Process
How do we work together? On a continuum. We follow a reliable process that moves us through four stages: discovery, design, realization and maintenance. But each step of that process is personalized because every client and every project are different.
Discovery
We start by meeting and talking. Together we consider wants, likes, habits and the uses of the area. We talk about your goals, your taste, your dreams. We talk about the period and history of your house.
If you could have anything, what would your dream garden include?
What do you like?
What don’t you like?
What are your favorite colors, smells, textures?
How do you want to use your garden?
To relax? To play? To wander? To sleep? To sun in?
To find shade? To read? To eat? To explore?
Do you like to garden? Actively? Occasionally?
We’ll walk through your garden.
We’ll walk through other gardens.
We’ll walk through our nursery.
We’ll look at books.
We’ll think out loud and we’ll prioritize.
Design
We start by sketching – space, plants, hardscapes, softscapes. We look at the area from the outside in and from the inside out. We take into account how the gardens interact with the house. We consider different perspectives and directions. We create spaces in the exterior that serve different purposes – not unlike your kitchen, your bedroom, your bath, your living room. Every garden space has different moods, different personalities, different purposes. All of this we will look at together and we will together determine your plan.
Realization
The installation of your masonry and plantings is the realization of your plan, and the beginning of your garden’s development. Ground is moved, grading is improved, drainage is directed, irrigation is laid, soil is amended and prepared, walls are built, patios are laid, existing plants are moved and new plants are installed.
Maintenance
Completing installation is not the end, it is the beginning. As De Saint-Exupery counseled in The Little Prince, “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” You will have created and tamed a beautiful space. It is yours to protect and to nurture. Your garden and your outdoor space are living, breathing spaces that grow, change, mature, die and grow again. We want you to know and enjoy those spaces through the entire four-season cycle year after year. We will work together to develop the maintenance plan that meets your needs and encourages your interest.