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The Shafer Landscape Design process - from start to finish

Written by

Shafer Design Studio

14 May 2019

 • 

4 min read

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As a client the most important thing to remember when hiring a landscape designer is to know that this is your garden and it is your chance to express who you are, from start to finish.  By using our “Shafer Design Landscape Design Process”, we will ensure you are proud of your garden for years to come.

THE FINAL PIECE – “PLANTING PLANS”

We like to leave the planting plans until late in the process to adjust for the inevitable changes that happen along the way. Once again, we want to find out your tastes in plants and make a list of your likes and dislikes.  Following this discussion, we then develop plans that will create structure and beauty through all seasons. Often we employ a specialist garden company to plant the garden as they have different skill sets from a hard landscape contractor.

Throughout the building and planting of the garden we like to supervise and advise on any developments in the building process. This way your project reaches its full potential.

We find that the best results are in the gardens where we are involved in from start to finish, the complete “Shafer Design Landscape Design Process”.

WHAT ARE “DETAILED PLANS”?

To realise the end result in the best possible way, the concept needs detailing into working drawings.  This means we are working with you to choose paving and materials. We produce dimension drawings, paving layouts, lighting and drainage details.

We detail any built structures and make notes for builders regarding finishes and materials.  At this point in the process, we will also provide drawings for building and resource consents, if needed for swimming pools or structures.  Please check out our  swimming pool blogs for more detail about swimming pool design.  Often engineers and other consultants may be needed for this stage of the design.  We all work as a team to provide the necessary information for building your garden.

By this end stage you should have contracted builders for the hard landscaping elements such as walls, structures and paved surfaces. We can help you with recommendations it’s helpful to you.