Yes, Soozd, I do invest my time to try to get design jobs (that means I do not charge for initial meeting). However, that is something that you or I would have to do if we had more inquiries than time to invest. It does weed out some good serious folks among those lighter inquiries, but it leaves ONLY very committed people in the market pool and recovers the expense of dealing with those less serios folks. I did work for a LA/design/build company that had a very high profile garden center on the south shore (MA). We had an average of 30 calls a day in the spring from people who wanted us to come out and meet with them about their landscape. When they were told about the $45 consultation fee, 2/3 of them would not continue. That left 10 calls a day to pursue. Those consultations would last about an hour. We often did quick sketches on site with graph paper and Prismacolor, but you could not keep them or copy them. Then we would go back to the office and write up contracts to either do a simple install or for design. That can take considerable time. While this is going on, we were also doing design work for those who hired us for that, and were were managing the jobs that were being built at the same time. When you consider how long it takes to construct a landscape, usually weeks, it should be clear that there is no possibility of constructing all of the work that is asked about. You would be faced with ways of filtering down the amount of work you do at every stage until it is managable at each of those stages. If not, you'd be faced with having three years of work booked in March. How professional is taking work on that you can not do for three years? That was definitely an extreme case, but that system was perfect for them. I worked for, and continue to do some work for, a very high end company that six to seven digit landscapes. The jobs are big and take months to complete. They do not do a lot of jobs each year because they are large, tightly managed, and involved. They don't advertise in a big way, so the numbers of inquiries are low and generally from sources consistant with the market in which they work. In other words the leads are usually of high quality and there are not many of them. There is no charge to meet with clients, although they are generally extremely wealthy. That works just right for that company. But, if you call from an area inconsistant with the type of work that they do, you will be subtly told to go somewhere else because they value those 5 hours of invested time managing the jobs they have and don't really want to take the work crews off of those higher production jobs to do a less productive job if they were to get it. Again, I don't see why someone can not take the time to do a mass email response to people once a week, or to put a staff member aside a time to return calls. However, you can imagine that each person calling wants to make a case for their job or wants some advice. It is rather difficult to make one of these conversations short without seeming rude. Then you have to do it over and over for each. I think I can empathise with those who will blow some of these off, if they are in big numbers. These are just some reasons why some charge for consults and others do not. Everyone's circumstance is different and it is not all about trying to milk as much money as possible. It is actually a way to manage the office's time by affecting the source of the work instead of the production end of it.

The longer I am in this business, the more I determine that every landscape designer runs their business a bit differently. Certainly the way I conduct my business is not the same as all other designers in my area but then my business is a little unique, as likely most are to some degree. But there should be some consistencies throughout the process that a 'professional' designer should adhere to. Generally, the process should be as follows: 1. Initial meeting and site tour. This a meet-and-greet sort of contact, to determine on both sides if this is a project both parties wish to pursue. On the homeowner/client's end, it's a chance to talk with the designer and get a feel for them personally, see if there is an ease of communication or rapport present and if the designer actually listens or does all the talking. On the designer's end there is much of the same evaluation going on but also a determination if the scope of the project is compatable with their skill level or even their interest (project maybe too large or too small or not able to fit into their schedule). Often there is a questionnaire left with the client for completion outlining their desires/needs for their landscape and there should be at least an intitial discussion about budget as well. 2.If both parties are agreeable in moving forward, this is where the contract comes into play. It should outline the scope of what is to be done, the steps to complete, the time line and the fees involved. Although initiated by the designer, the client has every right to request for any changes or clarifications that makes them comfortable. This when $$ start to change hands. Every designer has their own way of charging - hourly rate or flat rate based on estimated time involved and any subsequent project management, oversight or plant brokerage fees, etc. Many designers will charge a deposit towards projected total fees at this time and there may be some interim billings structured into the contract depending on scope, but as with any sort of contract for services, never pay for the entire project until the work is done to your satisfaction. 3. In my practice, there should be at least 3 meetings after this point, usually several more, with progressively more detailed drawings provided at each. At the very least, a conceptual plan, a revised conceptual plan with plant suggestions and then a final plan with all associated documentation (plant schedule, construction drawings, installation specifications, irrigation and lighting plans if applicable). In my experience there are typically mutiple revision meetings that fine-tune things to the client's requirements before the final presentation but that depends a lot on the scope of the project - sometimes smaller jobs just don't require that much massaging. As far as I am concerned, my job as a designer is not complete until the client is satisfied with the results. And sometimes that doesn't happen with the turning over of the final plan.....just as often it isn't until the actual installation and planting that changes get requested and are made. Depending on designer, that could (usually does) involve additional fees for time spent/work done. Then how do you know someone's qualified? One doesn't necessarily need credentials to be a "good" designer.....that's why they tend not get asked about often. But IT is where the portfolio or past work comes in. And you don't have to be a design expert to look at a portfolio and determine if you like the designer's work or not. You just want to see if they have done something like you are looking for - projects of similar scope, layouts, hardscaping features, creative plant combinations, how they handle screening or entertainment areas or utility areas. And then follow that up with asking to speak with one or two of their former clients. Landscape architects are licensed and registered with the state so it is relatively easy to research their work and abilities. Anyone can call themselves a landscape/garden designer and there is no registration or oversight on these businesses. There is however a national association of designers (APLD) that does monitor for skill level and experience and grants certification and that is a great source for finding a highly qualified and experienced designer. Here is a link that might be useful: APLD

My in-laws bring a pickup truck load of leaves every fall all nicely packed in the paper bags. Interestingly no matter how often they get rained on they shed water really well and are easy to handle even in the depths of winter, just shake the snow off (oh the snow we had last winter!) and scoop out some leaves. We get enough in the fall to last all year. Well mostly all year. This year my wife has been bringing home all the compostables from work, one of her coworkers is in on it now and bought some totes to help out. We were rightly worried about running out of leaves so if she hit a particularly big week she'd bring home a bag of shredded paper too. We have as much compost in our working pile as the finished resting pile right now, next year should be a stellar compost year.

Thirteen years ago my mother suddenly died and I was left with a 3,000 square foot house that she had inherited from her parents. It was absolutely loaded with very fine furniture and every conceivable antique, valuables, paintings, clothing, jewelry, etc. Here's how I handled it. The local estate sale pro came and told me she would do the sale for 25% of the gross. I decided against giving up control over pricing and giving such a big "cut" to that woman. I had a cousin who is very familiar with estate sales, so I asked her to help me. It took me 7 weeks, working 10+ hours a day, 7 days a week, to organize for the sale. The cousin helped me for about 20 hours during that period, she was key because I had no idea how to price things. She had these thick books about antiques that helped us with pricing. My brother and I chose all the furniture and items we wanted to keep and we put these in bedrooms, which were off-limits to people coming into the house. We started with local used furniture and antique dealers, who were invited to come to the house to buy - that took several days. We then had a word-of-mouth estate sale every day for a week, then advertised in the local paper for another week. Finally, we had garage sale type items left and we conducted that sale on a weekend. The following week I had the movers come and pack shipments to the 2 cities where my brother and I live. I donated the remainder of the items, keeping careful records for the tax writeoff. The proceeds from the sales were $18,000, moving costs were $6,000, so we were very successful. I gave several valuable items to my helpful cousin (worth $1,000 at least and they were sentimental things that she wanted and chose) and I paid her $700 for her help. I also gave some items to my mother's friends, they chose items they wanted. I always had at least two people present during the estate sale days and we watched people like hawks. We had no theft, but we only let a few people in the house at a time and they were confined to the living and dining rooms. I had more help for the garage sale days and those were the most stressful, but by then there weren't any especially valuable items left to steal. Final thoughts would be that, if you do the sale yourself, sorting things out will take more time than you think. Unless you know how to price things, you will be at a real disadvantage. Mark every single item with a price and put signage on anything "not for sale." You can phone local used furniture stores and antique dealers to give them "first pick." Make sure you have 1-2 other people in the house to help, watch the people who come to make sure they don't switch tags or pocket small items. Good luck with your decision and the task ahead.