Yes! And, it takes 3 - 4 years at a minimum for a garden to become drought tolerant. A plant first requires to be fully established before it can fulfill on its drought tolerant properties. Until then you need an irrigation system that runs at least 3 times per week between 2:00am - 6:00am.

Yes! And, an urban garden will always need maintenance. People mistakingly think less plants means less maintenance. Well that depends on the kind of maintenance you are talking about. Most people think about weeds. And the fact is that the more plants you have the less weeds you have. Said another way, the less soil you see, the less weeds you will have.

Our approach is to always start with an inquiry: What are the things I love doing outside that I can’t do right now? Or, what have I always wanted to do that I never thought I could in my own space? Or, what is the difference I want to make to my daily routine? These are great questions. From there the design will flow. And the specifics to follow become a puzzle to solve. What is essential, luxury and where does it go best to create a natural and workable flow?

Yes! A well designed, built and maintained landscape will increase your property value of about 20% - 22% for standard sized properties and up to 30% - 35% for expansive and high end homes. Can you imagine a beautiful building, residential or commercial, without any landscaping? Or worse, a bland, sterile or derelict landscape? The potential buyer or appraiser will automatically be put off by how much work still needs doing and how much they will have to spend getting it done. To perform a complete well designed landscape renovation on a standard Vancouver lot could cost between $90,000 - $120,000. At today’s market value, this is at 7% of current real estate valuations. The answer is clear, you will have at least doubled your investment.

This depends on the designer and the project! Let’s use a basic design of a standard Vancouver lot of a single family home, as an example. If you hire a novice with little credentials, you will be paying around $2,000. If you hire a registered Landscape Architect with 40 years of experience, the cost will be upwards of $20,000. If you hire an experienced Landscape Designer with over 20 years of experience, expect to pay upwards of $7,000. When you add complexity and scope of work the price goes up from there. For commercial projects, which add the complexity of public safety, the price goes up exponentially, for each category of designer.

Many plants love shade! In fact, some of the best hummingbird feeder plants, hostas, LOVE shade. The questions are: How many hours of shade? How deep or what is the quality of the shade? Is the shade created by a building or by trees? What type of soil is in this shade? How much water is this shady area getting?