Garden Design

Busy Lizzy Gardens create beautiful outdoor spaces which are responsive to brief, budget and the site. All design aspects are carefully considered as we meet your site specific requirements in terms of function, lifestyle and architecture of your property.

We strive for excellent customer service from initial consultation to finished product and offer the full package of work – from preliminary and developed design, Council consents, project costing, project management, construction, planting and maintenance.

We have outlined below the process we follow for our design service, what we deliver to you as part of this service, the costs involved and what you can do to help.

Design a garden worthy of your dreams.

1

Initial Consultation and Site Survey

The designer will meet with you at your property to discuss your ideas and any requirements specific to your garden. It is a chance to talk about how you will use your outdoor spaces, any privacy needs, the preferred planting style and your budget.

If possible, a full site investigation will also be conducted at this visit including photos and videos, site analysis and site measure.

Following this meeting, you will be emailed a design brief which highlights the key points we discussed and will form the basis of the next stage of work.

2

The Concept Plan

Once the design brief has been agreed and site survey completed, we will start on your preliminary landscape concept plan. This will be a 2D interpretation of the brief and convey the overall theme of the design –
identifying the general arrangement of hard landscape areas, planting areas and any constructed elements.

If a site has outdoor areas at multiple levels, then it is sometimes useful to begin the design process in 3D to get a feel for the relationship between the various levels and the connections between them. In this case, we would agree the general arrangement of the site in 3D before developing the more detailed 2D landscape concept plan.

A meeting is arranged between designer and client to present the preliminary design, answer any questions and obtain feedback at this early stage. At this meeting, we will also discuss in more detail the planting style and if there are any particular plants to be included in the design, or any to avoid.

DELIVERABLES

  • Preliminary Landscape Concept Plan, to scale at A3 or a basic 3D model showing general arrangement of levels and materials
  • Precedent images to show material and/or planting ideas
Concep

3

Planting Plan

The Planting Plan

The concept plan is finalised and a Planting Plan can be produced, if required. This will identify the types, quantities, and spacings of the plants. Consideration will be given to the style of planting desired (for example native, subtropical, cottage), the existing plants, the site conditions, and budget. Plants will be selected to create contrasting textural interest with and layers to provide a sense of depth.

DELIVERABLES

  • Final Landscape Concept Plan, to scale at A3
  • Planting Plan, to scale at A3
  • Plant Schedule
  • Plant images

4

Developed Design

For larger gardens or those requiring Resource or Building Consent, additional information may be required. Please note that while we are able to provide landscape site plans and relevant details for resource or building consent, we do not process the consent applications ourselves. We work closely with other consultants to ensure all information required for the application is provided.

DELIVERABLES

MAY INCLUDE SOME / ALL OF THE FOLLOWING

  • Sections / elevations
  • Photomontage / 3D model
  • Details of custom elements for quoting and / or installation
  • Landscape drawings required for Council consents

5

Build Quote/Estimate

By this stage all elements of the design have been finalised and we are ready to cost the project. The quoting process will be managed by our Build Manager, who will visit the site with the designer to discuss all aspects of the design prior to quoting.

DELIVERABLES

  • Itemised quote or estimate of the entire project cost

6

Construction

If you would like us to implement the landscape concept plan and planting plan, this would be managed by our Build Manager and constructed by our very own build and operations teams. There may be elements of the design which will need specialist subcontractor input, which we can manage.

Throughout this stage, the designer may be required to attend site or meet with the Build Manager or builder to answer queries and to check that the design is being implemented in line with the final plans. This close working relationship ensures that your plan is brought to life with the highest design integrity.

The Cost

Every garden and every client is different, with some projects progressing through the stages quickly and others needing more time to get the design just right. For this reason, our design work is completed on a charge-up basis and you are only charged for the hours spent on the job.

We send a progress invoice each Friday for the design time spent that week. You will see details on the invoice of what we’ve been working on during this time.  A final invoice will be issued on the completion of the design work.

We also require a deposit before we begin. An invoice for this will be sent once you decide you’d like to proceed with the project, and before the initial consultation visit.

How you can help

There are a few things which you can do to help the process run more efficiently.

  1. Have a clear vision of what you would like to achieve before we visit. Think about:
    – Use of spaces (eg outdoor entertaining, play, sports, relaxing, vegetable beds, pool, spa)
    – Privacy and shade requirements
    – Screening from predominant winds or filtering noise
    – Level changes to be incorporated into the design
    – Retaining walls, fence or lighting requirements
    – Views of the garden from the house
    – Existing trees and plants to keep
    – Style of planting, either to match the existing garden or to introduce (eg native, subtropical, cottage / perennial)
    – Particular hard landscape materials to match or that you like the look of
  2. Think about your budget, even if this is approximate.
    It will help inform the design process in terms of layout and material choice, planting grades and whether the garden can be installed all at once or in stages.
  3. Check if you have a scaled site plan, drainage plan or site survey. This speeds up the initial process significantly and for certain sites it may be required to obtain a site survey before we can begin design.
  4. Consider who will maintain the garden and wether you may benefit from an irrigation system if you do not have one.
  5. Your timely response to emails and availability for meetings will affect the speed at which the design progresses, as does the number of changes to the initial brief and revisions to the plan.

There are a few things which you can do to help the process run more efficiently.

  1. Have a clear vision of what you would like to achieve before we visit. Think about:
    – Use of spaces (eg outdoor entertaining, play, sports, relaxing, vegetable beds, pool, spa)
    – Privacy and shade requirements
    – Screening from predominant winds or filtering noise
    – Level changes to be incorporated into the design
    – Retaining walls, fence or lighting requirements
    – Views of the garden from the house
    – Existing trees and plants to keep
    – Style of planting, either to match the existing garden or to introduce (eg native, subtropical, cottage / perennial)
    – Particular hard landscape materials to match or that you like the look of
  2. Think about your budget, even if this is approximate.
    It will help inform the design process in terms of layout and material choice, planting grades and whether the garden can be installed all at once or in stages.
  3. Check if you have a scaled site plan, drainage plan or site survey. This speeds up the initial process significantly and for certain sites it may be required to obtain a site survey before we can begin design.
  4. Consider who will maintain the garden and wether you may benefit from an irrigation system if you do not have one.
  5. Your timely response to emails and availability for meetings will affect the speed at which the design progresses, as does the number of changes to the initial brief and revisions to the plan.