If you’re considering constructing a new outdoor space this year, autumn is the perfect time to begin the planning process. Before you can break ground, you’ll want to partner up with design & development team, set a budget, and create a design plan. Although it’s possible to start a project at any time, you will be able to ensure that the team can schedule your project and that they’re able to obtain the necessary building materials if you start planning before winter.
CHOOSE A SPECIALIST
Each step in this process is important, but the step that can make or break your outdoor space is the choice between different landscape design specialists. While anyone can be a so-called designer—whether they’re a construction contractor or a friend who studied interior design in college—it takes a true landscape design expert to optimize the value of your property. A landscape design firm with a polished portfolio and a track record of increasing home values in your area would be a good bet. The right team will look into every detail, including chemical makeup of your soil and the amount of sunlight present in different areas of the space and at different daylight hours.
BUDGET ACCORDINGLY
Once you’ve got your team of experts lined up, your first task is to assess your financial constraints and realistically account for all of the future expenses of your project. Landscape developers may come back to you with any number of different rule-of-thumb guidelines for pricing a landscape project, but the reality of your budget depends entirely on your particular property and what you’re planning to create. Like anything beautiful, landscape projects come in all shapes and sizes.
Budgeting is a critical step in the process to avoid cutting corners unexpectedly at the end of the project. A good landscape specialist will work with you from the beginning to ensure that your budget is realistic for exactly what you’re looking to create. Larger scale projects can also be broken into phases.
DESIGN YOUR DREAMSCAPE
With an expert team of landscape specialists and a budget plan in order, you’re ready to start the design process. Depending on how well you know your preferences for the space, this can take a good period of time, and back-and-forth discussion between you and the designers. Luckily, if you’ve done the first step correctly and chosen the right team, you’ll end up with a realistic and creative plan that integrates your ideas with the designers’ unique vision for the space.
COMPLETION & MAINTENANCE
If you begin the process of completing the steps above now, you should be in good shape to break ground on your project come March or April. And by following this guide, you’ll substantially increase your chances of having a good experience, and of even having fun as your vision for the space begins to unfold. While completion of the project does mean that your space is good to go, be prepared to invest in routine maintenance of water features, irrigation systems, and lighting. To begin planning out your dream outdoor landscape, or to have any of your questions about outdoor landscape design answered, get in touch with Botanical Concepts Chicago.
