1. Yard Shame. I’m too embarrassed to show them my yard. Living in the Southwest, in particular Albuquerque has some challenges. It’s really hard to have a nice yard here and most of us are left with a sea of gravel, old trees with dead grass or just dirt and weeds. This happens, life happens, who has time to be outside pulling the 100’s of weeds in your yard. Landscape architects and designers are here to help YOU have the space you dream of. We expect you called us because you’re unhappy with your yard. And you know what, we’ve probably seen worse but that’s part of the fun. It’s exciting to bring an old yard back to life. In fact, my yard was a dirt pit 8 years ago. I chipped away at it one season at a time. Remember, the cobbler’s shoes always need mending. Finding the potential in your yard will be fun!  
2. It will cost too much. Yes, there will be cost involved when it comes to getting a design done for your yard. And while landscape architects are trained to understand all aspects of design and construction and are licensed by the state, you could easily prepare your own plan for your backyard. Your landscape professional will provide you with years of experience in your area, they will understand the materials available to you, they’ll be up with all the latest construction and plant materials, they’ll have a direct connection into the local contractors and they will know how to work within your budget. These resources are invaluable to you and your yard. Access to these types of resources will save you time, money and will give you peace of mind knowing you are receiving the best possible resources in town.  
3. I can get the same exact same plan for free from the local garden center. Yes, that is true. Most garden centers or nurseries have landscape designers on staff. Remember that old saying, nothing in life is FREE, it’s a pretty true statement. The garden centers are able to provide this service to you because they hope you will come back and spend money on their plants, flagstone, and other materials. Most landscape architects are providing a service for a fee. So just like a plumber is paid to fix your leak, a landscape architect is paid to design your yard.
4. The landscape designer will design my yard without input from me. Many people worry that a designer has a certain style they like to use, for instance they’ll design only wild native gardens without turf grass. Not to worry, while designers are sometimes known for having styles, we’re here to solve problems not to give you a modern style backyard when you really crave a wild native meadow. We are here to help you by bringing your design dreams to life in your yard. This includes understanding your own personal design style and helping bring your interior design style outdoors. We will most definitely share examples of our past work but in the end it’s your taste that we work with not ours. 
5. The design will be so complex, hard to create, expensive and hard to maintain. All landscape designs are created based on the physical space, the environmental factors, and the people using the spaces. You’ll be asked questions about how you will use your space and how much work you anticipate it taking to keep up the garden. We take these objectives and create the space based on your specific needs. The goal is to help you get the results you want within your budget. That might mean your project becomes phased out over the years and your designer will outline those phases for you. There might be usable materials already in the space that you were assuming would get tossed, however your designer has come up with a creative use for them allowing you to work within your budget. The opportunities and potential for the design of year yard is different but be rest assured your designer will plan it for your needs!

The goal of getting a landscape plan is for you to eventually build out the space whether via a contractor or of your own DIY sweat equity. Either way we want you to get results. Perhaps you’re not able to afford the entire design at this time so you’d like to phase it, or you’d like to hire a contractor but don’t even know where to begin. Having a plan is CRITICAL, it captures your vision and allows you to work toward the final goal at your own pace. I want my clients to be successful and be able to enjoy their outdoor spaces as soon as possible. That is why I always leave my clients with a TO DO LIST showing them the steps they need to take to getting their plan implemented. I typically continue to follow up to make sure they are taking action. Learn more about what’s included in a Landscape Coach plan by clicking here. 

“The distance between your dreams and reality is called ACTION”