How to Hire a Garden Professional

Maybe you need a plan for your whole garden, or perhaps you just want a classy border. Do you have special challenges such as complex drainage systems or retaining walls? It's time to call on the services of a professional designer.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Call nurseries and garden centers that offer design services or ask for recommendations. Ask friends and neighbors with beautiful gardens who did their work; a well-conceived, well-laid-out and beautiful garden is its own recommendation. Contact professional designers and design firms.

2. Look into employing a landscape architect--especially if your project is high-end, complex, or involves structures and landscaping. This is a licensed professional with a college degree in the field, who is trained to work with contractors, draw architectural plans and get permits from cities for work projects. For more information, including local contacts, see the Web site of the American Society of Landscape Architects (asla.org).

3. Consider a landscape designer, who may be certified and may have a college degree in the field. Check with the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (apld.org).

4. Ask to see a portfolio of the designer's work. View actual gardens he or she has designed.

5. Determine your budget. Landscaping projects can bloom into tens of thousands of dollars depending on construction requirements.

6. Decide what the scope of work will be, both beforehand and in consultation with the designer or landscaper. You can ask the designer to draw up complete plans or to suggest plants and landscaping ideas for only some parts of the garden.

7. Find out how you will be billed: by the hour, a flat fee for a plan (a modest plan may range from $200 to $1,500), as a percentage of the project's total cost, or for the whole project. Ask what the fee schedule is. How involved will the designer be during construction and planting? Will the designer supervise installation or will it be turned over to a contractor?

8. Start early in the year. The winter season is the best time to consult with a designer. You'll be ready to go when spring weather arrives.

9. Check your municipal landscaping codes. Certain cities have design-review procedures for landscape improvements, as well as requirements for water-conservation planting and irrigation.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are an experienced gardener, save money after your professional draws up the plan by buying and planting your own landscaping.
• Contact local colleges with horticulture or landscaping programs. Students working toward certification or degrees may offer garden design services for much less. However, be aware that they're still learning.
• Landscape contractors who also offer design services are called a design-build firm.
• See How to Pull Building Permits and How to Hire an Architect.