Landscape Design

Design Process

Green Life Studios' landscape design process begins with an email survey and an on-site consultation.  At each meeting and online, Green Life Studios brings a boxful of ideas, information, color photos, materials and fixture samples to you, including hundreds of plant and landscape photos, to discover what inspires you.  Our designers meet with you and go over your goals for your garden, including the number of visitors you are likely to have, desired activities, needs for lighting and privacy, favorite colors and plants, how much time you wish to spend on maintenance and your budget. 

At our initial meeting and via our online survey, we aquaint ourselves with your ideas and desires, carefully documenting each.  After thoroughly exploring your goals for your landscape, we share our creative ideas -- for plants, hardscape, relaxation, recreation, outdoor rooms, focal points, water features, entertaining areas and more. 

At our second meeting, we present to you conceptual drawings that help you envision a proposed layout of various hardscape elements and planting areas, including plant and materials choices.  At this stage, we make adjustments and revisions to our conceptual drawing according to your direction and feedback. 

After a concept is approved, we move forward to the development of final drawings -- typically a Hardscape Plan, Planting Plan and Demolition Plan. A complete plant list is included, indicating the locations of plants, a list of plant names, their mature sizes, order sizes and alternatives. 

At our final meeting, we present our final drawings, and, at your request, provide you with a Landscape Construction Proposal, often called a landscape estimate, for installation of the proposed design. 

Typically, our landscape design process takes between 4 to 6 weeks from initial meeting to presentation of final drawings.  By late spring, however, clients keep us rather busy, and a period of 8 weeks for larger projects sometimes occurs.  Clients needing HOA approval of drawings are encouraged to contact us early, to get their projects ready for installation earlier in the year. Feng Shui analyses and presentations add some additional time to the process, as do firescaping and hillside designs.  Ideally, the landscape design process is completed during winter or summer months, allowing us to build and plant during the more plant-favorable months of spring and fall.  Subscribe to our e-newsletter to receive seasonal discounts on landscape design.