Your backyard is your sanctuary – your solace after a long, hard day. It’s a place where you can unwind and relax.
When you want to elevate your space into more than just a patch of grass and a few flowers and plants, dreaming of your finished landscape becomes all you can think about. You can’t wait to stretch out on your patio in front of your cozy fireplace or grill your next meal in your outdoor kitchen.
The time has come to get started on your project and finally get the oasis you crave. The landscape design planning process is key in making sure your backyard turns out how you envision it.
Here are some things you shouldn’t forget to do when planning a landscape design.
Your Essential Landscape Design Checklist
You want to get the most out of your landscape design in Chicagoland. Who wouldn’t?
To achieve a space that fits you best and includes everything you need and want, using this handy landscape design checklist can help ensure you don’t forget all of your options and no question you have goes unanswered.
1. Know How You Want to Use Your Space
What do you like to do when you’re in your landscape? What do you envision yourself doing most often? What kind of backyard space would you like to escape to each evening?
These are some of the most essential questions in planning a landscape design that’s perfect for you.
And the landscape designer you hire should be asking you how you want to use your space to better understand and deliver a backyard that is highly functional, suiting your unique lifestyle.
2. Know the Landscape Materials and Elements You Want
When it comes to the components you want to include in your landscape and the materials you would prefer to use, these are things you have to consider during your landscape design planning.
In fact, there are so many components and materials to choose from that the process can feel overwhelming.
There are some functional components that are important to prioritize since they can dictate how the rest of your landscape design and planning proceeds.
Elements, such as an outdoor kitchen with a custom grill, a sprawling patio, a large fireplace, or a pool are components of your landscape that take up quite a bit of room. For a truly cohesive design, these things need to be decided and included in your backyard from the start. After all, you wouldn’t be happy if you didn’t get what you truly wanted in your space.
3. Have a Landscape Budget in Mind
Of course, a key part of your landscape design checklist is ensuring you have a budget in mind that matches what you want to include in your landscape.
To do this correctly, you need to know how much different additions to your backyard cost in Greater Chicago. This is something your landscape designer should be able to openly discuss with you so you can plan. Then armed with this data, you can prioritize various components that matter most to you.
4. Have Reasonable Time Expectations
Another important part of the landscape design planning process is having a reasonable understanding of time frames involved in your project.
The timing is determined by quite a few factors, including the overall size of your project, how fast decisions are made, and how long the permit process takes in your community. Most projects during the season are roughly 6 weeks out to start. Permits can take two weeks to obtain before scheduling your project start date. Larger projects that include a pavilion, fire pit and patio can take up to 6 weeks to install.
So, needless to say, there are quite a few factors involved in timing your project. Your landscape design professional should be able to discuss timing with you so you have a good idea of how each phase will proceed.
5. Consult With a Landscape Professional
Your perfect backyard retreat is not something that happens overnight. It will take meticulous landscape design planning.
Consulting a professional in the Greater Chicago area to help you achieve your dream space will ensure a smoother process. To establish this, you want to develop a solid working relationship with your landscape company and designer so the lines of communication remain open. This way, they are listening to your ideas and concerns, and you are regularly updated on project progress and timelines.
Since this process can take a few weeks, you want to make sure you can easily talk to your designer and have a healthy back and forth full of great ideas and insight.
We Help Make Landscape Design Planning Easier in Chicagoland
We hope this landscape design checklist eases your mind when it comes to planning your backyard retreat.
The better prepared you are, the better the outcome will be in your landscape, and the sooner you’ll be enjoying your new patio, water feature, or outdoor kitchen on a daily basis. And that’s when you know you’ve got the space that best meets your needs: when you’re using it all the time and you feel confident in the choices you made and the process it took to get there.
We’d love to share our design and installation expertise with you. Get started today with a free consultation. Together, we can prepare a plan that works best for you.
