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 | WORKING
WITH YOUR CERTIFIED LANDSCAPE DESIGNER |
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Background
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The Arnold Arboretum Programs at Harvard University
have been in existence for 35 years and boast of over 300 graduates, who
are Certified Landscape Designers or Certified Landscape Design
Historians. Many of these graduates have gone on to start
residential landscape design firms, a number of which are listed in the Find a Designer
section (last link at left).
For their part, Landscape History graduates represent
a broad variety of landscape history disciplines, such as analyzing
historic landscapes; or publishing in specialist landscape history
journals. You will also see several of these graduates listed here,
some of whom specialize in restoring private historic gardens.
Our graduates also reach into the public domain by
designing parks and other public spaces, and yet others offer their
services at minimal fee or free of charge to communities in need of
landscape design services. Most of these initiatives are managed by
the Community Outreach Group, which matches volunteer designers to
projects. Some of these projects are shown on the “Public
Landscapes” and “COG Projects” pages.
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Training
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The designers listed in this Directory are graduates
of the Landscape Design or Landscape History Programs, or have completed
at least 8 of the 12 courses required to graduate. The
graduate-level Programs are made up of 12 core courses. Required are
3 levels of design studios, along with courses in Site Engineering,
Construction, Drafting, Plant Materials and a variety of Landscape History
courses. A year-long, large-scale design project is required as a
graduating thesis.
Many students start as enlightened amateurs with
excellent horticultural knowledge and a
longstanding interest in garden design.
By the time they graduate, however, the
Program has transformed them into full-fledged design professionals
particularly well suited to residential landscape projects.
Please look under the “Training” page to see the kind of work our
current students produce, from construction details to large scale
landscape rehabilitation work. |
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Working with a Residential Landscape Designer
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Our designers are highly talented and diverse
individuals who employ a variety of approaches in doing their work.
Some may only create designs, while others will also offer installation
and maintenance services. Many will create plans on paper,
while others may execute the design directly on site. Some of
our designers may have a great deal of experience in dealing with
wetlands, while others have developed deep expertise in restoring historic
landscapes. The directory will assist you in finding designers by
geographic location and also by specialty. You will see that the
range of services is quite broad with over 20 specialties.
But while their methods will vary, all our designers
approach their client relationships in a manner that supports the exchange
of ideas and allows the client’s needs and ideas to be heard.
This is particularly important for projects that require assessing the
overall landscape vis-à-vis the functional and aesthetic needs of the
client: this kind of project is often known as a master plan.
To illustrate, we will describe below how many of our
designers would generally go about the design process while creating a
master plan.
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THE DESIGN PROCESS |
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The process will generally go as follows: |
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Needs Assessment |
When you first contact your designer, she will ask
you general questions about your objectives with your landscape project.
If she feels the project is a good fit for her skills, she will typically
follow the phone conversation with a visit at your house. This
will give her an opportunity to develop a more thorough understanding of
your situation. She will often bring her portfolio or other
materials to help you understand her work and project approach. The
great majority of our designers will charge for that initial visit.
This initial visit can also be combined with an
horticultural consultation, where your landscape designer can provide you
with insights and recommendations as you tour the property. |
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Development of Landscape Plans |
This initial visit may get translated into a
proposal for design services, or a contract, if the size of the
project warrants it. For smaller projects, your designer may simply
outline what she will do and provide a deadline by which she will complete
the project. She will also tell you what will be delivered to
you: plans, or on-site flagging of plant locations, etc… |
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Analysis |
If the project requires it, your designer will come
back to your property to measure and take pictures, in order to create an
understanding of the existing conditions of your property. She will
use this information and her observations to analyze the site and
understand what approaches are likely to be most successful.
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Preliminary Plans |
At that point, your designer will be ready to
create concept plans for your project and will typically meet with you to
go over her initial ideas and preliminary plans. For a simple
project, she may submit a final plan without this intermediary step. |
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Final Plans |
The concept plans, reviewed and approved by
you, can then be translated into final plans. Depending on the
project, she may deliver detailed planting plans with lists of plants and
exact quantities, and construction drawings if hard surfaces need to be
built, such as terraces or walls. |
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PRICING OF LANDSCAPE PLANS |
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Your designer may charge you on an hourly basis, or may price the
design project on a lump sum basis. The cost of a design can range
from a few hundred dollars for a very simple project to well over $3,000
for a complex master plan. Many designers structure services
that have predictable requirements, like horticultural consultations, on a
flat-fee basis. |
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INSTALLATION |
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Once the design phase is complete, the designer can
work with you to implement the installation. Her fees there may
either be structured on an hourly basis, or represent a percentage of the
installation costs.
Budget estimates will typically be provided with the
final plans. Your designer can install the plans if she has a
crew, or locate appropriate contractors to carry out the design.
Many designers rely on a small cadre of reliable contractors, including
masons, arborists and plant installation specialists. Your designer
can select plants and other elements of the finished landscape. She
will have access to a broad range of nurseries, most of which are not open
to consumers, providing her with a broad palette of plant varieties and
sizes. |
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MAINTENANCE |
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Your designer can help you manage the evolution
of your new landscape as it develops over the years, providing guidance on
maintenance and renewal.
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IN SUMMARY
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Hiring a Certified Landscape Designer
is a valuable investment at many levels: your designer can solve the
functional and aesthetic challenges of your property, while integrating
the priorities of your household into the design. She can help
you create a landscape that will still be beautiful and practical years
into the future. She can also help in short-term situations,
like getting your house ready for sale, or ready for a wedding.
In the end, though, her greatest contribution is probably in raising the
value of your home, while also making it a most desirable place to spend
time. |
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