Landscape Design + Build

Fine Landscape Designs and Installations

Here at New Leaf we enjoy being a smaller company. It allows us greater opportunity to focus in on the finer details within our projects. Our founder is involved in each project no matter the size. We’ve completed projects for both homeowners and commercial building owners, with the majority of our landscape projects completed for homeowners. The very first step in any project is to set up a consultation where you can meet our designer and founder, Drew Lindholm. Smaller tasks may not require a consultation, please contact us to talk about your project.

The Design Process

1. consultation

During the initial consultation we start with understanding your goals.  One of our first questions will be what your budget and preferred timing for the project is.  Next we ask if you have any ideas that you have personally collected for the project.  Many new clients will collect ideas from neighboring properties or websites such as Houzz.com and Pinterest.com.  We encourage you to bring as many ideas to the table as you’d like.  We also encourage clients to learn a bit more about Minnesota specific landscape design - the University of Minnesota Extension is a great place to familiarize yourself with the basics. With these in mind we can begin to discuss design style and aesthetic considerations. You can find many different landscape styles on the web, but we’ve found that the Landscaping Network has a simple, comprehensive and accurate page explaining different landscape styles.

At our first meeting we also begin to look at any site-specific challenges. Each project will present unique challenges that should be defined prior to drafting design solutions. Common challenges include water and drainage location, equipment and material access, planning and zoning regulations, or existing soil conditions. After we’ve collected information from your site, and have listened to your input on budget, timing and style we can begin to move into the design phase.

2. Design drafting + review

At our initial meeting we identified your goals, budget, potential site challenges and basic design considerations. Now that we have collected all of the pertinent information we can begin to draft a design that incorporates these important inputs into one elegant solution we call a landscape design. After all, a good design is so much more than plants and lines drawn on paper - a quality design recognizes many external factors and constraints and them into an efficient, functional and beautiful landscape solution. We use design software that can show your project in 2-dimensional plan view as well as 3-dimensional rendering view. The ability to give our clients a tour of their new landscapes through 3D renderings, even before a shovel hits the ground, has proven to be very beneficial in conveying expectations and vision.

We will typically have a first draft design turned around within a week of the initial consultation. After we present the design we’ll ask for your feedback on the design elements, materials selections and estimated pricing. If there are changes that need to be made we then head back to the drawing board, literally, and address any concerns that were raised.

3. final design + Project scheduling

After all revisions to the landscape plan have been sorted through we will arrive at our final design. At this time you will have an idea of when the project can be scheduled for construction. After the final design has been submitted and signed we ask for a scheduling deposit in order to get your project on the construction calendar. Shortly before the project commencement date we’ll reach out to you to confirm the date. During construction we can make alterations to the plans by executing a change order.

We’re very blessed to be able to do this type of work, and our enthusiasm for landscaping and design shows in each and every one of our projects. Get in touch with us today to begin the design process - we look forward to working with you!