Landscape design plans

A measured landscape plan makes scope easier to compare before construction. It can document levels, planting, materials and the order of work, helping you discuss the same requirements with each contractor.

Step one: the site visit and the measure-up. The designer measures the lot, locates the house, the services, the fences, the trees and the existing levels, and records where water goes now. Spot elevations matter more than anything else on an Ottawa lot, because the difference between a dry patio and a wet one is often 100 mm over six metres.

Check trees and boundary constraints before layout. Identify City-owned and private trees, the right-of-way, easements and existing planting. Ask the City and an arborist which protection, removal and working-distance requirements apply to your property before excavation or tree work.

Step three: concept, then a scale plan. The concept fixes the zones, where you sit, where you cook, where the children play, where the service area goes. The scale plan then fixes dimensions, materials, spot levels, drainage direction, planting and lighting, and it is the document a contractor prices from. A plan without levels and quantities is a picture rather than a plan.

Step four: the planting schedule. Every plant named by botanical name, with size at purchase, quantity and spacing. That is the only way three contractors quote the same thing, and the only way you know in June that what was delivered is what was drawn.

Step five: phasing. Most Ottawa yards get built in two or three phases across as many years. The plan should say what has to happen first: grading and drainage, then hard surfaces, then irrigation sleeves under anything paved, then planting, then lighting. Sleeving under a patio in year one costs almost nothing and saves cutting it open in year three.

Discuss the schedule early. Ask about design revisions, approvals, material availability, access and weather-dependent work. Agree the sequence and any dependencies with the contractor before fixing dates.

What to include when comparing prices. Ask whether the fee covers a site visit, measured drawings, elevations, a planting schedule, revisions and construction support. Compare like-for-like scopes, and ask how additional revisions, phasing and taxes are handled. A written fee proposal is more useful than a general market range.

Discuss structural and ground conditions. Ask a qualified professional to assess the proposed dimensions, drainage, frost exposure and ground conditions. Confirm whether engineered drawings, guards or municipal approvals are needed; general web dimensions are not a design for your property.

Ask about qualifications and responsibilities. Request relevant experience, insurance information and the written scope. Ask which professional design input or approvals your project needs; verify any claimed professional title through the relevant official directory, such as the PEO directory. This site does not verify a contractor’s credentials.

What to ask before you hire. Does the plan include spot elevations and drainage direction, or only layout. Does it include a planting schedule with botanical names, sizes and quantities. Is the plan mine to take to other contractors, or is it tied to your build. Have the zoning, the right-of-way line and the City tree root zones been checked. Are irrigation and lighting sleeves shown. What is the fee if I build in phases over three years. And is the fee a flat sum, hourly, or a percentage of the build.

One caution. A design produced free by a company that only builds is not free, it is priced into the build, and it is rarely a document you can take elsewhere. If you want three comparable prices, pay for an independent plan first.