If you are considering making substantial changes to your garden, then you may consider employing a landscaping designer.

This may sound simple but there are a number of pitfalls you need to try and avoid. All landscape designers have their own ideas and a varied amount of experience. So finding one who shares your own ideas and requests can be somewhat tricky. A good place to start is to ask your friends and family if they know someone who they would recommend. A personal recommendation goes a long way and creates an instant sense of credibility. You should also check for their bad experiences too, so that you can avoid making the same mistake.

The next place to look is the local newspaper or yellow pages. There are usually plenty of landscaping designers in your local area advertising. Many of them will be glad to come and have a look at your garden and share their ideas with you for free. This is a good way to judge whether they will be easy to work with and if they share similar ideas to you. You should also ask them if they are prepared to provide contact details from previous customers in order for you to seek testimonials. You should, always take these with a pinch of salt, as they are obviously going to only put you in contact with people who they have got on well with.

It is important that you find a landscaping designer that you get on very well with. If you don’t like a certain idea then you must be able to communicate this to them without the worry of their response. In addition to asking for details of previous customers, you should also ask them to give you examples of some of their previous work. They should have a portfolio with pictures that you can browse through.

Always ask for a quote before the work starts. This will allow you to compare different designers, as well as knowing exactly what you are going to pay, avoiding any surprises. Also, you should agree the timescale for the work and, if possible, agree penalties for it not being completed on time. This will keep the designer on their toes.

Most importantly take your time to choose your designer. This will go along way to ensuring you get the design feture that you are looking for, at an agreed price, in an agreed timescale.