Help with design

[ARGOS]

Give you my personal thoughts....

[ARGOS]

forget it I give up. I can't take this wide screen. My opinion is limited anyway.

[chrisvinky]

Originally Posted by Lawnworks

Landscape Pro! You should sell this one!

I would want more of a plant grouping in 3s or 5s. I am not a big fan of spirea on foundation plantings since they are deciduous and have no foilage in the winter. What about goldmop? Loropetalum would look good against that foundation as well. Some annual beds along the front entry would look good as well.

I like the look of that goldmop especially if I can get one that is 4'-6' tall. I like the Loropetalum, but from what I saw, it was for zones 7 - 10. I'm in 6.

Originally Posted by PerfectEarth

Stay away from alternating plants like that- You want to mass in groups. Use more hright items in appropriate areas. Try a two-level planting and not one row of stuff. Think textures! Sometimes a house like that difficult to landscape- there are no existing items to work off of... and with a blank slate, you can certainly fill it in which equals $$$$....do you have a budget??

Haven't really discussed budget. She just said that she wanted a dozen or so plants across the front with the mulch. I do know that another gut gave her a qoute of about $3000 or $4000 and she about flipped out. I'm not really sure how to price this. I'll have to search for that

Originally Posted by Penscape Landscaping

you first design is better. I agree on the spirea it looks awesome in the season but terrible in off. I would prob consider Rosa Knockout in the front of that home. On the right hand side i would place an Jap maple or possible a topiary of some sort maybe pom pom. Great work though! Do you like that program and how much?

I like the program so far. I haven't really had the time to play with it like I would like to, but it seems pretty easy to use. BTW, VERY EXPENSIVE! But if it sells a couple of jobs, it paid for itself.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[EagleLandscape]

to do that house properly, it would be a minimum of 4k.

I am not trying to be a jerk and stand on a box and say we only do expensive jobs, because that is not the case. but that house is wide also, and by the time bed prep is done, proper planting, and mulching. it would start at 4k, and I could easily turn it into 10k-15k depending on what size containers you would use.

[Lawnworks]

Originally Posted by jwingfield2k

to do that house properly, it would be a minimum of 4k.

I am not trying to be a jerk and stand on a box and say we only do expensive jobs, because that is not the case. but that house is wide also, and by the time bed prep is done, proper planting, and mulching. it would start at 4k, and I could easily turn it into 10k-15k depending on what size containers you would use.

Sounds like she will not go for 4k though. If he had the time, maybe he could come up with two quotes... one economical and one nicer. He could probably come up with a decent economical design using 3-gallon material and a few 7 gallon material for $2000-2500, and be in and out in one day.

[AGLA]

The right way to do it, in my opinion, is to discuss what she wants and then calculate the price for that. If it is too much, you let her know that you can reduce the amount of material, the size or quality of the material, or the scope of the job.

It is not your job to stretch her budget at your expense. You will already be doing more work to jump through hoops to adjust the job by reducing it to make it more affordable (and less net profit). That is an investment of your time if you need the work, so although not ideal, it makes sense if you are short on work and have time on your hands.

These tight budget projects from the get go, only get worse as they move forward. The more you give in, the more they will press you for more and hold out on you later. You give them the impression (usually a true impression) that you value the job more than they do.

[Lance L]

if she is on a tight budget phase it out, to add more to complete the 10k job through out the year. 2-3k start, prep, mulch, enough plants to make it look decent, add the good color and more expensive plants as time passes, in 1-2k batches.

and like agla said dont let her push you, if she doesnt have the money for you to do it, then let her find a scrub to do it. people will share the fact that you work for cheap with their neighbors and everyone will expect you to do the cheap work, not what you want

[White Gardens]

Holy Large photos Batman.

The only thing I would consider is doing something symmetrical at the front door. Balance it with the same configuration on each side. The eye is always drawn to the front door, and you want to frame it in.

Otherwise, I like the idea that was thrown out, to do groupings in the rest of the landscape.

The best shrub garden I have seen has used Barberry, spireas, and blue spruce bushes, and maybe a taller Alberta spruce in the back. The colors in the summer look amazing together.

[JNyz]

Yellow and reds should be used as focal points

[BCFLawnLandscape]

I'd put more height between the Windows where you have large amounts of space. A Globosa on stander, surrounded by crimson pigmy barberries is a great look.