Garden Consultation
A well-designed garden can turn an ordinary landscape into an outstanding one. Our Garden Design Consultations with experienced landscape designers help you assess what you already have and provide direction for achieving the garden that benefits your lifestyle and brings you joy.
When you request a consultation, we'll ask you to complete a Pre-visit Questionnaire —to be returned before our appointment for us to review in advance of the visit. During the scheduled appointment, we will meet you in your garden to walk the property, asking questions, taking photos and notes, gathering all the information we will need for our recommendations. We will be looking at the landscape to observe and document the existing conditions, opportunities and constraints, site use, function, circulation, views, light patterns, arboriculture, hydrology, character of existing planting, lawn, invasive plants, maintenance and how your landscape is contributing to the ecosystem.
You are welcome to take notes or record the visit for your reference. After our visit, we will produce a digital report (provide view only, no download, link to examples) suitable for review on a screen or to print as 11" x 17" color sheets tailored to your space and expressed goals. Reports include our assessment and recommendations for improvements which may be conveyed through annotated site photos and sketches, precedent images, narrative description, and a suggested plant palette. Our feedback is based upon best practices for sustainable care of landscapes suited to preferences you express. After you receive the report, we will be available for limited email correspondence to address any follow-up concerns or questions.
We think of our reports as a guide, a roadmap to help prioritize and frame your next steps. While our reports are the beginning of any design process, they are not detailed planting designs. Initiating a design for a specific project can be a next step, discussed after you review your report. If you believe detailed design work may be necessary for you, a consultation is a great place to start a subsequent design process. See Garden Design section for more information.
Since no two landscapes are the same each consultation report is unique and site-specific. Here are three examples of our consultation reports. Together they provide an overview and range of the type of information addressed from design thinking to maintenance strategies. The examples have identifying and proprietary information obscured.
Includes:
- Pre-visit Questionnaire
- One hour meeting in your garden, up to one half acre
- Landscape Assessment and Recommendation Report, generally 8-12 pages.
- Limited follow up support by email
Fee:
$700 Standard fee includes travel within 10 miles of Redbud.
For locations beyond a 10-mile radius, we can provide a quote of additional fee to cover mileage and time for travel. Similarly, if the area for us to review is over one-half acre, we can provide a quote based on your site and specific needs.
Meet the Coaching and Consultation Team
Julie and Lisa are the owner/operators of Redbud and TEND landscape architects. Julie has a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, and a Master's in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Julie is an ISA certified arborist. Lisa has a Bachelor's degree in Landscape Architecture from Purdue University and is a registered Landscape Architect in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Julie and Lisa met and started working together on public landscapes at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). Residential landscapes have become more of their portfolio since taking on Redbud and learning from homeowners about the desire to transition conventional home gardens to be more than just pretty but to support all life, feed pollinators, sequester carbon, and work with water. They believe assisting private landowners is a significant way to counteract climate change and strengthen connections to the natural world.
Also on the team are Gretchen and Angie. Gretchen has worked with Julie and Lisa since their days at PHS. She has a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture from Cornell University. Angie has a Bachelor's degree in Digital Production and Communication from the State University of New York at New Paltz and is currently in the Master's program for Landscape Architecture at Temple University.
Lisa McDonald Hanes
Julie Snell
Gretchen Trefny
