While I can't offer any advice about paying for a landscape plan, I can suggest something else. You could try to purchase some landscape software for your computer. Several people here have it. You can upload photos of your house and play around with hardscapes and plants to give a better idea of what would work for you. Best of all, the software is relatively inexpensive. All you would need is time.

I have two different titles. The one I like the best is Sierra Landscape Designer, or something to that effect. Anne (Homenovice) has some info about it in her bio.

Tracy

May I suggest something even better. While you may find this daunting, I'd like to suggest that you do your own landscaping plan. It's not quite as difficult as you might think.

1. Go measure EVERYTHING and put it down on graph paper.
2. Take some pictures of the area that you are wanting to landscape so you have a frame of reference once inside and you aren't actually looking at it.
3. Then, start working around your pre-existing plants or trees. Sweeping motions. He would have asked you some simple questions that you can answer for yourself as you go.
4. What you lay out requires good common sense. You can always erase on paper.

Lastly, if you would measure everything out and take those pictures, you could mail it to me and I'd help you out. For nothing but postage.

But, I think you can do this for yourself. Also, you might want to call your local Master Gardening group and ask if they are going to offer any seminar on landscaping. There's a lot that you need to take into consideration when planning your landscape.

Xtal

remember...he said you can have it in five years instead of 25..he was playing on the emotional side of your feelings for having left it. It sounds like a marketing tool to me. Had he not said that, I would not feel this way. He should of let his quality of work and references sell himself to you..not pulling on your longing for your old garden. I would of been instantly turned off by that simple statement.

You can do it yourself in five years to..even if he draws you a plan, you still have to do all the work yourself and be able to afford it in five years too. With or without the plan it is mostly up to you to do it in five years...he is just offering a map to get there is all.

Do what feels right in your heart and then never second guess that choice..just move forward from there...and good luck...so much joy comes from making something nice that did not exsist before. Post pictures often as you go along.

have you seen any of the gardens he has designed? $800 is not of line for a pretty big yard around here...and i think its worth every penny for someone who wants to get bones in place without having to move and adjust them all the time. you might be surprised by how long a plan takes you to do yourself...and even then you may find things you hadn't considered that a good landscape architect does consider. when you get rough sketches, you will probably get a few different types of layouts--maybe something cottagey, maybe another japanese style...you may see some shapes and ideas that you would never have dreamed of.

maybe you are a really great gardener and can visualize what you want, and in that case its not worth it...but if you are lost and need to get a good start on the things that are hard to move and need a long establishment time, then get it done and out of the way.

Is there a college with a landscaping or horticulture program near your home? Oftentimes you can get a student to do something like this for a nominal amount.

Well, I'm not going to tell you whether or not you should do it, but I do think you are unlikely to get a better price from someone who is doing this for a living. (I'm writing this from the perspective of an architect, btw.) First of all, he's going to measure and draw up what you have. That's probably 2-3 hours of work at least, in order to get it somewhat accurate, assuming that you don't have a rectangular house on a rectangular lot with no plantings whatsoever. Then, he's going to sketch a few ideas. Since you are starting from scratch, it sounds like, the sky is the limit - so when the possibilities are endless, it can take a while to narrow down the possibilities.

And of course, you are paying not only for his time, but his normal overhead expenses. Office rent, taxes, utilities, business insurance, yada yada yada.

How long would it take you to do it yourself? Is it worth your while to have someone else do the work? Would it turn out better than your own ideas? I can't answer this for you - it's something you have to decide for yourself.

Just a little correction - I think Tracy meant Homemaker who has the software. I haven't tried Sierra Landscape Designer ;-)

My housemate and I spent many hours over the course of 3 years thinking about what we wanted (plants, lawn, color, fragrance, maintenance, shade, use, paths) and drew our plans in various software - Visio, Illustrator, even Excel! (as well as graph paper, tracing paper, and colored pencils) We started with a detailed to-scale plan of our property and yard (Visio is quite good for this since you can choose the scale rather than calculate your own conversions).

When we had a plan that seemed to have the features we wanted, we called up a local guy who'd done several smaller projects in our neighborhood. He worked with our drawings and made suggestions about things we hadn't considered. Because he's mostly an installer, he didn't charge (per se) for any consultation time. And overall, we've been very happy with the results.

Best wishes to you in your new project!
Anne

I am a Landscape Architect and we charge $450-$5,000 for a landscape plan. It floors me that people think that they should not have to either pay for a design or not pay much for a design. We are professionals, we went to school for this, there is more involved in designing a quality garden then most people know. We have to assess the site, take numerous measurements, research plants apropriate for the site and homeowner, etc, etc. So ,no, I don't think that's it's unreasonable to pay for the design. You get what you pay for and it will be worth it in the end to have a nice, quality design.

Agree with above. For a professional who knows what he/she is doing, that is actually cheap.

louisianagal,
I was pretty shocked at the price he gave you for a plan!
I had no idea a plan could cost so much, I would've expected
the labor to be in that ball park! WOW! We are in the wrong business!
I agree with faltered, get the software!

Haziemoon

Personally I would never pay someone to plan my gardens or yard. That would take all of the fun out of it for me. My gardening and landscaping projects are my passion.

However, to each his own. If you decide that you want it to be done professionally then, as mentioned above, you have to expect that they are going to want a 'professional' price.

When I trained and horses and taught riding lessons professionally I was always amazed at the number of people who wanted a cheaper rate or a discount. It seemed that they didn't understand that I had to buy groceries, pay a mortgage, insurance, electric bills and so on out of those fees. In addition I spent thousands of dollars and a few decades learning my craft. And finally, just because I charged a certain fee per hour didn't mean I was going to make that much every hour, eight hours a day, five days a week. People cancel without notice, change thier minds and sometimes just don't pay.

My hat is off to those people who manage to make a living offering such services and I don't begrudge them a decent fee IF they provide a quality service.

As for me - I retreated into the world of 9-5 with days off and benefits.

I can see both sides. I agree that a professional should get paid a fair wage for their time and expertise, and many times they will see things that you do not such as drainage, etc. Also with their experience they can perhaps visualize something that you cannot or would not due to limited experience... Are you able to visit or see gardens/yards that were designed by this individual? Do they appeal to you?

With that said, it is also possible to do it yourself. Are you able to visualize what you want? Have you reseached plants for your new area? Are you willing to spend the time to do the research? How complex a garden/design are you thinking of incorporating? Do you have a detailed idea of what you want or is it more general?

These are all questions (plus many more) that you will need to answer. Only then will you have a better idea of which route to take.
Marylu

Thanks for all your responses. I have a great deal of experience planning and installing gardens and had a really beautiful place until Katrina. I was thinking maybe I would hire a pro and maybe get to the finished product a bit quicker. Sadly, I don't have a large budget right now. Just to clarify to those who seemed a bit indignant about my question. I don't question the man is worth his fee and I expect he would do a great plan. I was just trying to get some feedback from some folks who had paid for and felt it was well worth the money or vice versa. I was surprised at the fee, I just had never had experience with that. Also, there is a big difference, to me, between $800 adn $1200 and I wouldn't know until the design was finished what the final price would be. Here is what I had originally said >

Your responses seem about 50-50 and thanks again!

Hi Louisianagal, in my area (So Cal), one quote I got for a plan for my small property (70x100) was $2500.

O.K. my 2 cents (remember I am a highly opinionated New Yorker, originally)
We had the front done and for $8,000 I expected Better Homes and Gardens to come knocking for a photo.
My husband said I could have done better, and he knows my gardening track-record.
You obviously know what you want and after 23 years are good at it. Just think of all the plants $1200 could buy.
Karen

The going rate here is about $20k for basic plan and installation. Seems ridiculous to me, especially given my small-sized lot (under 1/4 acre).

My current thought is to find a design I like and then adapt it to my own garden. I had been considering using software, but apparently there's nothing that works well for those of us who don't already know what we want!

I went to the better homes and gardens website and looked through all the garden plans they (free) had settled on something I like and I'm tweaking it to be what I want. They have several options for each zone.

After I had the basic plan I drew it out myself.

You could also submit a picture of your home to the gardenweb landscape design forum and see what they come up with.

Lime

Louisianagal,
5 years ago we paid $500 for a comprehensive plan for our suburban lot, which is 90 x120. The plan encompassed the plantings, patio design, a fence, some retaining walls and a pond. Estimated cost for installation was $50k. I paid for the design and don't regret it for a second. To me it was worth it to have a design for the shape and placement of the beds and some ideas about where to put large structural plants like big trees. However, I will say that the planting suggestions given by the landscape architect were dull and uninspired. For example, a row of Miss Kim lilacs, fronted by yellow daylilies and purple salvia. YAWN. Her plant design was also unrealistic. Around the "pond" she had hosta and ferns. Gorgeous sure but in a new development with no trees in a south facing yard the plants would have died in no time and we would have been out that money. I haven't planted anything she suggested but that's o.k. I've enjoyed picking things myself. The design of the patio was unique and we did have that put in. We ended up not doing a pond because of safety concerns because she had it in an unfenced part of the yard. As for the professional installation, again my DH and I have done almost all of the work ourselves, with the exception of one bed and the patio and retaining walls. The one bed we had the landscape company do the crew was so inexperienced they didn't even know how to operate the sod cutter and my DH had to show them. They were supposed to put in 9 yards of compost/soil in the new bed. When they dumped the load it was obvious it was not 9 yards but they tried to insist it was. We had already done several beds with 9 yards of dirt and believe me we knew how big a pile it made in the driveway. When they finished the "bed" the depth of the new amended soil barely came up to the knuckle where my index finger meets my hand.

Moral of my story - payment for the plan was worth it but I wouldn't hire that company to do any bed building or use their plant choices.

P.S. to the landscape architect who posted about being professional and people not wanting to pay fees - I agree with you that LAs should be paid and I happily paid for my design. Unfortunately landscaping is not the only profession where some people do not want to pay for professional advice. (Louisianagal not included since she said she has no problem paying only wanted to know if it's worth it) I'm an attorney and get hit up for "free" advice all the time. Doctors get it too at parties, from friends, etc. My aunt who is a hairdresser gets family members asking for a haircut at family functions!