What season, what deadlines, how long does it take?
Landscaping a garden is a process that requires a little preparation and is carried out in several stages. Just like renovating or building a house.
Below I’ll outline the various stages involved, to help you visualize the process and guide you as best you can in organizing your potential future garden project. These are obviously guidelines and not firm commitments, as deadlines can always vary depending on the project and the context.
Identify the style you like
Just as in the building trade, when we call on the services of an architect or decorator, we turn to someone who shares our aesthetic tastes and values. With the help of websites, social networks, etc., we can find images of gardens that inspire us and check whether the architect we’ve chosen is in tune with that style.
Initial contact and discussion
After an initial contact by phone or e-mail, we’ll organize a first meeting on site to determine your wishes and needs together. After this meeting and confirmation of the assignment, we start the design process.
This is when the inventory of the garden and its contents begins, as well as the taking of measurements. Depending on the garden and the project, it may be necessary to call in a surveyor to take the measurements. This will take between 2 and 6 weeks.
Preliminary project
Once the measurements have been taken or received, we can begin with the concept plan. You’ll be given a preliminary design outlining the garden, showing where terraces, planting, pergolas, fences, hedges and trees are to come. This plan is illustrated with inspirational images and perspective drawings to help the customer get started. Materials and plants are not yet detailed in this phase. This phase takes between 4 and 8 weeks, depending on the project and the size of the garden.
Execution plan
Once the preliminary design has been approved by the customer, we choose the materials and plants. We can then start drawing the execution plans. These plans serve to detail the concept plan so that the implementation is in line with our wishes. The plans are accompanied by precise measurements, material details, water drainage plans and electrical plans. Materials and installation techniques are detailed with drawings and explanations to avoid mistakes and guarantee a high-quality, long-lasting garden. During this phase, planting plans are drawn up to specify the entire plant palette and its precise location. Depending on the number of technical elements (pergolas, watering points, level differences, etc.), this phase can take between 4 and 12 weeks.
Contractor selection
Once all these documents have been finalized, we have all the tools we need to ask different (between 1 and 3) garden design companies to submit bids. This ensures that we can compare bids on an equal basis and select the most suitable contractor. The bidding process may vary depending on the landscaping company and its schedule. Allow enough time to wait for different bids and compare them. Lack of time leads to haste and can force us to make choices that are not always optimal.
Start of work
Depending on the contractor’s availability and schedule. The work can start quickly or a few weeks (sometimes months) later. Many customers want to start their garden work when it’s least used, i.e. in autumn and winter. Take this into account and anticipate the design phase well in advance.
The duration of the work will then depend on variables such as the size of the contractor’s team, his schedule and the size and complexity of the project. This can vary from one week to several months. What’s more, some jobs depend on the weather and the seasons (planting), which can extend the duration of the work.
In conclusion, in order to have the most pleasant and qualitative experience, we advise you to start the first steps early enough. Build up your wishlist and inspiration images and contact us around 12 months before your deadline. This guarantees the choice of first-rate partners and quality work.