Landscape of small yard

yoyo2012

New member
I see lots of recommendations for hardscape/landscape over here. I was however wondering where should I get started for landscape design. The obvious landscape for our yard is to pave everything (either pavers concrete or tiles) with a feet or 2 on the side for plants. I'm looking for a few different ideas/yard examples to figure out what we want or not. The pictures of yards in the landscape recommendations thread are helpful but there's not that many.

Not sure if I should go talk to a landscape architect? It sounds expensive but if it's worth it, I'd be willing to do it (how expensive actually?). I'm mostly looking to see some pictures of a few yards to iron out the wishlist.
 
Go to model homes and start taking pics, many current ones have small yards with nice designs.
Or look at magazines such as AD or dwell
 
I'm still a big advocate of getting a landscape architect and not just a contractor. The architect will maximize use of space while also making it look darn good. You probably won't get either with a contractor designed landscape. It's a bit extra but well worth it. I don't ever forsee myself not using a landscape architect for a new home.
 
I agree.  The other benefit of hiring a landscape architect is you can have all your contractors bid on the same job so you can compare apples to apples.
 
AW said:
Any current architect recommendations?

Go to Toll Brothers sales office in Baker Ranch and ask who they use.  Those guys can make a small yard look amazing.  Whoever they are.
 
The burden is on you to get the backyard you want. That means visiting models, websites (Houzz), and magazines to form general ideas of what you like. A landscape architect might be a bit much for a tiny backyard, but you definitely want someone who will offer design ideas.

Most of these landscape guys want to do their standard thing; which in Irvine as you mentioned, means paving the entire backyard and side paths, leaving just a 1-2' perimeter for screening shrubs.
 
Perspective said:
The burden is on you to get the backyard you want. That means visiting models, websites (Houzz), and magazines to form general ideas of what you like. A landscape architect might be a bit much for a tiny backyard, but you definitely want someone who will offer design ideas.

Most of these landscape guys want to do their standard thing; which in Irvine as you mentioned, means paving the entire backyard and side paths, leaving just a 1-2' perimeter for screening shrubs.

Yes, most landscape CONTRACTORS will do exactly what you describe: pave it over with a few foot perimeter for plants.

I'd argue that a small yard is even more reason to get an ARCHITECT. They will maximize use of your space and give you that "bang" appearance that you wouldn't get for a small space otherwise.

For my yard, I used Warwick Hunt of Studio H. He has a page on Houzz where you can look at his projects.
http://www.houzz.com/pro/studiohla/studio-h-landscape-architecture
 
yoyo2012 said:
I see lots of recommendations for hardscape/landscape over here. I was however wondering where should I get started for landscape design. The obvious landscape for our yard is to pave everything (either pavers concrete or tiles) with a feet or 2 on the side for plants. I'm looking for a few different ideas/yard examples to figure out what we want or not. The pictures of yards in the landscape recommendations thread are helpful but there's not that many.

Not sure if I should go talk to a landscape architect? It sounds expensive but if it's worth it, I'd be willing to do it (how expensive actually?). I'm mostly looking to see some pictures of a few yards to iron out the wishlist.


"A feet or two on the side for plants" is for drainage.  Depending on the slope and yard space you may be able to get away with 2'x2' drainage square(s) topped with rocks -- consult with professional landscaper.

 
Has anyone else other than NYT hired a landscape architect?  I went on Studio H's pricing and it cost $5,900 just for the design and bid which is good that money transfers to the amount but if you are only looking to spend $30-$40k, are there places that do the design on a computer for cheaper?
 
FranchisePlr said:
Has anyone else other than NYT hired a landscape architect?  I went on Studio H's pricing and it cost $5,900 just for the design and bid which is good that money transfers to the amount but if you are only looking to spend $30-$40k, are there places that do the design on a computer for cheaper?
houzz has a list of architects around Irvine area, I guess you can do a mass email and see if they can come back with a ballpark figure, although I'm sure they all want 1:1 time with you

After aqua's comment, started looking at TB, apparently they have a landscaping arm of the business!  https://www.tolllandscape.com/
Nothing showing California though...

And then here's a company that have some portfolio on model homes in Cali with couple pics and ballpark costs
http://landscapedevelopment.com/portfolio.asp?build=17&location=&range=&client=&pm=&action=getlist&advance=

I don't even know why I'm googling this, lol
 
If the entire landscaping budget is around $10k-$15K, spend $5k+ just on landscape architect just don't make sense.  If the landscape project is over $100k, that $5k is very well spend but just not for a small budgeted, small yard project.

I not bashing on hiring landscape architect but we need find one that can do a good design job for around $1k  for a typical Irvine small yard job. 

Here's free landscaping software, has anyone try it before?http://landscapee.com/index.php

Here's list of 10 best landscaping software range from $30 to $100.  http://landscaping-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
 
Thanks for the recommendations. Yeah that's the thing, it doesn't make too much sense to spend that big of an amount to architect a small yard. I think basically what seems to make sense is to see a bunch of small yards and pick what we like. But it seems hard to find a good number of examples of small yard. The landscape websites always show the bigger jobs that they do.
 
Dresden215 said:
This is the firm that did the Toll Brothers model homes:
http://landcreativeinc.com/index.php

Not sure if they do all the Toll Brothers models or some, but it's as if Toll Brothers told the company: "Come up with the most outrageous over-the-top design possible. Practicality or usefulness doesn't matter, just make it a wow!" Seriously, looking at the landscape for some of the Hidden Canyon models, they were totally impractical for a person actually living there. If I were the model-home buyer for some of those models, those landscapes would make me seriously reconsider the purchase. Yes, they look great, but again, not practical.
 
IMO, if your landscape budget is less than $50K, a landscape architect won't be able to do much even for a small space.  Hardscape and softscape is just not cheap if you want that designer look.
 
irvine buyer said:
IMO, if your landscape budget is less than $50K, a landscape architect won't be able to do much even for a small space.  Hardscape and softscape is just not cheap if you want that designer look.

Also, I think that the widely quoted 10% of purchase price should be spent on landscape is a good rule of thumb, which would place most current homes in Irvine above the $50K threshold you quote above. It's ridiculous that some people spend more than $1,000,000 to buy their homes and then go to Home Depot, buy some roses, and plant them in a grid pattern out front. So ugly and not worthy of a million dollar home.
 
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