost in translation.
A worthy design-build landscaping company will also have their finger on the pulse of the latest technology and methods. This knowledge can be used to your advantage during both the design and construction phases. During design, the company can offer ideas on efficient choices. During construction, they have the tools and methods to get the job done as efficiently and effectively as possible.
What are the biggest factors affecting landscape design and build costs?
As previously mentioned, a multitude of factors come into play when the question of landscape design cost comes into question. These are some of the most important factors to keep in mind, and ones that you can start determining right now how they will impact your project.
The designer’s credentials
Who you ultimately hire to do the job is going to be one of the biggest factors in cost. Before you get your first quote or even have your first conversation with the contractor, you can get an idea of their price point by looking at their certifications and accreditations. These will be a good indicator of their experience and skill.
You can also try and see examples of their previous work and what others have said about their work online to gauge what their average project looks like. A design-build landscaper with a great reputation, long career, solid credentials, and an impressive portfolio is going to be a great partner, but will also likely expect to be paid at a higher rate. However, if you are serious about your landscaping project, this is the cost. If you want the best, you will have to pay the best.
Your property
If your project will exist on a large property, it is going to require significantly more work in both planning and execution. More time will be needed at the drafting table or computer creating the design, which means paying for more hours during the design. Once you get to the actual build, a larger property is going to cost more to finish too. Properties with a lot of slopes, existing mature landscapes, extra environmental concerns, or other challenges will push the price up as well.
Your desires
Sometimes clients call looking for a landscape design, but really just need a planting plan. Basic improvements can be easily worked out and are towards the lower end of the cost spectrum. But, if you want an outdoor kitchen, deck, water feature, lighting, shed, or even a new inground pool install that’s a lot of moving parts and the design fee will reflect that.
Landscape style
Purity is one of the most expensive things in design. An authentic English or Japanese garden takes a lot of knowledge, planning, and skill to plan and execute correctly. A design that prioritizes modern lines, native plantings, wildlife, or low water use narrows options and challenges a designer. These kinds of challenges, while beautiful and result in a gorgeous landscape scene, will come at a cost.
How is landscape design cost calculated?
So those are the factors that will affect your landscape design cost, but how is landscape design cost calculated? It often comes down to calculating landscaping cost per square foot versus landscaping cost per hour.
Landscape design cost per square foot
Depending on what you do with the area, the average price per square foot for a landscaping design project ranges from $5 to $20 a square foot. However, it is common to mix materials and landscaping across a property, meaning the cost per square foot is likely to change. The quality of materials used, the addition of water features, structures, and plants can all factor into that $5 to $20 fluctuation.
Landscaping cost per hour
Some landscapers charge by the hour, which ranges depending on their expertise and the services they are providing, including both physical labor and planning work. The physical labor of landscaping costs between $50 and $100 an hour, while landscaping designers often charge $200 an hour for planning, consultations, and design work.
If you want to elevate your outdoor spaces with a thoughtful, exciting, and beautiful landscape design, you need to work with a design-build landscaping company with the experience and skills to help you bring it to life from drawing board to dirt.
Procare is a Michigan landscaping company with the experience and skills to help you bring your dreams of a new outdoor space to life, meeting your every need, and most importantly keeping your landscape project within the budget that works best for you.
Contact us or call 616-369-8883 to get a quote today, or meet our team and hear the Procare story.