I’ve discovered over the years that learning when to say ‘no’ to design work can save a lot of grief down the track. Last week I met with a homeowner who was exploring a landscape project that was going to need a budget of at least $300K. They were ok with this, which was great however they insisted that construction of their new landscape would have to start in two months. Now I didn’t say no right away, I tried to find out why they’d set this deadline for themselves as well as pointing out the pros and cons of rushing a landscape design/construction but they were adamant. So I said we would not be able to help and wished them luck because trust me, they are going to need it.

There are only a few ways a landscape project can go right and many ways it can go wrong and rushing it is one way to guarantee you’ll run head first into problems sooner rather than later. However this is not something new. Around Christmas time we often get enquiries ( 4 weeks out from Santa’s arrival ) from people with serious landscape project ( think $50K+ ) insisting it be completed by Christmas. Anyone who has been in the industry long enough has seen what happens when projects are rushed and also knows the caliber of practitioners who agree to meet deadlines they’ve little hope of achieving. I understand that often by the time people get to us they have been thinking about their project for a long time. But as the saying goes ‘act in haste, repent at leisure’. If you don’t believe me feel free to get in touch and I’ll give you 10 good reasons not to be impatient ( assuming anyone is reading this! J )