Residential Landscape Design

If your aim is to get the best garden on your street, you’ve landed on the right page!  We offer a full landscape design service.  We work with our clients & various specialists to develop stunning gardens that will stand the test of time!

We also design for other landscape companies and arborists where contracted to do so and work with partner architects, homestagers, home stylists and interior designers.

The majority of our portfolio is based in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne and we continue to grow our exposure in designing outdoor spaces for homes in other states and regions, mainly parts of New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia.

The landscape design process begins with an onsite consultation with our head designer, Parveen.

We have two design consultations on offer.  The basic session is a Planning Meeting for 60 minutes where we charge $110 inc GST to meet with you to understand your requirements and for us to explain, in detail, how we can assist you in your garden design within your budget expectations.  This type of consultation does not involve any form of preparation on our part.

Our popular design consultation option is the Initial Design Consult where we charge $250 inc GST for 90 minutes.  To assist us in preparing for this meeting, we will email you a form with a set of questions to gather information specific on your site and what you need to execute your perfect outdoor space.

During this consultation we further explore what your requirements are and start to form an idea of what your new garden may look like, taking into account the surrounding architecture, your preferences, budget, timelines and the kind of lifestyle or environment that you want to create for your new garden.

The Initial Design Consult may include a hand sketch onsite, done within the consultation time.  It is at our discretion that any additional time taken whilst onsite will be invoiced accordingly.

The Initial Design consultation is not a garden advice session as that is a separate service offering we have.  Please refer to our blog for a writeup of what to expect and how to prepare for our initial design consultations!

VIRTUAL CONSULTS – due to the lockdown period operating due to COVID-19, our preference is for virtual consults via Facetime or Zoom.  We initially offered these to our interstate clients but are now offering this service, Australia wide.

For more details on the consultations on offer and for a comparison between them, please also refer to our fees and packages page for further information.

After the initial consultation, you can choose to either go ahead with either of the following plan options (or combinations thereof) to create your dream garden:

• concept plans – resolves your layout choices;
• planting plans – resolves your plant choices; or
• landscape master plans – resolves both of the above and more.

We are able to customise our scope of work according to your design budget and to your needs.  Refer to our Fees and Packages page for details.

We also offer our services for construction drawings and for landscape plans (including arborial advice) required for council planning  permit applications.  We work closely with a team of qualified arborists who will be able to produce arborial reports for council permit applications.

A 2D concept plan will be drawn to scale and will feature general ideas for your proposed landscape, materials and plant layout.  At this stage, there are generally no specifications involved on specific materials or plants.

Only a final plan will be provided after discussing some options.  This is a cost effective option for DYI clients who want to get some professional help in getting a better layout for their garden.

Example excerpts of some types concept plans are as follows:

Planting Plan

This plan is only available once a concept/layout has been decided and drawn.

DYI clients who have a good idea about the layout of their garden can therefore also request us to prepare this plan for them but we need to factor in the time taken to draw the layout.

This plan details our recommendations on plant choice and plant placement that suits your palette and needs.  We will undertake a simple soil test to get an idea of the condition of your soil and recommend any improvements to soil health as required.  Any detail testing will need to be sent to a soil laboratory and will be invoiced accordingly.

The plan also shows you the recommended spacing requirements for each plant and places them where it would suit most.

We also have experience in designing pet friendly gardens which include research on plant toxicity on pets (mainly cats and dogs) so do let us know if you’d like this as an extra.

Only a final plan will be provided after discussing some options.

An example planting plan is as follows:

Plant list

For a fee, we are able to list down a shortlist of plants that would work for your spatial needs.

Again, this option is only available once a concept/layout has been decided and drawn.

Once a concept has been selected, more time will be spent on research and adding further detail to create a scaled landscape master plan.  The detail required could be for specific artwork, irrigation or lighting plans, accessories, 3D rendering, specific plants and materials etc.

The time spend on gathering the above information and presenting it to you is therefor expected to be heavy but will result in a well thought and professional finished landscape that will make the actual construction and sourcing process a lot easier.  Therefore, this type of plan will cost more as it takes longer to develop and has many components which may be on top of the usual 2D concept and planting plans.

Materials will only be recommended at this stage subject to confirmation from various specialists that may be involved on the project.  That occurs on confirmation of client preferences for those materials.  This landscape design option allows you more time to consider what your needs are and allows for a reasonable amount of change of mind or improvements within the project budget of course!  Only a final plan will be provided.

Any enquiries undertaken on your behalf with specialists, councils etc are billable and a deposit is payable prior to commencing.

Some plans may require construction drawings (refer further below) e.g. for submission to council for a permit or for further clarification on particular aspects of construction.

Attached are example excerpts of a scaled landscape master plan (and options available).

Whilst they may have suggestions of material selections and document client preferences or choices made throughout the consultative process above, both the concept or scaled landscaped concept plans are not construction drawings as they do not have the necessary detailed construction specifications required by the relevant regulations and need input by relevant authorities and specialists.

These full workings drawings are to scale, contain site details and have the requisite information that can be sent to council for any permits or council approval.  Additional fees may apply depending on specialist sign-offs such as civil or structural engineers and the required costs for council permits.

Example excerpts of construction drawings are as follows:

These are usually required for submission to council to obtain a planning permit eg for the building of adjacent townhouses.

We work closely with a team of qualified arborists who will be able to produce arborial reports for council permit applications.

An example and client testimonial is as follows:

To keep our prices competitive, our expectations are that you will provide us with the onsite measurements of the areas within the scope of the design.  If you do not have measurements ready, we will endeavour to take measurements of the relevant areas within the consult time, however, additional charges are applicable after the consultation time ends.  Our design packages include a minimum number of site visits.  Additional site visits will incur additional costs.

Where possible we will incorporate sustainable recycling considerations (e.g. reusing extant materials) to avoid wastage, into our design and construction solutions.

Lighting is an easy thing to cut from your budget, but before you do, consider how much it will extend your use and enjoyment of your outdoors.  Well designed lighting using quality fittings catapults the project into wow territory.  Therefore we strongly believe in emphasising garden lighting as part of our landscape design process.

Materials will be suggested to best meet your needs.  Materials specifications will be discussed and quoted on by the construction team or other specialists if involved, as part of the design implementation process.  The responsibility for material selection lies with the client as the client confirms the scope and requirements for the project.

On fully understanding your requirements, your unique design will be presented to you in a 60 minute catch up which, if required, may include providing a range of estimates for components in the project.  If you find these acceptable, you are able to engage us as project co-ordinators to obtain and discuss a detailed quote for all project components which include facilitating the construction of the project and sourcing accessories/materials etc within agreed timelines.

For a nominal cost, we can also include a photo gallery, description and maintenance guide for the plants selected.  We will strongly recommend developing a maintenance guide given the plant spent per project that is generally involved – as we all know, plants make or break your landscape design!

Enquiries with Dial Before You Dig need to be made in two stages – in the design and construction phase.  We are happy to undertake the enquiry on your behalf during the design phase and invoice accordingly.  It is your responsibility to form an informed assessment as to whether any third party assets exist on your property.  It is the responsibility of the developer/builder/landscaper to ensure that no underground connections are affected or damaged during any landscaping works.

In addition to other disclaimers disclosed here or elsewhere on this website (whether specifically described as such), we take no responsibility for any damage caused by trees that were selected and placed to meet the landscape design requirements of the relevant authority.  The maintenance and care of all trees planted is the sole responsibility of the owner/occupants of the building/site.

A  design drawing (unless described otherwise) is not to be used for structural/construction purposes.  Any measurements are to be checked on site prior to any landscape works.  It is the legal responsibility of the owner/client to obtain any necessary permits.

Any designs drawn by Inspiring Landscape Solutions Pty Ltd remain our intellectual property.  Use beyond which it was created for will be an infringement of this right.  We do not assign our intellectual property but sell the right to use the design once to anyone purchasing our designs for the site it was designed for.