FIND A LANDSCAPER

So, you've decided to take the plunge and have your ho-hum yard converted into your dream landscape, but how in the world do you go about finding a qualified landscaper who can bring all your dreams to life?

You'll need a landscaper who can help you with the initial planning process to map out your yard, noting all the utilities, and existing buildings and plants. Your landscaper will also need to have vast knowledge about the types of plants that will best survive, not only in your zone, but in the micro climate of your immediate landscape.

Your landscape will require some sort of irrigation system to help you maintain it properly. A good landscape designer will have intimate knowledge of the latest advances in landscape irrigation technology and will be able to custom design a system for your individual landscape.

A qualified landscape designer will be able to apply the basic element of design into one aesthetically pleasing landscape that promotes harmony throughout the whole project. Color, line, form, texture and scale will all need to be properly understood to create a balanced landscape design.

This begs the question, "How do I find a landscape professional with the qualifications needed to do my job right"? There are several answers to this question, each with varying results. Let examine each one.

The first route in finding a professional landscaper may seem a little obvious. Open up a phone book find the landscaping section and pick a landscaper near you. While this method may yield a perfectly adequate landscaper, there is a bit of the Russian roulette aspect to it. But like the carnival barker says, 'you pays your money and you takes your chances'.

The world wide web can be a wonderful tool for finding all sorts of information about nearly everything including all aspects of landscaping. Many professional landscape companies have seen the wisdom in developing credible websites to let the public know about their qualifications and what kind of services they offer. While you'll still need to find out for yourself if a landscape company can live up to it's own hype, you definitely have more information to go by from a website than you'll find in the typical telephone book add.

Perhaps the single best way to find a credible landscaper is through word of mouth. If any of your acquaintances have had landscaping work done, take a good look at it, and if you're impressed, ask them how they feel about the work their landscaper did. Did the final landscape design meet their expectations? Was the work finished in a reasonable time and was the landscaping crew courteous and professional? Did they feel their landscape designer was more committed to their ideas for their home landscape or his/her own?

If the answers to these questions are mostly no, continue in your quest for the best possible landscaper. But if the your friend was satisfied overall with their final landscape outcome, then go ahead and contact that landscaper for an initial interview. If you feel comfortable after discussing your design ideas with your potential landscaper, then you have probably chosen the right landscape company to help you realize the dreams you have for your personal home landscape.