Process & Pricing


Consultation

All design services begin with an on-site consultation.  Before our meeting, I’ll provide a questionnaire and some prompts for you to collect your ideas, preferences, and inspiration. We then meet on site to discuss ideas, look at the project site together, and further define your ambitions and priorities for a project. With this direction and scope in mind, I make general recommendations, often with quick sketches and notes. This meeting provides enough information for some customers to begin a project on their own, while for others a more robust design process is necessary. 

Initial meetings and consultations of 90 minutes in the Columbus area cost $180. If you purchase further design services, this consultation fee can be applied/credited towards those additional services. Click here if you have a project in mind and want to set up a consultation.



Fundamental Design Service

Projects that require planting and simple hardscape (such as patios without elevation changes) may be completed through a fundamental design service. After the initial on-site consultation and agreeing on a project scope, I will take photographs and detailed site measurements of your property. I will then develop a scaled plan drawing and additional sketch(es) of the project proposal. We then meet again to discuss the design proposal. Revisions are not included with this service but are available at an hourly rate.

Expected costs for fundamental designs are around $1,000 for front or backyards, or around $2,000 for entire residential properties (under ⅓ acre). This process typically requires a shorter turnaround, and is more affordable than the full design process (described below), but may not be appropriate for complex designs that would require construction drawings, highly detailed plantings, or multiple meetings/revisions. 



Full Design Service

A full design service is most appropriate when a customer needs additional detail in their design. Examples of situations that warrant this service include:
- when construction drawings must be provided to a contractor or for permitting/external review 
- when the design involves significant slope or elevation change requiring detailed study and drawing
- ifthe design requires complex planting studies or multiple options for review
- if a customer anticipates requesting multiple meetings to review and revise the design.

The process of a full design service still begins with an on-site consultation and site inventory/measurement. After gathering this information, I will then develop a conceptual plan which will begin to define the spaces, elements and materials in a new landscape and how they might look. A meeting to review these conceptual design drawings allows for in-process feedback and revisions before the design is finalized. 

Finally, I produce a series of drawings that can be used to construct the new landscape, incorporating feedback from the previous review meeting. These drawings precisely describe the landscape to be constructed, its materials, planting arrangements and specifications, to allow a contractor to accurately bid on (and then build) the project. When necessary, structural review and/or submittal to a historic area commission/review board or homeowners’ association is included in this step.

The cost of this service for a front or backyard is typically between $2,800 and $4,000, depending on scope and complexity. Designs for entire properties generally cost between $3,600 and $5,000. Contact me for more precise estimates for larger-scale property designs greater than ⅓-acre. 



Continuing Service (and a note on landscapes)

Landscapes are living, growing, shifting, and sometimes surprising. I strive for deeper connections between these places and those who design, use, and tend to to them - whether large or small, seemingly simple or complex. I also recognize that this can take time - sometimes years. Because of this, any fundamental or full design service also includes a follow-up consultation where we discuss your project during or after its implementation. 

This follow-up meeting is not a sales pitch for further design services or drawings - but it is a great time to:
- fine-tune or adjust planting,
- meet near the end of a landscape installation to make a final walkthrough checklist,
- discuss maintenance and how to tend to or work with your growing and shifting garden,
- identify opportunities in conditions that may have changed since initial installation,
- consider next steps beyond the first project’s scope,
- develop a plan to stage your landscape if you’re selling your property.



If you’d like to connect regarding a new project, you can contact me here.