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Landscaping Philadelphia Buyers Guide

When your project is complex enough that it involves more than just installing a few new flowerbeds, you're going to need a landscape architect that has expertise in both hardscape and softscape.

Hardscape includes inorganic elements such as stone walls, wooden decks or arbors, water fountains, brick or stone patios and walkways even a swimming pool.

Animate organic elements such as plants, flowers, trees and shrubs are considered softscape and are accentuated by hardscape design elements.

If you're only looking toward improving the aesthetic with artistic design without the structural engineering involved with creating hardscape, then a landscape designer is the way to go. The two are very similar and some landscape designers are also landscape architects.

Both should generally embrace garden design, landscape management, landscape engineering, landscape detailing, landscape urbanism, landscape assessment and landscape planning.

In many cases, landscape designers are associated with smaller projects and the landscape architect with larger ones. The landscape architect title commonly reflects a higher level of education achieved such as a college degree in landscape design.

If it is a matter of properly pruning that prize-winning tree, you may even want to consider an arborist. This may also include removing that looming tree limb hanging over your house ("referred to as limbing") or that old stump in your backyard. An arborist or tree service would be perfect for that.

Arborists are also concerned with Tree care. This means fertilization as well as pest and disease control. A good arborist is both educated about trees and reflects a love and compassion for them as well, just as a good doctor should be knowledgeable about the body and genuinely care for people.

If you need to bring in a good arborist or tree service, a good landscape designer/architect will likely be able to offer you a sufficient referral.

How to Find a Landscape Designer/Architect: Word-of-Mouth

The best place to start is asking someone you know (or someone they know) that has already had some work done, the outcome of which was nothing short of outstanding. Find out if the contractor was local and ask the following series of questions:

• What was their overall level of satisfaction with the job?

• What was the time frame for completion from start to finish?

• Did any unexpected troubles come up and were they sufficiently resolved?

• How was the cost and did the job go over budget?

• Was the landscape designer/architect effective at both listening and communicating?

• Were the workers friendly, considerate and pleasant to be around for the duration of the job?

• How would you rate the level of professionalism of all parties involved in the project?

• Was the landscape architect agreeable to making unplanned changes or makeovers in the event of a mistake or if you were not satisfied with the outcome?

The personality of the contractor and crew is important and should not be underestimated. Since the time frame for these types of jobs could be lengthy in duration depending on the project, you want to have a top-notch group of professionals in either a residential or commercial setting.

If someone had a negative experience with a contractor, they would likely be happy to disclose their incident, which could save you significant time, money and headache. This is just as important as receiving a positive review when it comes to making a selection.

Also, make sure you start researching potential candidates ahead of time. As with any in-demand successful professional, they are generally booked well in advance. Start investigating as far out as one year before the first brick is laid or flower planted. It's best to start interviewing in winter, as spring and summer are the busiest time of year for landscape designers/architects.

How to Find a Landscape Designer/Architect: The Internet

One of the best ways to find a landscape architect is by doing a local search using a site such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. To ensure your search brings back results that are geographically relevant for your location, include a local modifier at the beginning or end of the keyword term.

An example of this may be "Philadelphia Landscaping" or "Landscape Architect Philadelphia". Generally what you will find is three fold. Sponsored listings, which are paid ads at the top and to the right side of the web page, local listings which have the map next to them and then the organic listings, which are the non paid search results that appear directly under the local search.

The local listings appearing next to the map will generally have a link to customer reviews that can prove very helpful when narrowing down a candidate. Sites that have reviews can be business directories such as www.insiderpages.com or www.servicemagic.com or straight up review sites such as www.kudzu.com or www.angieslist.com.

The next step is visiting the business website and look for the following:

1) Video-This is clearly one of the most effective ways to learn about the business. This may include a tour of the work they've done in the past, a message from the owner, or even a helpful landscaping tip.

2) Testimonials-Just like a review, customer testimonials are a great way to learn about previous customer experiences. This could be written, audio or video.

3) Social Media Icons-Businesses are using sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to build relationships and add value to their customer's lives. If they have a social media presence, this gives you a chance to get a pretty good feel for whom you may be dealing with and if they're a good match for your project.

4) Blog-Businesses with blogs care about their potential customers. They generally share useful information and can interact with you via a comment system. You can often sign up to an RSS feed or newsletter and stay informed about company projects or more useful tips.

5) About Us section-Clearly you're going to want to learn all about the business. Their history, philosophy, specialties, etc.

6) Contact information-You want to make sure the contact information is clearly displayed. Do they have a phone number, e-mail address or contact form? This is not something you want to be searching for on their site.

7) Services page-This is where they tell you exactly what they do. Pictures of previous jobs are extremely helpful. As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words.

Affiliations such as BBB (Better Business Bureau)-Always a good sign and demonstrate credibility. The more professional affiliations the better all of which should be clearly displayed on their site.

9) Payment methods-Is the Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover Card logos displayed on their site as well? Not only does this offer you a more flexible payment option, this also adds to the businesses credibility as well.

10) Free guide-Are they giving away an e-book or a free report? A good business owner understands the importance of educating potential customers and adds value on the front end even before you become a customer. Always a plus!

11) Overall clean and professional look-The mark of a professional and one who takes his/her business seriously. A clean and professional looking website is generally a reflection of the work they do offline as well.

12) FAQ page-This is a nice touch as many of your questions may be answered up front which makes the interview process less tedious. This also demonstrates the business owner has anticipated the needs of the customer before hand by addressing the questions even before formal communication has begun.

While most websites will only have a handful at best from the list above, the more they have the better.

Ideally, you live in an area where you will have at least a few choices. That being said, it makes sense to conduct an interview of each candidate. Regardless of the number of prospects you have available to do your job, here are a number of useful tips to aid in the final selection.

Contacting a Landscape Designer/Architect: First Impressions

Whether you find a landscape designer/architect through word of mouth or on the Internet, you're going to want to have a list of questions pertaining to your specific job prepared ahead of time. This can be conducted via telephone so you can get a feel for the candidate and see what kind of impression they make. Using your intuition, reflect upon the conversation and determine:

• Was the person you spoke with kind, courteous and helpful?

• Did all of your questions get answered satisfactorily?

• Were you treated with respect like someone whose business needed to be earned or were you pushed off the phone like you didn't matter?

This is also an appropriate time to ask for references. Any landscape designer/architect worth their salt should be more than happy to comply. If not, that's a red flag and you should simply move on. Someone who knows they do quality work and has the clients to back it up will be eager to share with you their customer's satisfaction.

Choosing a Landscape Designer/Architect: Meet the Candidates

The next step in the process, granted that all checks out to this point, is a face-to-face interview. This is where you get to show the designer/architect a rough sketch or an idea of what you want and you get to look at a sample portfolio of their work. You can also walk the property and describe in detail what you imagine.

At of the end of the meeting you should have an estimate but don't forget to ask/make sure they are fully insured. Ask to see current certificates of liability and workman's compensation insurance.

Interview as many candidates as it takes until you feel beyond a reasonable doubt that this is the "man/woman for the job". This individual will be just as good a listener as a talker.

Conclusion: Determine the size of the job required and the extent of the expertise needed. This will help clarify the right level of skill needed for your specific project.

Ask around and use the web to find prospective candidates. Do your due diligence by getting referrals, checking for testimonials, looking for signs of credibility, interviewing and seeing examples of the prospects work.

Approach this process methodically with a plan of action to ensure you get the highest quality work at a reasonable price while simultaneously having a pleasant customer experience.

About the Author

Find out how to find the best Philadelphia landscaping professional for your needs. Finding Philadelphia landscapers now made easy in this FREE buyers guide. Get Your Guide Now! http://www.bestlandscapingphiladelphia.com

Posted by Mike | Posted in Landscape Design Ideas | Posted on 01-09-2008

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