Landscape Design - What should I expect???
Kenneth Eubanks
Maybe some of you can share your expierences with me, or give me an idea
of what a "Landscape Design" should be.
Here is the story, I reciently had a local nursery create a landscape
design for my home. They sent out a landscape "architect" who spent one
and a half hour couciltation with me for $127.00. This got me a
"sketch" for an idea of what her first thoughts were. The real surprise
came when the design was complete. When we went to pick them up, the
architech went over the design...A SINGLE 11 X 17 SHEET!! No plant
listing, no maintance schedule, no bill of materials, just a 11 x 17
plan view (to scale)of what she had "sketched" before with the plants
labled with common names on the sheet. All of this cost me $330.00
more! I was so shocked that I did not dare argue for fear that it would
cost me $50.00 more. My feelings are that the real amount of time spent
on this plan was around 1.5 to 2 hours tops. I have contacted the
nursery and questioned my design costs, they are concerned about their
"word of mouth" advertisement BUT said they were in line with what they
provide compared to other "landscape architects".
What do you think??
Kenneth Eubanks
--
Jerry Anderson
the hope and expectation that you will then buy your plants from them, or
even have them do the planting, etc.
Thad McCulloch
Kenneth Eubanks <kde...@dfw.net> wrote:
>came when the design was complete. When we went to pick them up, the
>architech went over the design...A SINGLE 11 X 17 SHEET!! No plant
>listing, no maintance schedule, no bill of materials, just a 11 x 17
>plan view (to scale)of what she had "sketched" before with the plants
>labled with common names on the sheet. All of this cost me $330.00
>more! I was so shocked that I did not dare argue for fear that it would
>cost me $50.00 more. My feelings are that the real amount of time spent
>on this plan was around 1.5 to 2 hours tops. I have contacted the
>nursery and questioned my design costs, they are concerned about their
>"word of mouth" advertisement BUT said they were in line with what they
>provide compared to other "landscape architects".
>
>What do you think??
You got taken. We've had landscape & nursury folks sketch their ideas
for our lot for free. Essentially we ended up with what you paid for.
Still haven't contracted with any of them for the actual effort, but
the only cost we've incurred so far is a little of our time to talk to
them about what we had in mind.
SANDY GAINEY
Just remember that these folks who draw these plans to scale are putting
labor hours into the drawing and time is money. I agree that the plant
names should have been available but there IS cost in: time to draw, time
to meet with you, time to travel to and from your landscape location,
overhead, insurance, advertising, etc. (the cost of doing business). We
often pay big bucks for car repairs, or household repairs and don't bat
an eye for these services. These folks must make a living too. I've
seen plans done for free but often these folks know YOU DON'T KNOW
what plant habits are in years to come and the homeowner comes out with
an overgrown mess after the plants mature (but it looked good on paper
and hey, it was free). Remember that nine times out of ten, you get what
you pay for.
Ries
On Mon, 31 Mar 1997 20:15:52 -0600, Kenneth Eubanks <kde...@dfw.net>
wrote:
>What do you think??
>
>Kenneth Eubanks
For @$40 you can by several CD-ROM programs which automate a number of
things in landscape planning, including final printing in color as
well as a plant list, sprinkler list, etc.
Im sure the original poster would have been better serviced by buying
such a program and playing with it for a few hours or even by the
so-called Landscape Artist who would not have had to draw anything by
hand.
Marc Ries
liv2padl
landscape design is a boondoggle. it's something you can do yourself for
free simply by reading a few books on the subject. furthermore, you can
buy the plants yourself from a wholesaler for a lot less money than the
nursury/landscaper is going to give them to you for. forget landscape
architects -- leave them to the Rockafellers or the Kennedies and the
like, who aren't interested in doing a little research and don't mind
paying through the nose for someone else to do the work.
In article <5ipaa1$o...@camel1.mindspring.com>, David...@MindSpring.com
(David Marcus) wrote:
> Kenneth Eubanks
> (in alt.home.repair, on Mon, 31 Mar 1997 20:15:52 -0600):
>
> ! Maybe some of you can share your expierences with me, or give me an idea
> ! of what a "Landscape Design" should be.
> ! Here is the story, I reciently had a local nursery create a landscape
> ! design for my home. They sent out a landscape "architect" who spent one
> ! and a half hour couciltation with me for $127.00. This got me a
> ! "sketch" for an idea of what her first thoughts were. The real surprise
> ! came when the design was complete. When we went to pick them up, the
> ! architech went over the design...A SINGLE 11 X 17 SHEET!! No plant
> ! listing, no maintance schedule, no bill of materials, just a 11 x 17
> ! plan view (to scale)of what she had "sketched" before with the plants
> ! labled with common names on the sheet. All of this cost me $330.00
> ! more! I was so shocked that I did not dare argue for fear that it would
> ! cost me $50.00 more. My feelings are that the real amount of time spent
> ! on this plan was around 1.5 to 2 hours tops. I have contacted the
> ! nursery and questioned my design costs, they are concerned about their
> ! "word of mouth" advertisement BUT said they were in line with what they
> ! provide compared to other "landscape architects".
>
Three3Star
i spent 400 dollars on a landscape design-I gave the designer a list of
must haves/would likes/and dont wants-plants-hardscape-challenges etc-her
design was a work of art-she created a garden i never would have been able
to conjure in my own mind. it was about a 5K project with her and I
working on various bits.I love it-and her design was what hooked me-it
looks even better in real life-so was your plan worth it to you? did it
solve those problems you identified? did it have your fave plants? if so
it was worth it-if not....