The Landscape Design
- First Meeting
- Conceptual Development & Budget
- Plant Design & Lighting
- Layout, Irrigation & Drainage
- Soil Report
All designs begin with a meeting between Jeff Wortham and the client. At this meeting the client has the opportunity to see a set of completed plans, photographs of previous work, and get an understanding of Jeff’s working style. More importantly, Jeff will ask questions of the client, which enables him to interpret preferences in style, desired design elements, budgetary concerns and other elements necessary for him to create the design. Before the meeting is through Jeff gives the client a complete proposal and quote for his design services.
The first step in design development, are two designs or layouts of the new shape of the landscape. As you can see in the two examples of the same yard, these show different placement and shapes for the various elements of the design, such as patio, walks, lawns etc.. The client will also see a 3-D Sketchup model along with pricing of all the elements so that they can see what each piece will cost them if they want it in the final design. By finding the clients comfort for their budget at the beginning Jeff can avoid over designing. The client is not bound to either design, they can pick various elements from each design to combine into a final draft.
Concept Example
The plant design will show locations and types of all plants. Jeff will show photos of mature plants that he has taken for over 20 years. These enable the client to visualize the final design better and understand the color schemes Jeff is known for. The client may make changes to any of the plant selections. The lighting will be part of this design and will be used to enhance the look of the landscape at night as well as the look of the house.
Planting Example
This plan shows the specifications and locations for all irrigation, drainage and layout of hardscape elements such as patios and walls. The irrigation and drainage are designed over the top of the planting plan so that everything will work even after the plants mature. The detail in these plans enables clients to get apples to apples bidding on a part of the landscape that is notorious for large spreads from one bid to the next.
Irrigation & Drainage Example
Jeff has a soil sample from each site analyzed by a soils lab so that soil preparation recommendations for the sites are specific to that soil. Industry standards for soil preaparation do not address the pH of a soil, which is one of the key components to plant health. This actually lowers soil preparation cost in most cases but more importantly increases the chance for long term health of the landscape.
