Planning Makes Perfect
29 Jun, 2007 By: Jamie J. Gooch LDB SolutionsThere are so many colors, textures, shapes and sizes of plants that even a simple bed installation can quickly get out of hand. The organizational challenges are multiplied when installing multiple beds in a large landscape with varying site conditions. A planting plan will help make sure you get it right the first time.
Joanne Kostecky, president of Garden Design Inc., Allentown, PA, has built it into one of the most award-winning landscape design-build companies in the country. She is also president of the American Landscape & Nursery Association. Her experience over the past 29 years has helped her develop an efficient system of planting that revolves around a detailed plan.
“We do a master architectural design of the space that includes the shapes of patios, walks, walls, beds and trees,” she says. “This is to develop the shape of the space. Once the client approves the master plan, we move onto the planting plan.”
Kostecky says she doesn’t start the planting plan until the design is approved because she doesn’t want to waste her designers’ time on a planting plan if the project doesn’t go beyond the architectural design stage. The planting plan is very detailed. It includes every perennial mass drawn to scale to the size it will grow. That time spent on the plan early on pays off on the job site.
“If the size is not right on paper and you go out to plant, then you could run out of room or not have enough plants to fill the space,” Kostecky says. “If you have a detailed planting plan, your crews are very tuned into what the finished product is supposed to look like.”
To increase efficiency, the designer and foreman go over the planting plan before the job starts. The plan is precise enough that the foreman can use it to direct where the beds should be and where the plants should be placed. The designer only has to go to the job site once to tweak the plant placement before the pants are installed.
More information on planting plans will be featured in an upcoming issue of Livescapes.
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