Our landscape design process
Every design starts on foot.
Before we draw anything, we talk with you and walk the land. Where does the rain go? Where does the sun hit in July? What's already growing? Those answers shape everything that comes after.
Five steps
Listen. Read. Design. Build. Steward.
Every project goes through the same five steps, in the same order. How long each one takes depends on the land and on you.
Listen
Every piece of land comes with people attached. We sit down with you and ask a lot of questions: what you want this place to do, what frustrates you about it now, and what you'd never change.
- What we'll ask of you
- Your goals, your worries, what you know about the land's history, and who else gets a say.
- What you get
- A short list of priorities we both agree on, and the questions we still need answered.
Read
Land is never a blank page. We walk the site slowly and more than once: where water runs and pools after a storm, where shade falls in July, what the soil is like, what's already growing, and which animals use the place.
- What we'll ask of you
- Access to the property, the trouble spots you already know about, and any maps, surveys, or old plans.
- What you get
- Notes and photos of what the land has going for it, what's working against it, and what needs attention first.
Design
A good design is mostly decisions about relationships. We turn what we found into a plan: what goes where, what to plant, how water moves, where people walk, and how much upkeep you can honestly handle.
- What we'll ask of you
- Straight feedback on the draft, and a real answer about how much time you can give the place.
- What you get
- Drawings and a planting plan that show what we'll build, with what, and in what order.
Build
Timing is half of planting. We put it in the ground, sequencing jobs and materials around the weather and site conditions, and working around the plants and wildlife already living there.
- What we'll ask of you
- Access to the site, quick decisions when something comes up, and one point person on your side.
- What you get
- A finished landscape and a simple care plan, walked through with whoever will look after it.
Steward
A landscape is never finished, because it's alive. We come back to see what took off, what struggled, and what didn't make it, and we adjust.
- What we'll ask of you
- Tell us what you notice, ask questions, and be honest about how much care time you have.
- What you get
- Seasonal check-ins and fixes while the landscape grows in.
Ready when you are
Tell us what you see when you picture your land.
A backyard, a farm, a schoolyard, a church lot: it starts the same way, with a conversation about the place and what you want from it.