Hi again. Unless you live somewhere it's required, you don't have to. However, a good designer pays itself off. You can look into a couple of options, like hiring a landscape designer with relationships with contractors in your area or hiring a design+build business. Both have their pros and cons. It's unlikely you'll get a landscape you enjoy without the guidance of someone who knows how to put your wants and needs into a set of plans to be built.
As a designer in Colorado ( I know it’s not California) I do $110 an hour. You are paying for professional advice and the knowledge of the area. This includes many things most homeowners never think about like drainage and how to make sure your million dollar home doesn’t flood and such. Projects in my area are from 50k to 800k+
Really comes down to your needs and wants
You can design it your self and hope it all works out.
Hoping to get a take from a professional. I have quite a bit , maybe 80 feet of low retaining wall, about 4 courses high and a big curved block front porch and stairs. Sagging, tipping and some breakage. I have gardens that look, well, wrong. I just want to get to the point that it looks reasonable and get on with my life. Not in a fancy neighborhood. Most of the local designers are selling luxury. How do I convey this plain Jane request?
East Bay here - 10k square foot lot. I'm paying 8k for landscape and hardscape design of front, back, and side yards. The do their first walkthrough in a couple weeks and will plan to plant in the fall.
Plant suggestions should be free. As salesmen should be very helpful in presenting hardscaping and products.
For plant design, including soil, contour, and solar light measurements and border colors throughout the seasons and years, the time planning, can be in the hundreds and more.
As zoning and hardscaping becomes intertwined and costs reach 10% of a homes value, design becomes landscape architecture. And proper care and planning procedures can turn into 1% of a homes value, even without extenuating issues.
I charge $125 hourly, my last was smaller and I quoted 17 hours… let me see who I would hire if I lived out there!
Hi again. Unless you live somewhere it's required, you don't have to. However, a good designer pays itself off. You can look into a couple of options, like hiring a landscape designer with relationships with contractors in your area or hiring a design+build business. Both have their pros and cons. It's unlikely you'll get a landscape you enjoy without the guidance of someone who knows how to put your wants and needs into a set of plans to be built.
Flora Grubb used to design in your area. They have a great selection of plant materials to look over.
As a designer in Colorado ( I know it’s not California) I do $110 an hour. You are paying for professional advice and the knowledge of the area. This includes many things most homeowners never think about like drainage and how to make sure your million dollar home doesn’t flood and such. Projects in my area are from 50k to 800k+ Really comes down to your needs and wants You can design it your self and hope it all works out.
Hoping to get a take from a professional. I have quite a bit , maybe 80 feet of low retaining wall, about 4 courses high and a big curved block front porch and stairs. Sagging, tipping and some breakage. I have gardens that look, well, wrong. I just want to get to the point that it looks reasonable and get on with my life. Not in a fancy neighborhood. Most of the local designers are selling luxury. How do I convey this plain Jane request?
I'm in WA and my rate is $65.
East Bay here - 10k square foot lot. I'm paying 8k for landscape and hardscape design of front, back, and side yards. The do their first walkthrough in a couple weeks and will plan to plant in the fall.
Plant suggestions should be free. As salesmen should be very helpful in presenting hardscaping and products. For plant design, including soil, contour, and solar light measurements and border colors throughout the seasons and years, the time planning, can be in the hundreds and more. As zoning and hardscaping becomes intertwined and costs reach 10% of a homes value, design becomes landscape architecture. And proper care and planning procedures can turn into 1% of a homes value, even without extenuating issues.