Consultation - Brownstone Gardener

Consultation & Site Analysis

How it begins

Our design process begins with a consultation in your home so that we may perform a thorough site evaluation of your garden space. The client, or their representative, will ideally answer some questions about what the client has in mind and how the garden will be enjoyed. Visual aids, such as photos or magazine spreads of gardens they like, can be very helpful in the design process. We will take a look at your project space from various locations inside the home because, each season, these will be the views through which the client will enjoy their garden for a good part of each day.

Evaluation of Light

After all questions are answered, we continue with the site analysis where we will evaluate the light: how it moves through the garden during the course of the day, which direction the garden faces, and how the trees (if any exist) affect the underplanting with their shade. We will need to know if any containers are to be added or removed. Will the plantings be predominantly perennials, or a combination of perennials, annuals, and bulbs? Will we need our tree pruning team to visit before we do our work? Oftentimes, clients want beautiful flowers that ideally require six hours of daily sunlight, but they have mature trees overhead casting shade all day because they are in dire need of pruning. Another important consideration is how prevailing winds may affect the plants in your garden. An important aspect of our service is recognizing potential challenges before they become an issue. And, as always, safety comes first!

Evaluation of Light

After all questions are answered, we continue with the site analysis where we will evaluate the light: how it moves through the garden during the course of the day, which direction the garden faces, and how the trees (if any exist) affect the underplanting with their shade. We will need to know if any containers are to be added or removed. Will the plantings be predominantly perennials, or a combination of perennials, annuals, and bulbs? Will we need our tree pruning team to visit before we do our work? Oftentimes, clients want beautiful flowers that ideally require six hours of daily sunlight, but they have mature trees overhead casting shade all day because they are in dire need of pruning. Another important consideration is how prevailing winds may affect the plants in your garden. An important aspect of our service is recognizing potential challenges before they become an issue. And, as always, safety comes first!

Soil health and fertility

Soil health and fertility are some of the most important components of a healthy garden and it is a continual effort to replenish and amend the soil throughout the year, as needed. We collect soil samples and send them off to a lab to determine the type of soil that exists and how we might need to amend or improve it. Before any planting takes place, it is important to address irrigation for the project. Water pressure is measured and our irrigation expert may install a fully automatic drip system with a timer to make everything fully operational to allow your garden to thrive. If heavy containers, additional trees of substantial size, or other hardscaping are desired by the client on a rooftop site, we can have an engineer evaluate weight bearing loads.