How Can You Avoid Landscape Design Mistakes That Even Seasoned Professionals Make?
Boulder, Colorado -- One of the few major investments that gives us joy, year after year, is a beautifully designed garden. According to Tom Altgelt, award-winning landscape architect and head of Colorado landscape design firm Altgelt & Associates, "When you're designing a landscape or garden, or having a landscape designed, it's very important to avoid mistakes that can be costly, yield a less satisfying result, and can even be counterproductive." He lists three major errors that he has seen again and again, in the Denver/Boulder area where he currently practices, as well as across the country and in Europe. These "universal mistakes" include designing a garden that is optimized for only half the year, starting the landscape design without first creating a master plan, and failing to assemble a great team.
First, even many seasoned designers make the misstep of designing only for spring and summer. It's an easy mistake to make, because people often pay most attention to the flowers in a landscape. However, if the fall and winter seasons are overlooked in the design process, the garden may appear bleak and desolate through those cold months, which may be just when we need beauty and joy the most. Tom explains, "This is especially problematic with our climate here in Denver, Boulder, and throughout Colorado, with harsh weather off and on for almost half the year. Many of these winter days we could actually derive great joy from a beautifully designed garden, not only by viewing it from indoors but by being in it."
In Altgelt's experience, the four elements that create a beautiful landscape year-round are: artistic sculpting of the land; creating rock formations that grow out of and accentuate the sculpting of the land; incorporating evergreen plants; and utilizing deciduous plants which retain interesting colors and shapes after the fall of the leaves. Naturally, it's important to combine these design elements artistically for a landscape that is beautiful all four seasons.
"The second mistake I often encounter is that people typically design in a small-scale, fragmentary way, rather than creating a master plan first." If a homeowner only has a budget to do one piece of the landscaping now, that one piece needs to fit with the long-term vision. Otherwise, it could end up being very expensive.
"A good design can be executed initially with very inexpensive materials if the master plan is thought through in detail," says Altgelt. For example, a walkway or patio can be put in using crushed rock and later changed to brick, sandstone, or precast concrete pavers. If you intend to add a different surface material in the future, then initially you want to take into account that you're going to add three or four inches in height down the road. So, you initially set the patio lower so that later you can raise it up without creating an issue of being at a higher level than the doorway. However, if you didn't think it through in advance, when you are ready to upgrade your patio you would have to first remove a bunch of work, making the end result more expensive. Tom points out, "With good planning, you can save money by starting with a cheap solution, and then later you can still do a beautiful expensive patio without paying extra to remove the first solution."
The third most common mistake Tom sees, for those who hire a team to assist them, is assembling the wrong team. "To assemble a good team, of course you need to see samples of each individuals' work and get references, but it doesn't end there. The key ingredient, which is often missing, is teamwork." How they communicate and work together, how they inspire each other - their "chemistry" - is crucial.
How do you know whether your team has good teamwork? "One key to good teamwork is: do the professionals truly listen to their client?" The design professionals may need to help the homeowner express his desires for his landscape, in a spirit of co-creation. "Without that co-creative relationship with the client, the landscape designer is more likely to fall back on standard solutions that he has done multiple times in the past, rather than designing a truly inspired work of art that is specific to the people and place the landscape is being created for." For the best outcome, the landscape contractor and the architect (for new construction and major remodeling) also need to be involved with the landscape design process. Ideally, this team is put together at the very beginning - even before the house is designed.
By avoiding these three common pitfalls, the homeowner can save money while creating an extraordinary landscape. Tom says, "Now, that's what I call a wise investment!"
