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.
R
R.Hotzenplotz13 May 2018 20:47I visited my parents today and thought I’d share their garden with you. They have more of a natural garden since, as retirees, they enjoy doing most of the work there themselves.
I asked them today how much they spent on the garden. The one in the first photo is their "old garden." The area in the second photo was added later. About 10 years ago, they spent €45,000 on various improvements. Specifically, this included the tiling work next to the pavilion (which is not included in the price), the grass, the bench around the beech tree, the gravel there... some work in the flower beds... important: the hedges and some of the rhododendrons were already there!
So that’s quite a lot, and it was ten years ago... I’m really not optimistic about my upcoming meetings with landscapers. Fully grown hedges and such will probably not be an option... Fortunately, we won’t need sod. Seeding will be enough.
I asked them today how much they spent on the garden. The one in the first photo is their "old garden." The area in the second photo was added later. About 10 years ago, they spent €45,000 on various improvements. Specifically, this included the tiling work next to the pavilion (which is not included in the price), the grass, the bench around the beech tree, the gravel there... some work in the flower beds... important: the hedges and some of the rhododendrons were already there!
So that’s quite a lot, and it was ten years ago... I’m really not optimistic about my upcoming meetings with landscapers. Fully grown hedges and such will probably not be an option... Fortunately, we won’t need sod. Seeding will be enough.
R
R.Hotzenplotz13 May 2018 21:19Nothing new has been planted, and these are not before-and-after pictures.
The tree is a hornbeam, and it has been there for as long as I can remember.
The photos show different parts of the garden.
The tree is a hornbeam, and it has been there for as long as I can remember.
The photos show different parts of the garden.
R
R.Hotzenplotz13 May 2018 21:28Yes, the second photo shows a garden extension. From the birch tree in the first photo, it goes off to the left in the back.
ypg schrieb:
Folding rule? [emoji1]
I would build the fence together with my daughter... even if it is only in 2 years or so...I don’t want to be misunderstood because of my remark based on your comment.
I understand when someone doesn’t feel like doing certain things. Especially if there are time constraints and no complaints from you that everything is too expensive or anything like that.
Then you just let it be! Absolutely right!
And you did the right thing by budgeting a decent amount for the garden. That’s something I often criticize with many people planning to build, that this expense is often underestimated.
Whether these generalizations, costs per square meter, are accurate, I doubt. I could spend more money on a 100sqm (1,076 sq ft) small terraced garden with several levels than on a 1,000sqm (10,764 sq ft) area hosting apple trees on a lawn.
Similar topics