Landscapes to make your soul happy
My Services
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Landscape Design
Detailed top-down and heads-on, hand drawn plans for your gardens. I will over see projects to completion using my own softscape contractors and highly experienced hardscape contractors.
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Maintenance
Spring, Summer, and Fall knowledgeable, full service maintenance: plant care, plant division, mulching, disease care, and more.
“Our landscaping project came out looking amazing! Cara did a great job meeting with us and asking the right questions to understand our vision and our long term needs. She shared a beautiful drawn landscape design with us prior to our approval. During the setup she let us know when changes needed to happen and included us in the process. Cara brought the project in on time and on budget and has followed up to make sure everything is doing well. Cara is hardworking and cares about her work - it was so enjoyable working with her!”
Plans
I will draw colored pencil landscape plans: both a top down view and one that previews what your garden will look like as if you were standing in front of it. I will follow the project with the contractors to make sure you are delighted with the results.
At the end, you will get a maintenance plan, a spreadsheet of your garden’s plant details, and a final mood board detailing the highlights of the garden through each season.
You can choose to do a plan for one specific section of your yard or a cohesive plan for you whole yard. The benefit of a cohesive landscape plan is that it allows you to do parts as funds become available.
Process
We have an informal meeting to discuss what you are looking for and what I can offer you, with some preliminary discussions and fun brainstorms. If we decide to work together, we meet to really flesh out the good stuff.
We meet so I can understand what you are looking for: likes, dislikes, current trouble spots, and your ideals (don’t worry if you don’t know - we’ll work on that together!). We will get into detail on commercial or family needs, plantings, hardscaping, lighting, irrigation, and maintenance among other things. It’s a joy to think about the views you would like from your favorite spots in your home/office and special parts in the garden where you hope to linger. We draft up a working contract.
Given our discussion, I will put together an estimate that respects your budget to sign. At that point, the first 1/3 is due to fund the plans.
I create and we review the base map I have made of your home and yard and begin to sketch out ideas, noting things to keep, things to get rid of, and potential solutions to current problem spots.
4. I will then present the next iteration of plans along with a mood board that shows what you can enjoy through each season.
5. Final plans presented and implementation timeline finalized. Once approved, the final estimate is signed off on. The 2/3 will be due to fund the plants and contracting.
6. Your landscape comes to life.
7. Upon completion, final deliverables are given (see below). Last payment is due, 3/3, to complete the payment of the contractors and my work. Time to enjoy your new outdoor living space, with the option for ongoing maintenance, if that makes your mind rest easier. Enjoy your views from the inside and outside of your home/office for years to come!
before
These homeowners were looking for a colorful shade garden with colors coming primarily from foliage to replace the boxwoods across the front. They also wanted to re-build a rain garden to handle the water from their sump and gutter.
“We had a wonderful experience working with Cara! She was so knowledgeable about which plants and trees would thrive in our tricky soil and lighting conditions. She easily guided us through the design process, and the final design looks beautiful. ”
After
Maintenance
Following the design of you plan, you will receive a full set of personalized seasonal maintenance plans. This way, you will know how to keep the garden as you would like, or I offer seasonal, knowledgeable, plant-focused maintenance services.
