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Initial Consultation
We meet you on-site and help you to design a brief by making notes and bouncing ideas off you, asking you lots of questions and getting a general feel for the site so that we have an excellent understanding of what you are trying to achieve.
This part of the process is about really working together and sharing our ideas. You can make this process even more beneficial by making a scrap book of your ideas and photographs of the things you like. Don't worry- it doesn't need to be a masterpiece, but it is worth jotting down everything that comes to mind, no matter how silly you think it might be!
Initial consultation estimated time 1.5 - 2Hours.
Price Estimates
After an initial consultation, we are able to provide you with a price estimate for our concept plan service, specific to your requirements. All sites are different, as are your requirements, and there is no standard price for any of our services. As a starting point, the completion of the concept plan stage will require approximately 20 hours work for a typical blank 'town' section. We require you to form a written contract with us and to pay a deposit upon your acceptance of the contract.
Preliminary Design
We will analyse the site by taking photographs, getting a general feel for your site and either measuringe the existing features or organising a surveyor to do this for us, depending on the complexity of the site. In many cases aspects of this process may have already been undertaken by someone such as a surveyor or architect. If you can obtain this information for us, particularly in a digital format, we can cut down the time taken to complete this phase of the design and in turn reduce the initial costs to you.
Master Plan
Often we are brought in to the overall building process at the completion of the building. It is worth contacting us in the early stages of your design process as we can help you to create a Master Plan of the entire site and advise you on aspects such as the basic placement of any proposed buildings, the proposed entrances, location of driveways and/or vehicle access plus a general overall concept and feel for the entire site.
Concept Plan
We will provide you with a concept plan which illustrates the basic layout of your garden. A concept plan is often a requirement of your Resource Consent. The concept plan solves basic movement, flow and level issues, and outlining the main features of your garden such as driveways, ground surfaces, lawn and planting areas, feature trees and planting and material suggestions. This process will involve a series of meetings between us to ensure that we all agree on, and understand, the proposed concept. You are encouraged to have input throughout this process and we have an extensive list of products and materials which you can choose from.
Resource Consent Plan
A landscape plan is often a requirement of your Resource Consent. It is important for us to take your design through the initial process of the concept plan so we can ensure that the plan you submit will fit with the final design. As many people find it difficult to decide on final details before the house has been built, we create a plan that only shows the landscaping required for the consent and giving our clients scope to make some changes thoughout the final design stages. If you are required to submit a plan for resource consent then you are required to implement the garden in accordance with the plan. You will more than likely be monitored to ensure you are complying with the plan so it is very important that you get this stage right!
Specifications
Documents can be prepared as required for specified materials, components or processes in working drawings and written specifications. This phase is particularly important to clients intending on having a contractor implement the design for them. Giving a written and drawn specification to contractors for pricing will ensure all contractors are quoting on the same basis and you can "compare apples with apples". Specifications are often required for aspects such as site specific fencing, retaining walls, water features, decks and pergolas and will often be required if applying for a building or Resource Consent.
Planting Plans
Planting plans can be provided either for all planting areas outlined in the concept plan or for single planting areas. They are scaled plans which include plant names, quantities and recommended planting sizes and show the placement and spacing of the plants. A planting plan is a really good idea if you are unfamiliar with gardening or are getting a landscape contractor to quote and/or complete your planting for you. The plan ensures all contractors are quoting on the same plants at the same size and they can implement the planting in the style intended and agreed on the concept plan. We encourage you to be involved with the choice of plants for your garden. We play with planting options with the plants available in the garden centre so that you have a very good idea of the finished effect the plan will achieve. We have extensive knowledge of the plants suitable for the Wanaka and tthe southern South Island. We are happy to work with both native and exotic species with our preference being that which relates best to the site and the clients requirements.
Implementation
We are able to refer you to experienced and proven landscape contractors to implement your design. We are happy to manage this phase for you to ensure your landscape is installed with quality workmanship, or to be on-call for questions if you wish to oversee this yourself or implement the landscape yourself. If we are managing the project for you then we will implement a contract between you and the contractor and ensure quality workmanship and fair pricing. We work closely with both the team from Ecco Landscapes and Mike Young Landscapes for Wanaka based contracts and have other contacts for projects further afield.
Maintenance
All projects that we oversee have a minimum six month maintenance period as part of the contract. This ensures aspects such as grass strike, irrigation components and plant health can all be put right by the contractor if there are any initial problems.
We can provide you with a specific maintenance schedule to assist you in caring for your evolving and growing landscape.
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