What should be done before building a rock garden? You need to consider your budget, get ideas, draw a garden to scale before you start building your rock garden. "Generally, the first question that we ask...
"Generally, the first question that we ask our prospective clients as we interview them is 'What kind of budget, what amount of money are you comfortable investing into your garden and is this money all at once or is it in stages,'" says Laddie Flock, owner of Natural Rock Formations, a company that has been in business for 17 years and has experience in all different styles and themes of rock gardens. Natural Rock Formations is one of the largest distributors of natural stone products on the Pacific coast and has been featured in many publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Landscape and Irrigation magazine. Their website can be found at www.natrok.com
"So I think to comfortably come up with a general budget whether or not you tell your contractor everything that you want. You really don't want to get into a situation where your dreams and your desires aren't fitting your ability to pay, and then you have to decide what to take out and all of a sudden, it changes the whole atmosphere of the project," says Flock.
"The next step is a simple graph-paper overhead to scale out the plot with your house and within the space also, you can see it from a different perspective. You can see an analytical site and then what you are doing is going through the logistics of getting in the backyard. You're going through the space requirements in scale. So this overhead really allows you to play around. It is almost like if you own your own home and you are putting furniture into it, you scale out the size of the room so you have a scale of the chair, sofa, and television or entertainment center so you can start placing them around and create the floor plan. So, the overhead is critical."
"The next step is to start looking and/or talking to experts; reading magazines; watching Home and Garden Television channel (and whatever other programs that talk about developing an atmosphere outside) to start directing yourself towards a particular idea. You don't have to stay there, but at least you are taking a step forward, and you can always take two steps back and go in another direction. So researching magazines, getting the details and colors that really warm you (if that is the feeling that you want within the space), and having a general idea of what you would like to have in that space leads you to the next step," says Flock.
Flock concluded with, "Next you get into the theme design. Find contractors, consultants, architects or designers to talk to. You may only spend an hour with them and pay their consultation fee, but get some opinions from people that have done this more than once. Take their information, because it will ultimately save thousands and thousands of dollars of trial and error. I think one of the biggest issues is usually the customer that the space is being built for will have different ideas from their spouse or significant other, and how they work together in that realm is sometimes unpleasant. Remember that you are talking about something very pleasurable and there is a lot of emotion and passion in that. So having someone who can help is almost like having a mediator in one sense to guide and suggest how the two can be united and both ideas can be addressed."
