Hello Lisa. 

I still remember how much I didn't know when I started. The confidence I had in some moments...and the complete uncertainty in others. I think most of us carry a version of that same feeling, no matter how long we've been doing this.

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So I asked our Garden Design Collective community a simple question: what's one thing you wish someone had told you when you were just starting out in landscape design?

Can't help but love the power of the group.

Take a look at what they shared:

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Start your design from inside the house looking out, not just the bird's-eye view on paper. The window, the patio chair, the kitchen sink...that's where your client actually connects with their outdoor space.

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Track your time. It's the single best tool you have for figuring out what to charge.

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Build your own systems early — intake, pricing, filing, deliverables — before you're forced to invent them mid-project.

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Measure and document the site more than you think you need to.

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Every client brings a different need to the table. Some want a simple plan, others want the works. Flexibility is the real skill here.

Start your own plant list early, built around unique site/regional characteristics you can pull from again and again. It'll save you more time than you'd guess.

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Be on-site when your planting design is installed. Some things only translate in person (and changing things on site is perfectly okay!)

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A "range bid" gives a client confidence in what they'll pay, and gives you room to breathe.

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Keep your early drawings. Looking back at them later is its own kind of proof of how far you've come.

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No one has one "right" way to do this. Find a mentor, or a few, explore options, then find your own way.

If any of these land for you the way they did for me, I'd love to know. And if you've got one of your own...one thing you wish someone had told you...hit reply and tell me. I might feature it in a future issue.

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If you know someone who needs a little design inspiration, feel free to share this newsletter…anyone can subscribe right here. I also keep a VAULT of past issues tucked away if you ever want to go digging through old ones.♥︎

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Here's to learning as we go...and being a little further along than we give ourselves credit for.

From the studio + garden,
Lisa

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P.S. If reading this made you wish you had a whole room of people like this in your corner...that's exactly what the Garden Design Collective is. Enrollment opens again in September, but you can join the waitlist now so you're the first to know when doors open.

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PAPER GARDEN WORKSHOP

Huge thanks to Mandy Orgler for bringing these graphics to life, issue after issue.