Hiring a landscape company only to discover the design it has customized for your space will exceed your budget can be extremely disappointing. So how can you be sure you and your landscape designer are on the same page when it comes to design sensibilities and budget? The following tips will give you a head start:

Be honest with your designer. Before you do any other planning, meet with your landscape designer and reveal your total budget. This can circumvent miscommunication from the start and avoid the disappointment that comes from having a landscaping plan that’s far too expensive. Then, ask your landscaper for honest feedback. Is your budget large enough to work with? Read more

A professional arborist like James Cairnes, owner of a Small World Tree Company, a Diamond Certified company, believes that all pruning should preserve as much of the tree and look as natural as possible. Young trees need what’s called “formative pruning,” where you take out competing stems that could cause problems in the future. Directional pruning is also done on many types of trees, mainly to improve the structure and aesthetics of a tree.

Mr. Cairnes is often asked to help with view restoration. That means cutting off branches with the idea of balancing the homeowner’s view while maintaining the integrity of the trees. Sometimes fruit production is the goal for trimming and pruning, Read more