“The mission of McShane’s Design Department is to create environments that reflect our client and the desired conditions within which use, space and flow coincide with intelligence of selection, placement, function and meaning.”


I. OVERVIEW & SERVICES
Design is the most critical step in any sort of landscape! It is often overlooked and as a result, clients find poor performing landscapes and / or under-utilized spaces. This is where the trained professionals of McShane’s Nursery & Landscape Supply come in. We are knowledgeable in hardscape, irrigation and plants, and are well-prepared to help you get your project moving. This handout outlines our services and the design process. When going about a “plan,” clients have the following options to choose from:

A.Garden Coaching & Consulting: Often times clients only need a second opinion on their landscaping or layout of the their garden and outdoor entertaining areas. We are happy to visit your residential or commercial space and offer feedback and jot down some notes for you at the rate of $100 per hour. Drawing are not included in this service.
B.Self Directed / In-house Design Services: This is the perfect option for smaller “do-it yourself” projects. When you schedule an appointment with one of our designers, we will send you a kit to help gather information for the design process. At your appointment, the designer will create a custom plan to take home and begin your own professionally – designed projects. We recommend this design option for plantings and small walkway or patio projects, but do not recommend it for construction, retaining wall or other projects involving land grading. The cost of this service is $75.00 per hour with a minimum of one hour. Most designs are completed in one to two hours.
C.On-Site Design Services: McShane’s provides professional design services for large and small residential or commercial landscaping projects. Plans may include plants, patios, retaining walls, lighting, irrigation and any other outdoor improvements. While sometimes clients will choose an hourly rate, most projects are bid by the job. The rest of the flyer describes process involved. Hourly on-site consulting is charged at a rate of $125.00 per hour. A $125 “initial consultation” fee is required at the first meeting. In some cases, that fee can be worked into the entire cost of the project.

III. ON-SITE LANDSCAPE DESIGN SERVICES DETAIL
An on-site custom landscape design is well worth the money spent. Most people spend more time planning birthday parties and graduations than they do planning their outdoor spaces. As a result, money spent buying a home and landscape is wasted and opportunities to entertain or enjoy the wonderful climate or the Central Coast is lost. That is where our professionals come in.

When your plan is done you will have three copies of blueprints for a customer landscape. Most landscape designs have both a “Hardscape Plan” and “Planting Plan” component. Hardscape plans can include patios, decks, ponds, boulders, retaining walls, edging, fountains, rock features, pathways and steps, and sometimes lighting. Our hardscape plans will specify the materials that the installing contractor will need to use. Planting Plans include a “palette” of plants designed into a project. The Planting Plan includes a list of the plants and their sizes to make it easy for the installing contractor to purchase and identify placement.

IV. ON SITE LANDSCAPE DESIGN PROCESS
The process of landscape design usually takes one to two months, from beginning to end, depending on the project. We utilize a survey and an initial consultation phase to gather important information about a clients lifestyle and interests. The first visit is one hour and allows clients to share “concepts” and ideas that will drive the formal plans forward. This also allows customers looking for a formal design to get a clear idea of what our staff has in mind before entering into a more involved design contract. The on site landscape design can vary depending on client availability and the scope of the project. However, the process generally goes as follows:

Complete Client Information & Survey
Initial Consultation – Contract / Visit / Meeting (1 hour)
Site analysis and measurement of existing conditions as needed
Preparation of base plan of house or lot
Preparation of preliminary hardscape drawings
Presentation of preliminary hardscape drawings to client (< 1 hour meeting)
Revision of preliminary hardscape drawings as needed.
Presentation of finalized hardscape drawings to client (< 1 hour meeting)
Preparation of plant palette
Preparation of preliminary planting plan
Meeting to present preliminary planting plan to client (1 hour meeting)
Preparation of finalized planting plan drawings
Meeting to present all finalized drawings for approval by client (1 hour meeting)

Each job (including initial consultations) must include a written contract for services provided.

V. ON SITE LANDSCAPE DESIGN BENEFITS & COSTING
McShane’s is without question one of the most experienced and diversified landscape design outfit in the Greater Monterey Bay Area. Our teams include a wide array of professionals ranging from the drafting specialist to the Landscape Architect. Our designers are highly regarded for creativity, local knowledge and quality of work. Even better, we have a full service nursery and landscape supply where materials can be visited and discussed in person. Consistently, we receive feedback that utilizing Landscape Design Services at McShane’s Nursery & Landscape Supply was a much more cost-effective than other options available.

Most jobs are bid out by the “project”. This is based on the number of hours involved in measurement, research, design and drawing. Often clients ask for a make-over or renovation of existing landscaping. The cost varies from project to project depending on the extent of work needed, in some cases costing just as much as starting from scratch. If consultation and limited designing is desired, as-needed hourly consultation is another option.

The “initial consultation fee” for a job is due at the time of the first site visit and / or meeting. Should a formal design contract be signed, a 50% deposit is required at completion and presentation of preliminary drawings. The remaining balance is due and payable upon completion and presentation of the final drawings. Any design or consultation above and beyond the agreement will be billed out at the published hourly rate.

We ask that all clients take the time to fill out one of our “Client Information & Survey” sheets. This saves time and allows our design staff to better understand the client and the goals they have for their outdoor space. We also ask that clients do their best to locate and provide a site map or “lot plan” for the project. If one is not easily found, the county should have one on record. This can save both time and money.

Once a design is completed by the staff at McShane’s Nursery & Landscape Supply, all nursery material and landscape supplies listed in the design are offered to the customer for a period of six months at the standard contractor discount for the project being designed only.