What to Expect

CONCEPT PLAN  – a 2 -3 hour Home Visit
  • Upon arrival, Denise does a brief yard tour with you.  She views your entire property, house & the features you wish to include or remove.  If  your yard is new, this step is omitted.
  • You then receive a short questionnaire to fill out along with 2 binders to peruse.  One binder contains landscape Plant Pictures sectioned off into perennials, shrubs, trees & vines.  The other is filled with pictures of Landscape Ideas divided according to topic … arbors, decks, water features, etc.
  • As you go through the questionnaire at your leisure, Denise takes 20 -30 minutes to do a pencil sketch of your yard.  ’Pacing Out’ the yard increases her accuracy.  She then does the pencil sketch over in ink. (this way you have a permanent drawing on which to plan the future yard)
  • Now the fun starts!  After discussing the Questionnaire, Denise will plan your yard as a pencil sketch, using the Landscape Idea binder as a visual aid when necessary.  Once the ‘bare bones’ of the yard are set – the last step is to go through the Plant Pictures book & make a list of preferred trees, shrubs, perennials & vines.  Using this ‘long list’, Denise then selects proper plants for each area of the yard & pencils them in on the plan.
  • Once the plan is completed to your desire … Denise goes over the penciled portion with ink & then erases the pencil marks.
  • and VOILA!  You are left with a rough but reasonably accurate representation of how your yard will look.  You are also left with the list of plants for future reference.
 
 

 

 
DESIGNS  – 3 visits  -initial Home Visit (2 -3 hrs.), a  second to fine tune your Plan (1 hr.) plus a final meeting to present your Finished Design (approx. 1 hr.)
  • the Concept Plan is the first step in the Design Process … with a full Design, Denise takes the Concept Plan one step further.
  • Once the rough pencil sketch is complete, she measures your yard in detail, then takes the sketch , measurements & questionnaire with her back to her drawing board.  Your yard is then drawn to scale on grid paper.  It is very detailed, accurate to within one foot & shows placement of every tree, shrub & perennial as well as the amount of all plants required to complete the plan.  She then sets up the second appointment so you can view the yard drawn to scale & fine tune the details to your content. The third & final get together is to present the entire finished package to you.
  • An important benefit of the Design over the Concept Plan is that more time & thought is put into developing the best for your yard!

 

       “I  feel my role as Designer is to listen to you first.   Then I take your ideas & come up with a plan that works for you.  I can certainly offer lots of ideas & thoughts but in the end your Landscape Design should reflect what YOU want – NOT what I want.   I can work with as little or as much input as you desire!  Aside from numerous benefits, having a yard plan makes your entire yard development much more manageable.  It definitely helps you decide where to start & then you can easily proceed in phases at your own speed – well worth the cost!”   
                                                                                                                                                                                         –  Denise Balcaen