You want a beautifully landscaped yard and you need ideas. And, you want to reduce your costs by doing as much of the work yourself as you can. So, your question is, “Can I just pay for landscaping design ideas and do the work myself?” The short answer is, “Yes, you can.” The complete answer starts with our saying, “be careful.” Calgary landscape design services are part of what we offer at Tazscapes landscaping in Calgary. To end up with the best landscaping results, you need to successfully manage the conversion of landscape design ideas into solid results. That will include proper site analysis and preparation, the right tools, the right materials, and the right skillsets for pulling it all together.
What Is Your Landscaping Skill Set?
If you have a “green thumb” and a good eye for design, you can start with a few of your own ideas and then pay to have an experienced landscape designer turn those ideas into concrete plans. But, you also need to be honest with yourself about what you are good at and what things are challenging for you. Planting a small garden is one thing, but knowing what trees or shrubs to plant, how to plant them, and what precautions to take is another. You may be thinking of gravel edging around your home, patio, or plantings. Are you up to the work of digging out, putting in plastic sheeting, and moving all of that gravel?
After you have analyzed your set of skills, you will have a better idea of what you reasonably can do and what you need to have done by an experienced landscaper in Calgary.
What Is Your Landscaping Style?
You may have some great landscaping ideas or you may simply need to rely on your designer to come up with several options that work well with your home and fit your budget. If you want to do part or all of the work yourself, you need to make sure that the landscape design you end up with is consistent with your set of skills and your budget. Or, it needs to be designed so that you can do the project in stages and over several years, if necessary. But, no matter what the cost or how much of the job you can do yourself, the design should be one that you can not only live with but be proud of for years to come.
The Parts of the Landscape Design Process
A viable plan for do-it-yourself landscaping is to have a professional draw up your landscape design plan and be available for periodic consultations as the job progresses. There is more to good landscaping than design and throwing things together. There are several important parts of the landscape design process.
The landscape designer will look at your property and work with a scaled property report, which is an exact map of your property. In this template, the designer will create design ideas. Once you have agreed upon design ideas, the designer adds specifics. At this point, it is necessary to know a lot more about landscaping materials than the average homeowner. What you use has to look good, fit into the design, last for years, and fit into your budget. If you wish to pay someone to design your landscaping, make sure that lists of specific materials, quantities, suppliers, and likely costs are part of the agreement.
A workable approach is to pay the Calgary landscape company to provide the landscape design and specific services that are beyond your set of skills. For example, landscape construction hardscaping like retaining walls might be a task that you ask the landscaper to take care of while you plant trees and shrubs.
Ask the landscape designer to break down pricing for the whole project. This way you can pick and choose the jobs that you have time for and those that you need them to do. To the extent that you, your friends, or family have unique skills or tools, this can be a good way to cut costs and retain the design of your dreams and the service of the best Calgary landscape company.
Calgary Landscaping Projects Can Be Done in Stages
You have a budget that you need to stick to this year for landscaping. But, what you can budget over several years is a different issue. Talk to your Calgary landscape company about furnishing a design plan for what you want the final design to be. Then, ask how that could be staged. As an example, you have a bare lot and want trees. Planting the trees the first year allows them to grow as you wait to add hardscaping projects like decks.
If you are interested in fresh landscaping design ideas and a Calgary landscape company that will work with you to make your dreams come true, contact us at Tazscapes Inc. Landscaping today.