Many people feel that spending money on employing a professional garden designer is a waste, thinking it can't be that difficult to do the job themselves. What makes a good garden into a gorgeous garden? Knowing how to put all the elements together in a way that is functional, practical and appealing. A well planned and attractive garden will visually enhance your home, extend your living space and add value to your property. Conversely: the opposite, a poorly thought out, overgrown and tasteless garden will remain with you whilst you try to make do with a poor garden design. The wrong plants in the wrong position can subtract up to 10% or more from your overall property value.
Professional garden and landscape designers have the comprehensive skills to translate your ideas into a functional and stylish outdoor space which reflects your lifestyle and suits your budget. With extensive expertise, creativity and their ability to advise and design in a range of situations, a garden designer will maximise the potential of your site. With materials, labour and planting the budget for basic landscaping of even a small garden can easily reach $10,000+. If the layout and implementation of elements within the garden are not thought through correctly, this money is wasted. In fact you can still spend thousands more in the removal of overgrown trees just to get back to the original situation. A professional garden designer will ensure value for money.
Often homeowners have ideas on what they would like to see in their garden, for example, a patio, lawn and play area for the children, but knowing the right size, shape, location and materials to use takes expert knowledge and experience. All plants are simply not the same, as an example, you may think you need a ‘lilly pilly’ as a hedging plant along a fence line. Did you also know there are over 500 commercially grown forms of Lilly pilly, ranging from small shrubs to enormous trees? If you purchase a large overgrown ‘lilly pilly tree’ on sale and within 3 years it is 10mt tall, you will end up spending another $1000+ to remove. Or risk damage to house foundations and pipes. Not to mention having a completely inappropriate and unattractive tree. A garden designer will negate the risk of inappropriate planting and landscaping, and by taking the time to talk through the exact requirements of the client/clients, will ensure the garden is designed right, first time.
Often a garden designer is an excellent conduit between couples who have differing ideals or aspirations for their garden. A garden designer is more adapt at critical elements that the customers may not have considered. Drainage in a garden is one such aspect often overlooked but very important for long term viability and success of your garden.
A good garden designer will have illustrated examples and endorsements of their work. If they are available the same day for an appointment, they probably don’t fall into this category. Whilst a landscaper can sometimes be helpful with design, they haven’t been trained to think about the garden as a whole from the large-scale elements such as a patios and paths down to using the lines in paving to make the garden look wider.
Most people wouldn’t do their own electrical work or plumbing around the house. It’s dangerous and if things go wrong very expensive. It’s no different in the garden, save money, time and energy by employing a garden designer and have the garden you always dreamed about.
By Leigh Murphy