Free garden design! If you were offered a free pie, would you eat it? As with most things in life, at best you will get what you pay for. Our work is based on the needs of a specific client in terms of function, style and the physical space available.

Depending on how large the design is and how complicated the needs are of our client, a design can take anything from a couple of days to a few weeks to complete. In brief, a garden design includes:

  • travel to a site
  • measuring out the site
  • obtaining a brief from the client as to what they would expect from their new garden compared to what they have now
  • re-drawing the garden to scale by hand or using software
  • designing the new garden based on the requirements of the client
  • quantifying the different ‘ingredients’ of the garden

How many people are there who can afford to spend hours devoting themselves, pouring their heart into a design at no cost to the client? For the most part, this is not a sustainable business practice. Creativity will dwindle as resources thin.

Design quality

Where a ‘free’ design is offered, quality can be sacrificed compared to a ‘paid’ design. It follows that numerous short-cuts can be taken. Secondly, the ‘design’ is more of a rough sketch of a garden concept. It follows that the design is ‘painted’ in broad strokes not drawn to scale. It will often have a more generic mix of plants that work well together. All things considered, it will not be based on a pallet or style based on the likes of the client.

Broad Strokes Design

Overall, a ‘broad strokes’ design could look great on paper, the objective of a garden design is to have an informative, accurate document. This provides information for the accurate costing and installation of the garden. Basically, a landscape design is not about having a pretty picture or piece of art to hang on a wall. It must be quantified and actionable.

Are you just ticking a box that says, “Garden’? or would you prefer something special? Perhaps a garden that you can relate to. A garden that provides for your lifestyle and sense of style. Such designs are seldom free – they need creativity and detail.

Horses for Courses

At this point, paying for a design may seem foreign to many people (considering that some landscapers will draw one for free). By the same token, anyone that has been through the design process with a professional designer will fully appreciate the difference. It is important to realize that there is no right and no wrong. It’s simply different horses for different courses.

Comparatively, some clients are simply looking for a quick fix. Our clients look for something that will benefit their property and their lifestyle.

Please click here to find out more about our process from design to installation – we offer a turnkey service under one roof. Consequently we are able to control the quality of both the design and implementation of the installation.

Looking for a designer fire pit to add to your landscape design – have a look at FireBlades!