How can I have a great experience with my landscaper?

You've been gathering ideas for a great outdoor living space, looking at other backyards, and you're deciding on a landscape company that you feel is going to bring your vision to life. It's very exciting and maybe a little nerve-wracking. Remember that you're investing a significant amount of money into building an environment that will allow your family and friends to build many new memories and swap scores of great stories. It will be very much worth it. There's also a very good chance that those benefits won't end when the contractor leaves. So when it comes to working with your contractor, there are a few steps that can be taken to ensure that you have a stellar experience working with them.

Set your budget

As with any big project, it's key to make sure that you set a realistic budget. With this foundation, your landscaper will be able to not only paint you a realistic picture of what can and can't be done, but allow them to set a buffer in case unanticipated challenges show up. I'll also have another way that knowing your budget will come in handy later.

Be clear about what you want

Obviously, you want to get things right the first time. Make sure to have a clear understanding of what your vision entails. It's OK to ask for guidance, but don't forget that this is YOUR property. Be ready to explain your wants and needs. You may not know exactly what you want, like what materials or where things should go, but throughout the design state, you'll begin to feel what is right. It's up to us to make you feel like you're going to get what you want. The more open you can be about what you want, the better equipped we can design what you want.

Robert Molinet, owner of Sierra Landscape Management explains, "A lot of times what we hear is people become dissatisfied because they invited someone into their home and that person very often tells them what they should do or what they'd do if it was their own home." He goes on to say how this eventually becomes a sore point due to the fact that the final vision is something that the contractor suggested and not what the client wants.

Allow your landscaper to get to know you. Let them learn about your lifestyle, what you want to do with your property. Is it for lots of people or just you and your spouse? What do you see yourself doing in your yard? Do you want minimal maintenance or do you enjoy getting your hands dirty?

Transparency is key when it comes to telling your contractor what you want. To avoid any misunderstanding between what you want and what is being delivered, make sure your contractor has the clearest idea of what you have in mind and what your expectations are. This will avoid feeling like you didn't get what you had in mind. With that said, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Remember when I said that your budget will come into play again? Here is is. If your contractor knows your budget, they'll be better equipped to make substitutions for things that may be out of the budget. Is that custom waterfall not looking realistic? A smaller, manufactured waterfall may be a great substitute. You get the idea.

Seeing the big picture

I used to do it when I was a kid and I still do it today. Whenever I'm working on a project or gathering information for a specific purpose, I have a central location for collecting ideas. I tend to be more digital where my wife is more analog. By that I mean I'm no stranger to keeping photos or articles saved to my project folder on computer or on Dropbox or Google Drive. Another great place would be Pinterest. It's a great resource to scour the web for ideas and collecting them for inspiration.

On the other hand, my wife is less about keeping things in the cloud and more about magazines and brochures. There's no shortage of outdoor living space books and magazines to flood your notebook with great ideas.

All of this comes in handy when presenting to your landscape professional. Your ideas will help them to better understand what your must-haves and wants are. Photos of specific plants, layouts, rocks, pathways, shapes, colors, and so on. Maybe you have photos of somewhere you visited that strikes an emotion you want to recreate. Anything and everything that you feel is going to give your landscaper a clearer understanding of what you like (and don't like) will help.

Another of Robert's favorites is a sketch of what you envision over an existing property survey. No need to worry if the last thing you drew was for your senior art project. This simple detail provides a great foundation for the discussion of the project areas.

Make the most of what your professional offers

A good outdoor living specialist should be able to provide you with a process that will also make life easier for everyone. Consistent information with a guiding hand includes, Q&A guides, blogs, and a website transparent with their policies, are all designed to clear the lines for communication. This will answer questions, take guesswork out of the equation, and give you a better understanding as to how they work. And, probably most importantly, peace of mind.

You are part of the tribe

Remember that this is a team effort. A good contractor shouldn't be there just to get the job done and leave. At Sierra Landscape Management, we prefer a long-term approach when it comes to working with our clients. That means that we take the time to get to know you, make sure we understand your vision, get the job done to our high standards, and make sure that we are there in the future if you have any questions. If you'd like to join the tribe, we make it easy. See below to get started.

Related: Why Don’t Contractors Call Me Back?