Garden Consultation
Expert guidance for your garden
Get personalised, practical advice to help you make confident decisions about your garden.
Garden Consultation:
Creating the Garden of your Dreams
Whether you are renovating your existing garden or embarking on a completely new project Diane is here to help. A garden consultation is the first step in any garden design and is it enables you to bounce your ideas off a landscape design professional. It is not a design solution in itself.
A Garden Consultation is about understanding your needs in order to design a space that complements your home and lifestyle and sharing knowledge. I like to walk around your garden in order to talk about the space, your requirements and vision for the garden, and discuss the opportunities for creating a beautiful and practical garden. And I feel sure you have lots of questions.
From this meeting I provide a quotation (plus client brief) for design and detailed plans suitable for landscape builders to construct the new garden. Renovating a garden is much like renovating your house, only typically on a smaller scale. To get an idea of the build time and likely cost of landscaping, think of your garden project as building one or two extra rooms.
The beauty of a garden often lies in the detail and getting those details right calls for the expert touch of a professional.
A design project includes the following:
- Several meetings with you
- Measurement, Site Analysis and Research
- Creation of a Concept Plan with garden layout, building materials and major plants
- Discussing Concept Plan with you and making any changes
- Drawing up final detailed landscaping and planting plan/s.
- As part of the design fee, I usually include connecting you to landscapers and visiting to meet landscapers who are quoting for constructing your garden.
Our Consultation Fee is $300 for up to 90 minutes on business days. Some Saturdays are available at a cost of $450 for the consultation.
The above fees apply to visits within a 60 minute’s drive from Glen Iris. Rates for extra travel are available on request.
Payment is required prior to our visit.
Benefits of Engaging a Home Garden Consultant
With this extensive range of tailored advice, Diane’s Garden Consultation service starts a partnership that empowers you to create and maintain a beautiful and sustainable garden.
Her expertise turns challenges into opportunities, and her passion for gardening becomes a shared journey toward a garden that reflects your unique tastes and needs.
Why Choose a Garden Design Consultant?
Whether you’re a beginner gardener or someone with years of experience under your belt, a garden design consultation is the perfect way to align your garden’s aesthetics with practicality.
A home garden consultation with her includes preliminary assessment of existing plants, soil condition, climatic conditions, and architectural surroundings. These elements inform the planning process, ensuring the garden is beautiful and sustainable.
Taking the time for a garden design consultation will help you determine what’s feasible.
Expert Tailored Advice In Your Own Garden
Maybe you are not ready to do a major garden renovation yet, and need some help? Diane is a former secondary teacher and provides onsite design coaching sessions.
Diane can craft a garden consultation to deliver expert tailored advice in your own garden. Just let her know in advance that you are after a coaching consultation and what your 2 or 3 major issues are.
With Diane’s ongoing expert guidance in your garden, you can embark on a journey that is enriching and educative. Imagine having your own coach guiding you through every aspect of gardening.
Additional consultations or ongoing garden coaching can be arranged.
For example Diane will help to:
- Identify Unknown Plants and Share Plant Care Tips: Understanding what's in your garden is the first step towards nurturing it. Diane helps identify unknown plants and share essential care tips tailored to each species.
- Suggest Best New Plants for Location, Climate, and Style: The right plant selection (link to planting design) can transform your garden. Diane will suggest plants that are ideally suited to your garden's location, climate, and stylistic preferences.
- Discuss General Garden Issues and Problems: Diane's garden consultation covers it all from common gardening challenges to complex problems. She listens, understands, and provides solutions to various garden-related issues.
- Review Problem Areas and Suggest Solutions: Every garden has its unique quirks and challenges. Diane's keen eye can spot those problem areas, and her experience offers viable solutions that suit your specific situation.
- Share Sustainable, Low Water Use Garden Ideas: In an era of environmental consciousness, sustainable gardening practices are vital. Diane shares ideas on low water use and other sustainable gardening techniques.
- Show You How and When to Prune to Encourage Growth: Pruning can be a gamechanger for plant growth. Learn from Diane the art of pruning at the right time and in the right way to promote growth and enhance beauty.
- Soil Testing and Improvement Strategies: Healthy soil is the foundation of a thriving garden. Diane can assist with soil testing and offer strategies to enrich and improve your garden's soil.
- Mulching: Conserving soil moisture is crucial and Diane's consultation may include hands-on guidance on mulching.
- Impact of Local Rain, Sun, Wind, Soil, and Slopes: Understanding the local environment helps plan and maintain a resilient garden. Diane evaluates the impacts of rain, sun, wind, soil, and slopes on your garden and provides practical advice during ongoing garden consultations.