Starting A Landscape Gardening Business

Starting a Landscape Design Business.

The beauty of this is your only need a computer and some design software. You can get some great programs, there are some free trial versions avaliable One I have found is http://www.showoff.com/Showoffpurchase.html This allows you to insert a photograph then add images to create the perfect garden there is an upgrade for $ 40 but I only used the free version for my own garden.

Another tool to use Is at www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/design/virtualgarden_index.shtml its a free tool and I had a play and Found it was very good .

There are two types of landscape gardening. The first is self-explanatory, you design, then create someone a perfect garden. The second is probably more lucrative and the customers are usually easier to please, this is commercial landscaping for companies and businesses, I suggest we start with landscaping people's gardens, followed by taking on some commercial projects.

The first step we have to take is to make sure we are thought of as professional, to do this you will need to first learn to use the landscape programmes above, if you aren't comfortable with these just look on Google you can usually find some different ones. Most have free 30 day trial.

Becoming a expert

To start with I would recommend you learn how to use the software above, do some designs print them out on high-quality paper, and put them all together in a folder. To do this take some photographs of friends gardens, then use these with your landscape programmes to show where you'd make improvements. The best way, if your garden or a friend's garden needs landscaping, is to do the work and keep a photo diary of it. if it's for a friend, you could maybe do the work for free if your friend just pays for materials. This would help selling your service as you will have photos of
a job already completed.

Getting your first job

Now there are lots of ways to approach this, and I think I have figured out the best for you. Do a show garden at a local flower show or country show, just about any large event where you have a lot of people who are interested in gardens or homes.

You can usually get the space for free, if you are willing to put on a display if you do have to pay for space, I suggest selling a few plants to cover the cost.

Just type 'show and the place you live' into Google with a bit of searching around you should get all events come up that are local to you.

You can either choose to exhibit inside or outside, I suggest outside throughout the summer, and to be honest, it's not worth creating a show garden in winter as your display plants will not look brilliant.

For your display garden I suggest about 15 feet by about 15 feet. In this area incorporate a patio with slabs or deck covering about two thirds of the area, have a table and chairs with a few planters on the deck/patio. Round the edge of the patio, have raised bed, using some wood to build up is usually the easiest. In the raised beds, make use of the large plants and trees if you can get them, then under plant with herbaceous perennials and a few bedding plants. You can usually drum up a lot of interest this way.

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