Are you renovating or building a new home? Get a landscape designer or landscape architect to give you advice early on in the process.
Have you bought a new block of land or renovating an existing house? It’s really helpful to get advice from a landscape designer in the early stages of the build process. They may see opportunities or issues that an architect or building designer may have missed. Great views for instance, amazing trees to keep, privacy concerns and excavation suggestions can all be looked at by a designer who is looking to the outside of the residence compared to the inside.
An on-site consultation with a qualified designer can save you money and heart ache down the track for a small amount of money upfront. It’s definitely worth the $$$.
Once you have the house plans you can then get the designer back, work out the brief, and then they can give you a quote for a comprehensive landscape plan with landscaping and planting plans.
For example having some level outdoor space is so important if you have kids (or potential buyers down the track who may do). Then they have somewhere to kick a ball or run about, and having the opportunity to get them off those devices has to be good! It’s not something a builder would necessarily think about but it will improve your use of your outdoor space considerably. It could be achieved by adding some retaining to the build project. This could really save you money compared to if you leave it until after the house is finished and narrow access limits the size of machinery for excavation.
If your builder includes a landscape package in your project it might be ok to include any landscape construction such as paving or retaining walls but I would highly recommend you get a qualified landscaper to do the rest. Builders build, they are not necessarily good at planting!
Get yourself some good advice from a landscape designer and a well thought-out landscape plan and it will definitely be worth it in the long run.