ᐅ Setting Priorities in Landscaping. Should the entire garden be planned at once?
Created on: 1 May 2018 19:20
R
R.Hotzenplotz
Hi!
We are slowly but surely preparing to get in touch with landscape gardeners – they said that once the ground floor shell is complete, it’s worth meeting on-site.
I’ve read that, based on experience, around 18% of the construction costs should be budgeted for exterior works and the garden. For us, that would be in the six-figure range. However, we only have about €50,000 (around $55,000) available to start with. So priorities will have to be set.
From your point of view, what are things that should definitely be considered and implemented from the beginning? What can maybe be planned for mentally but realized at a later stage?
So far, we have only made rough plans and want to ask 2-3 landscape gardeners for proposals.
Here’s what we have in mind so far:
Front garden:
- Driveway and path to the front door with large stone slabs
- Two small trees in the front garden, maybe a maple and another variety
- Lawn
- Possibly two strips of bark mulch to the left and right of the front door path with small mushroom-shaped trees
Garden:
- Terrace
- Mostly lawn, few flower beds
- Possibly a hedge at the sides of the property; a fence maybe later
- Due to the property’s topography, possibly stairs leading from the terrace down into the garden
- A kind of seating area at the far end of the property
- Possibly a spot elsewhere for our loungers with some of those yellowish grasses around them (I think they are called pampas grass)
- We are thinking of a green pergola – but we’re not sure yet if it should be on the terrace or at the seating area
- I dream of a large tree in the garden, but I haven’t researched that properly yet and haven’t found the final solution with just a quick online search; it probably requires professional advice
- In the longer term, a swimming pool or a hot tub could be an option (but we have no technical information on that yet).
I think it’s important to give landscape gardeners clear instructions from the start.
Would it make sense to have the entire final garden planned and then implement it step by step?
I’m looking forward to some tips on how to approach planning and prioritization, and on how to best communicate with the landscape gardener.
Top priority is of course the access path at the front and probably the whole front garden, so that we don’t start many things in different places but end up finishing nothing.
We are slowly but surely preparing to get in touch with landscape gardeners – they said that once the ground floor shell is complete, it’s worth meeting on-site.
I’ve read that, based on experience, around 18% of the construction costs should be budgeted for exterior works and the garden. For us, that would be in the six-figure range. However, we only have about €50,000 (around $55,000) available to start with. So priorities will have to be set.
From your point of view, what are things that should definitely be considered and implemented from the beginning? What can maybe be planned for mentally but realized at a later stage?
So far, we have only made rough plans and want to ask 2-3 landscape gardeners for proposals.
Here’s what we have in mind so far:
Front garden:
- Driveway and path to the front door with large stone slabs
- Two small trees in the front garden, maybe a maple and another variety
- Lawn
- Possibly two strips of bark mulch to the left and right of the front door path with small mushroom-shaped trees
Garden:
- Terrace
- Mostly lawn, few flower beds
- Possibly a hedge at the sides of the property; a fence maybe later
- Due to the property’s topography, possibly stairs leading from the terrace down into the garden
- A kind of seating area at the far end of the property
- Possibly a spot elsewhere for our loungers with some of those yellowish grasses around them (I think they are called pampas grass)
- We are thinking of a green pergola – but we’re not sure yet if it should be on the terrace or at the seating area
- I dream of a large tree in the garden, but I haven’t researched that properly yet and haven’t found the final solution with just a quick online search; it probably requires professional advice
- In the longer term, a swimming pool or a hot tub could be an option (but we have no technical information on that yet).
I think it’s important to give landscape gardeners clear instructions from the start.
Would it make sense to have the entire final garden planned and then implement it step by step?
I’m looking forward to some tips on how to approach planning and prioritization, and on how to best communicate with the landscape gardener.
Top priority is of course the access path at the front and probably the whole front garden, so that we don’t start many things in different places but end up finishing nothing.
I don’t really like the gardens shown on the website either.
I’m also curious to see how the stone deserts in the front yards will look in a few years.
I really like prairie gardens, cottage gardens, and the good old traditional orchard meadow. It will probably end up being a colorful mix of everything over time. Eventually, the garden should be vibrant, low-maintenance, and close to nature.
For us, the top priority is building the sandstone wall in place of the old barn wall, with three rows facing the street, so the soil can be raised. An alternative would be to completely replace the soil.
After that, the terrace and play lawn.
Perennials will come in gradually. They really do add up in cost.
I’m also curious to see how the stone deserts in the front yards will look in a few years.
I really like prairie gardens, cottage gardens, and the good old traditional orchard meadow. It will probably end up being a colorful mix of everything over time. Eventually, the garden should be vibrant, low-maintenance, and close to nature.
For us, the top priority is building the sandstone wall in place of the old barn wall, with three rows facing the street, so the soil can be raised. An alternative would be to completely replace the soil.
After that, the terrace and play lawn.
Perennials will come in gradually. They really do add up in cost.
"Low effort" is always relative.
You can also design your garden in a way that requires watering twice a day, trimming the edges weekly that the robotic mower can't reach, pulling weeds every weekend, and having every leaf in autumn look neglected.
A lawn area without any extras feels incomplete.
You can also design your garden in a way that requires watering twice a day, trimming the edges weekly that the robotic mower can't reach, pulling weeds every weekend, and having every leaf in autumn look neglected.
A lawn area without any extras feels incomplete.
haydee schrieb:
I really like prairie gardens, cottage gardens, and traditional orchard meadows. It will probably become a colorful mix of all of these over time. Eventually, it should be a vibrant, low-maintenance, nature-friendly garden.
A prairie or cottage garden is definitely not low-maintenance, though—it may look like it grows effortlessly, but without care it wouldn’t look that way. You really have to enjoy gardening; nowadays, I think people are too busy and don’t want to spend their limited free time working in the garden.
Best regards,
Sabine
Prairie gardens reportedly require about 10 minutes of maintenance per square meter (approximately 11 square feet) per year once fully established.
It also depends on the choice of plants. Some are low-maintenance, while others need every dead leaf removed and must be watered from below only. Weeding or groundcover management is necessary.
I would never choose a dahlia bed. You have to dig them up in the fall and replant them in the spring. Until they are well established, you will need to weed twice.
A rock garden—or what some now call front gardens—quickly looks untidy if leaves are left lying around. I also know someone who redesigned their front garden for this reason.
It also depends on the choice of plants. Some are low-maintenance, while others need every dead leaf removed and must be watered from below only. Weeding or groundcover management is necessary.
I would never choose a dahlia bed. You have to dig them up in the fall and replant them in the spring. Until they are well established, you will need to weed twice.
A rock garden—or what some now call front gardens—quickly looks untidy if leaves are left lying around. I also know someone who redesigned their front garden for this reason.
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