Read How Leading Adelaide Landscape Designers Create Garden Makeovers with Their Garden Design Process.
Our lifestyle has dramatically changed in recent years with all of us forced to spend more time at home, unable to travel freely interstate and overseas to our favourite holiday destinations.
This for many has placed an increased focus on outdoor living areas particularly within the backyard.
Garden makeovers or complete garden renovations are more popular now across Adelaide and wider South Australia than ever before as people look to bring part of their holiday destination experience to them.
Adelaide landscape designers Living Pictures By Tony Stanton share the design process used to create stunning landscapes using innovative but practical garden design ideas and principals.
Read on to find out what the popular garden styles are and what design elements are most commonly included focusing on Adelaide backyard designs.
3 Step Landscape Design Process
While we’ll be using examples and showing pictures of gardens designed by one of Adelaide’s landscape designers Living Pictures By Tony Stanton, the garden design process is adopted across Australia by most qualified garden designers and landscape architects too.
There are 3 steps or services to consider if you’d like to transform your backyard. For most residents it’s starting with a clean slate because very little thought or planning was given to what currently exists.
Most people have a mental picture of something they’d like to achieve but before starting any landscaping work want to know if it’s feasible and for many what is it going to cost to complete.
1. Concept Design Meeting
The first step is to sit down with a professional landscape designer to share your vision. Typically this meeting will last 90 minutes to 2 hours and will cost around $440.
During this time the discussion will cover what look or feel you’d like your new garden makeover to have. Often a general overall theme makes for a good starting point.
Are you after a resort style tropical garden with swimming pool and plenty of broad leaf palm like plants? Perhaps something more Mediterranean with pergolas and cobblestone paving plus areas for Alfresco dining?
Is creating an an English cottage garden your goal with lots of white lattice, picket fences and roses, or would you like a more natural Australian native garden design?
Remember it’s your garden and your dream, there’s no right or wrong choice. Professional landscape designers will also discuss with you who’ll be using the outdoor spaces and what different areas you’d like to include.
The scope of outdoor garden design elements available these days is endless. From water features like fountains to pizza ovens and fire pits, there is no end of physical features you can include to match the gardens’ theme and your lifestyle.
Before a concept sketch, plan or both is drawn up to help you visualise how everything could look once complete, you’ll need to share what your budget is for the project, to have all the work completed by landscapers and other tradespeople. You may not be familiar with costs, but everyone knows what they can afford to spend.
If you’re looking at including a large swimming pool, tennis court and large pergola with timber deck to be completed within a budget of $50,000 some compromises will need to be made. Remember a landscape designer works for you, coming up with garden design solutions to make your dream a living picture, within a budget you can afford so it becomes reality.
2. Production of both Hardscape Landscaping Construction and Softscape scaled working drawings
Once you’re happy with the vision and the price to have all the work completed fits within what you are prepared to spend, the next step of the landscape design process is to have scaled working drawings produced.
Two sets of plans are always prepared and the price will range from about $2,500 to $4,000 depending on the size of the block and the amount of work required.
- Hardscape Construction Plan
- Softscape Plan
Before drawing up any plans, your landscape designer will come back to measure up. Block dimensions, where the house and other structures are located, existing stormwater points and any power lines are all documented.
All physical man made landscaping work such as excavation, paving, decking, retaining walls, pergolas, lawn and garden beds, irrigation and garden lighting are all detailed on a hardscape plan. The plants with name and number required, their size and location are shown on a softscape plan.
It’s at this step firm costs can be calculated based on makes and models, selection of pavers and materials to be used for all other works. This part of the process also draws the distinction between landscapers who do all the landscaping work and landscape designers who design and draw plans specifying what needs to be done that landscapers then follow.
3. Logistics Management of all the landscaping works by landscapers and other tradespeople
Once you’re happy with the plans and the dream on paper, it’s now time to make it all happen. For the vast majority of people organising all the trades, the logistics of buying all the components, haggling over who supplies what with quotes is something beyond their capability and time restraints.
Because of this, Living Pictures By Tony Stanton offers a Logistics Management service for $2,500 so you don’t have to worry about or do anything. As a licensed building supervisor, you also have the peace of mind knowing all the work will be completed properly and according to the plans without any shortcuts.
If you’d like some inspiration, take a look at the garden landscape design ideas page on Living Pictures By Tony Stanton’s website. It contains many pictures and images of gardens that have been completed with additional information on garden design elements, garden styles and themes.
You may also like more detail on the landscape design process Adelaide clients can take advantage of when looking at a complete backyard or front garden makeover.