The Design Process

Philosophy

At Fairie Gardens, our goal is to bring you, your home, your land, and good design principles together to create the garden that serves your purpose. The best garden designs invariably have come out of an honest give and take between client and designer. Getting to know you is one of the most important parts of the process. We often find that we are installing the garden of a lifetime for our clients.

The design concept grows out of your ideas, our impression of the garden site, the elimination of distractions and your garden’s purpose. From the beginning you will be involved in a significant part of the process.

The Initial Meetings

The first meeting is typically about an hour long. During the meeting we will talk in broad terms about your goals and the purpose of the garden. We will walk around the inside of the house next, looking out from the windows; then we will walk outside to get a sense of the qualities of the different areas around the house.

The first meeting might develop into a session of specific design solutions and ideas and perhaps a rough estimate of the costs. We generally leave the visit with an excited client and with ideas starting to come into focus.

Later, as part of the development process, we will visit the site, typically for an hour or two plus travel time, to take measurements.

Early Design and Rough Sketches

In our experience, developing a detailed plan is very time consuming and generally not helpful in communicating what the garden will look like at its completion. We will make every effort to convey the sense and general appearance of the garden, including changes in height and structures, before work begins. To do this, we will share photos from other gardens we’ve completed and we often prepare rough pencil sketches to help you visualize the emerging design ideas. Well before the beginning of the project you will have a good sense of what is to happen. If you have specific trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals that you would like included in the garden, this is a good time to share those ideas so we can design your garden to accommodate them.

However, every garden space has its unique challenges and opportunities. Often, once the actual work begins, new ideas unfold as the old garden is dismantled and the topography is revealed. As a result, the design sometimes will change subtly once the work is begun.

Before work begins, hardscaping materials and major topography changes will be presented for your approval.

We prefer to work collaboratively with you in all aspects of the project, from design to completion. If at any time you have reservations or are not clear about what we are planning to do in your garden it is important to let us know prior to the start of the project. We will make every effort to clarify anything you may have concerns about.

The Work Plan

Once the design is generally agreed to, we will draft a work plan that will include plants, materials lists and all the steps/details that we will need in order to create the final estimate.

Estimates for Installation

We will develop estimates for the installation of the design we have developed together. There will be no charge for the time spent doing these estimates. It is important to remember that figures we give you will be just that, estimates. Based on considerable experience with garden installations, we will create as reasonable an estimate as possible. In the end, we will bill only for the time and materials we actually spend on the work.

We take pride in our work and will not take on a project if we feel the funding is inadequate for a satisfactory completion.

Installing the Garden

The order of the work typically follows this process:

1. Cleanup of the property in preparation for construction
2. Base preparation for walls, walkways, patio, sitting areas
3. Stone work – patios, walkways, walls, etc.
4. Make changes to the topography of the space
5. Soil additions
6. Planting
7. Mulching, clean-up

Installing a new garden always produces mixed emotions for our clients. This is understandable since a major change is occurring in a very personal space...your garden.

Change is difficult in any situation and when things seem to be in disarray its hard to envision the finished product (garden). Clients have been known to have severe rock anxiety: “that looks like a lot of rock!” This often changes to, “Are you sure we have enough rock?”

Once the rock anxiety passes and if the structure of the garden is not yet clear, the mid point anxiety sets in. It is not until the first plants are placed, that the vision of the garden becomes clear. In our experience, it is consistently at this point when the client gets excited and begins to see how all the previous design work is actually becoming the new garden.

Fee Schedule

• Consultation first hour $50
• Additional 1/2 hour $15 (For example 1 1/2 hours = $65)
• Plant placement and agent fees are $50 an hour or a previously agreed to amount.

Discount

A paid consultation includes at least a 10% plant discount for the next 12 months. Depending on the size of the project, this discount, often pays for the consultation and more.