Choosing the Best Landscape Architect

When asked what our landscape design style is, it’s tempting to give a pat answer of, “your style”—but that’s actually not far off.

After all, no landscape architect worth their soil is so inflexible they can’t work with more than one kind of client or architecture. And a really good landscape designer will be part researcher, part psychologist and part psychic as well, to know our client so well that we can deliver unique ideas and solutions that may be unexpected…but are never unwelcome.

So how can you know whether a given landscape architect is the best fit for your property?

1. Unless you have given them very clear-cut and detailed direction, don’t put too much stock in the designer who, on first sight, knows "exactly how" they would design your garden. Intuition and vision are wonderful, and certainly first impressions matter. But anyone who weds themselves to a single idea without doing a bit of reconnaissance on your property and developing alternative designs is missing details that will make your landscape truly yours in the long term.

(1b. If you do have very clear-cut and detailed direction, you may want to simply hire a contractor and skip the design phase. You’ll have more money to allocate to construction, and you’ll be able to move forward with your project faster.)

2. Don’t pick a landscape architect just because their name lives at the top of the “sponsored” search engine ads. That’s only an indicator of their advertising budget; it tells you nothing about the process or quality of their work.

3. Do retain the designer that your friends, neighbors, or trusted associates are raving about. Even if their home looks nothing like yours, the raves probably are for how the designer handled the project—process, fees, attention to detail, communication—as much as for the finished look. Websites like Yelp can be helpful here as well—but beware the paid placements (see #2 above).

4. Do retain the designer who asks about and understands your budget. If you have $1,000,000 to spend on your landscaping, you'll want to make sure you interview landscape architects who are accustomed to budgets (or properties) that size. On the other hand, if you have 10% that amount to spend, you’ll want to talk with the designer who knows how to make $100K look like a million bucks.

5. Do retain the landscape architect who "feels right" to you, regardless of budget or style. You'll be working closely with this person on myriad details, and s/he will need to interpret your wishes, dislikes, and personality. If their references check out, if they have creative and practical ideas to offer while respecting your own, if they know their stuff and can communicate it clearly in pictures and/or words, and most importantly if you feel comfortable talking and exchanging ideas with them, that designer will probably be a joy to work with... and your new garden will be a joy to live in.