Working relationship between a garden designer and a landscaper

We've talked a lot on LJN about the need to produce and use good terms and conditions for your business and I guess we've covered the business to consumer aspect extensively but how many of us create and use terms and conditions in a business to business scenario? I guess there are many many long-term designer/landscaper relationships that have endured the test of time - you know, when you know instinctively what they are thinking and vice versa. But how do you deal with a major crisis? What happens if there is failure in the build or the materials and you've not considered how any dispute should be settled? Major design and build projects can cost many many thousands of pounds. The client is potentially wealthy and often very business astute. This can often mean that they are extremely strict when it comes to dealing with problems during the design and build process and will want absolute resolution to their satisfaction. Let's consider what problems can happen. For example, an underground electric supply cable has been omitted from the design, the garden has been constructed but it's realised, too late, that the cable should have been routed under a pathway to feed a workshop and garden fountain. We would all hope this kind of thing never happens but there are probably few landscapers and designers who have never encountered some kind of problem similar to this. If the cable had been clearly visible on the design but the landscaper (or one of his workers) failed to make provision during the build then the landscaper is responsible but what if the designer had also failed to spot the mistake at an early point during the build? What if the landscaper had completed the garden as per the design but on completion the designer said that a cable should have been installed and said "don't you remember, I told you that there had been an amendment?". All of the above is hypothetical but nevertheless mistakes like these can be costly, not just to your bank balance but also to your reputation and professional relationships. How many of you exchange terms and conditions on every occasion and what advice can you offer to others about building a good business to business relationship?

What about us maintenance guys. A client spends a lot of money getting a designer and landscapers in, then hads it over to a gardener to maintain their investment. The trouble is, the designer knows how the garden should develope, the landscapers know how the garden should develope, but the guy in charge of making sure the garden developes has planned is never spoken to.

I pick up a lot of newly landscaped estates and gardens and in twenty years I have only once managed to get a five minute squint at the plans. Instead, I am left to read the mind of the designer or put my own interpratation on things.

There is a lot of stuff we need to know. What hieght are shrubs meant to be maintained at. Is that group to be maintained as a group or merged to form a single block. Shrubs die sometimes, it would be handy to know exactly what they are and where they were sorced from.

We are the guys who ultimately responsable for realising and maintaining your vision, so talk to us!

Replies

Cesare Harradine July 13, 2010 at 4:30pm

What about us maintenance guys. A client spends a lot of money getting a designer and landscapers in, then hads it over to a gardener to maintain their investment. The trouble is, the designer knows how the garden should develope, the landscapers know how the garden should develope, but the guy in charge of making sure the garden developes has planned is never spoken to.

I pick up a lot of newly landscaped estates and gardens and in twenty years I have only once managed to get a five minute squint at the plans. Instead, I am left to read the mind of the designer or put my own interpratation on things.

There is a lot of stuff we need to know. What hieght are shrubs meant to be maintained at. Is that group to be maintained as a group or merged to form a single block. Shrubs die sometimes, it would be handy to know exactly what they are and where they were sorced from.

We are the guys who ultimately responsable for realising and maintaining your vision, so talk to us!
PRO

Phil Voice July 14, 2010 at 11:34am

The maintenance aspect is often viewed as an entirely separate part of the design and build process and rarely considered by the client or the designer.

It's also difficult to include too much detail within terms and conditions because, once planted, there are many factors that may have an impact on plant health and well-being.

Any ongoing plant maintenance needs to be planned and determined by the gardener and the garden owner and adjusted depending on site and environmental conditions. The opinion of the designer - whilst being important and needed during the design - can often muddy the waters if they were to only pop into site two or three times a year: it's the gardeners' fundamental ability to monitor and understand the garden as it develops its personality and evolves and how its is adapting to the various challenging conditions throughout the seasons, that is most important going forward.