Homeowners’ goals for their landscapes differ. Some may only want a simple planting bed for cut flowers. Others have more ambitious plans. Maybe an integrated landscape design for their entire one acre lot, with functional outdoor living spaces. Or a complete estate landscape plan for a larger project.
Where a quick sketch plan may suffice for the landscape bed, complex projects can benefit from the insights discovered in the development of an overall landscape master plan.
Why design a master plan?
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A home site is an empty canvas, awaiting fulfillment. The Master Plan reflects the design decisions made by the homeowner’s and their landscape architect or garden designer during the design process.
The plan depicts the elements of the design – form and structure, hardscape and plant materials – and their arrangements. It will also get down to detail, showing actual material patterns and textures. Colors will be spelled out. Finishes will be noted. Plants will be labeled.
The plan may also include elevation studies and plant photos with maintenance needs.
When money is short, and the project can’t be built all at once in its entirety, then the master plan can be used to decide which part of the project should be built first, and what can wait. It’s an implementation tool, a map of where the homeowners are now, and where they wish to be in the future.
A master plan is a living document, and a promise of what can be. It can be a source of joy and eager anticipation as sections of the plan are implemented and the homeowners can see their dream becoming reality right before their eyes.
It’s really fulfilling to walk through a completed garden, master plan in hand, and compare what was once only lines on paper to the built reality.
Homeowners wishing to do the work themselves, or act as their own contractors, can obtain preliminary prices by shopping the master plan around to various contractors.
Contractors differ in what they will bid on. The complexity of a project will dictate. Some will be willing to build from a master plan of a fairly uncomplicated project. Others won’t touch it without detailed construction plans. But most should be willing to give you rough prices for planning purposes.
Do-it-yourselfers can use the master plan to do their own material takeoffs. Master plans are drawn to scale, enabling homeowners to determine sizes, volumes and quantities of materials and compare prices among different landscape suppliers.
Many master plans are beautifully rendered by hand in marker, water color, or colored pencils. Others are designed using professional landscape design software like DynaScape or Vectorworks, which use computer-generated color palettes resulting in wonderfully diverse color renderings.
These plans are almost like landscape paintings. Some homeowners have actually framed their master plans and hung them at their homes or offices.
Master plans including color-rendered perspective views of a homeowner’s garden can actually enhance a visitor’s garden experience.
Many projects are too complex to build from a master plan and will need construction drawings. The master plan is the guiding document for the following plans:
Homeowners who want to build the garden of their dreams, do it all at once or in stages, know how much it will cost them, or feel a need for other, more detailed, drawings should make sure their landscape architect or garden designer provides a project master plan.
And when the garden is finished, the birds are singing, and the plants are in bloom, the homeowners can recall fond memories of their achievement while gazing at their framed master plan in its place of prominence on their den wall.
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