The Benefits of a Master Landscaping Plan
As Homeowners, we all want our property to be visually welcoming and attractive to neighbors and friends who pay a visit, but we also want it to be pleasing to ourselves and our family who live there and enjoy it everyday.
Sometimes just thinking through how to get there is a challenge. Crafting a landscaping master plan for transforming your property into something that you and others will enjoy can be overwhelming and daunting. We see so many clients frozen in a decision-making holding pattern for years before they commit to a master plan, or, even worse, spend thousands of dollars on poorly thought out projects that no longer meet their needs. You can choose to plan for specific projects, and you can choose to create a master plan for your entire property. For this blog, we’ll focus on exploring the benefits of a Master Plan and why it’s important.
A master plan is a thoughtful scaled drawing that takes your entire property into consideration and addresses all of your landscape goals. Creating a master plan begins with measuring and documenting the current conditions - making a base plan. Next you decide on your program - what you want to accomplish. Then you are ready to design and draft your landscape - create your solution. Doing all this work on the front end pays off in many ways.
Having a carefully considered master plan will help you determine the best and most efficient way to tackle your projects. You can use the plan to establish a budget and determine what you want to prioritize, and what you may want to put off to another phase. A key benefit of mapping out your projects this way is that it helps you avoid the cost of doing things twice. Without a plan, a shrub or walkway installed in year one, may be in the way of the next phase. Small mistakes can add up and become very costly.
Pre-planning also helps to avoid painting yourself into a corner by allowing you to see the best possible way to stage your projects. [For example, you don’t want to install a fence in one year only to then have to remove it to make way for the shed in year two.]
Long term planning may allow you to save money by planting key pieces (trees and screen planting) earlier, at a smaller size, and letting them mature before other phases are done. If you are using a material such as pavers or stone in different phases of the project, you may want to purchase enough for both phases and stockpile the material for the later section. This way you guarantee the material will be available and match when installed.
A finished landscape can often involve different trades (masons, electricians, irrigation contractors, etc.), so having a comprehensive plan will help them all work in a coordinated fashion.
A master plan is fundamental in creating a cohesive finished product. If it is designed in advance to work together, the finished landscape will function as one, even if the installation is executed over several phases.
Alternatively, a project specific plan can also beneficial if you are looking to focus on one particular area of your property. Be advised that if you engage in this targeted plan, you should first give long-term consideration to what you want out of your property in 5, 10 or 15 years and make sure that your project fits within that vision.
TM Landscaping often creates plans for our clients that are implemented in phases over several years. Our amazing design team can help you strategize the best approach for implementing your landscape. If you are struggling with where to begin, give us a call.