Thinking about hiring a professional landscaper to design your outdoor living environments? This article will provide you with the Top 10 things to consider before you choose a professional landscape designer. Whether you’re looking to add functionality and beauty to an empty space or to fix eyesores from an old design, the following information will be beneficial to you and will help you avoid costly mistakes.

Professionally designed landscaping, like a newly remodeled kitchen or bathroom, can increase the value of your home dramatically. In fact, it’s the first impression people get when they see your home – it’s called “curb appeal.” Landscaping, however, isn’t just about the front yard. Professional landscapers will work with you to assess your entire property from front to back, and then provide you with a design that makes everything flow perfectly. That’s why it choosing the right professional landscaper is crucial.

So, what are the Top 10 things to consider when choosing a professional landscape designer? Well, let’s look at the following list and then we’ll discuss each in detail so that you can get a full understanding of what to look for and what to avoid.

Top 10 Things to Consider When Choosing a Professional Landscape Designer:

1. Your Unique Needs
2. Services Provided
3. Budget
4. Length of Time in Business
5. Number of Employees
6. Timeline to Completion
7. Warranty
8. Follow-up and Maintenance
9. Client Testimonials
10. Awards and Recognition

Choosing a Professional Landscape Designer: Your Unique Needs
Defining your unique needs and wants will help you choose the right professional landscape designer to work on your outdoor environment. Chances are, if you’re looking for a professional landscape designer, you want more than just a weekly trim on your lawn. By now, you’re probably ready to make your dreams a reality. Maybe you’ve always wanted a pool or an outdoor kitchen where you can entertain friends and family. Or maybe you have a blank canvas on which you’d like to impose your imagination and ideas.

If you haven’t done so already, spend some time looking through various landscape design galleries online or in magazines. Drive around different neighborhoods and check out what others have done in their yards. Look at layouts, color combinations, walkway and driveway patterns, lighting, water features, trees, plants and flowers, etc. You may think you know exactly what you want but the more you see, the more ideas you’ll have and the more comfortable you will feel with your final decision moving forward.

Choosing a Professional Landscape Designer: Services Provided
A landscaping service provider or contractor can provide a variety of services. Some may just do monthly maintenance and yard cleanup. Others may install sprinkler systems, walkways and decks, pools, water features or other appliances. A few may focus strictly on landscape design or landscape architecture. Many landscaping companies provide a combination of many or all of these services.

John Waters is the Owner of Creative Environments Design & Landscape, the largest and most respected landscape design company in Arizona and has been an industry leader since 1950. Download the full article at Chosing a landscape designer. You can contact John Waters at 480-458-4100.