How To Hire a Landscape Designer

You’ve got big dreams for your outdoor space, but going from landscaping ideas to reality often requires help from a pro. A landscape designer can see the forest for the trees and help bring your vision to life. This position has no formal requirements or licenses—you’ll mostly look at skills, experience, and portfolios. Our landscape designer hiring guide will help you find the cream of the crop for your landscaping project.

What Services Does a Landscape Designer Offer?

Landscape designers primarily provide design services, such as helping you choose which landscaping or hardscaping materials to use and planning where to spend your landscaping budget for the biggest impact. They can even help you pick flowers, bushes, trees, and plants that will thrive in your climate and maximize your home’s curb appeal.

Most landscaping designers also have relationships with professionals who can carry out the actual work to redo your landscaping. A designer might make recommendations for who to hire for landscaping projects, but they might also act as a project manager for you, completing the hiring process for each pro and organizing schedules to get the job done.

6 Tips for Hiring a Landscape Designer

Before you start the hiring process, familiarize yourself with the integral parts of a landscape design plan. This will help you stay tuned in during your interviews, plus you’ll be able to determine whether your prospective designer knows their stuff. Don’t forget to create a list of needs and wants to cover everything you’re looking for. 

1. Have a Rough Idea of What You Want

Before you start reaching out to landscape designers, it’s a good idea to create a rough sketch of what your vision for your property entails. You can either come up with a list of components you’d like or, better yet, create a drawing of your property with all the features in place.

Alternatively, you can start with a budget and go from there. The average cost to hire a landscape designer is about $4,500, with prices generally falling between $2,000 and $7,000. Larger projects can cost significantly more, so make sure you have an upper limit in mind before you start asking for the moon. As always, it’s a good idea to get multiple quotes before you decide who to hire.

2. Check Your Landscape Designer’s Qualifications

A major difference between a landscape architect and a landscape designer is that designers don’t need a formal license or education. Some may be members of a local or national association, which is a great indicator that they’re up-to-speed with the latest information, know-how, and industry trends. Of course, even if they’re not, a good portfolio can speak for itself.

Instead of looking for formal qualifications, you’ll want to read through customer reviews and ask the professional for references that you can call. Ask those references what it was like working with the pro and if they’re still happy with the completed work months or years later.

You can also ask your professional for examples of past work, which should help you choose an expert who aligns with your vision and design philosophy.

3. Interview Multiple Pros

Even if you have a solid recommendation from a friend or neighbor, it never hurts to interview multiple candidates to find the best fit. Have a chat and look over their portfolios to see if their style coincides with yours.

Also, make sure you have a great rapport with the designer. Are they receptive to your vision? Do they bring a level of expertise that will help elevate your ideas? You will work closely with them, so you want to ensure you are two peas in a pod. Pay attention to your gut feeling: if they make you feel really excited about the finished product yet at ease about the process, they’re more than likely a great choice for your project.

4. Get a Contract and Arrange Payments With Your Landscape Designer

As with any big home improvement project, you don’t want any surprises in terms of the cost of the landscaping renovations or the services that your professional will provide. Before any work takes place, outline an all-inclusive project that includes timetables and payment plans where applicable. You should also have your designer include specifics regarding the materials they plan to use to make sure everything is spelled out clearly in writing.

5. Understand Who Will Carry Out Maintenance for Your Project

Designing and installing landscaping features is a major project that requires careful planning and execution, but you should also think about who will maintain your new landscaping. Speak with your landscape designer to see if they have professionals they trust who can maintain garden beds, koi ponds, walkways, patios, decks, and more over time.

If your designer doesn’t have professionals who can complete these services for you, you’ll either have to DIY the maintenance or find pros who can do it for you, both of which can be time-consuming.

6. Understand What Will Happen If There Are Issues

No one wants problems to pop up when bringing their landscaping ideas to life, but in reality, it happens, even when working with professionals. Make sure you understand what will happen in the case of an issue, like a material you wanted being unavailable or delays on the part of the contractors that will do the work.

Ask each landscape designer how they handle problems like this. A designer who has contingency plans in place to prevent small problems from becoming major ones is often worth paying a little extra for to avoid headaches.

Questions to Ask a Landscape Designer

It’s a good idea to come up with a list of questions to ask each professional you’re considering to find the right one for you. A few key things to think about and ask include the following:

• What’s your design philosophy, and how do you go about landscape design?

• If I don’t like the original design, can I request changes? Is there a limit to the number of revisions I can request?

• Do you have an in-house team of contractors that will do the work, or do you coordinate with third-party professionals?

• What are the permitting requirements for my specific project?

• How do you get paid? Is it a percentage of the total or a flat fee?

• How long have you been in business?

• Have you tackled any similar projects?

• How long will the project take?

• Will we need a landscape architect to complete the project?

• Is my budget realistic for this type of project?

• If the budget isn’t realistic, can we work to find common ground?

• What materials will I be purchasing, and what do they cost?

• Do you have any references I can contact?

Choosing the Right Landscape Designer

Once you have a shortlist of landscape designers near you that meet your needs and expectations, it’s time to narrow your options even further and settle on a single designer. The easiest way to do that is to rule out providers who take a long time to respond to inquiries, don’t have quick answers to your list of initial questions, or can’t tackle the components you know you want incorporated into your design.

If all of the designers look good on paper, trust your intuition to decide which is right for you. If there was a pro who stood out or has excellent reviews, consider going with them. Sometimes, your gut can tell you which professional is right for the job more than formal qualifications can. 

After Your Landscape Designer Has Finished

Before making a final payment, do a walk-through of your new space and make sure it checks off all the boxes. If anything is missing per your agreement, or if you don’t like the way something turned out, your designer should work with you until you’re 100% happy.

Speaking of happiness, don’t forget to leave a positive review for your landscape designer and offer yourself as a reference for future clients. If they helped you achieve your dream space, help others discover and hire them, too.