Concept Design

 

Beauty, sustainability and functionality.

Whether you seek a tranquil retreat, a bountiful food garden, or a combination of both, we provide consultancy and design services to bring your garden to life.

Our concept design is an illustration of your space, envisioning a beautiful and functional space, whether it is for relaxation, productivity, ecological benefit, or a blend of all three.

How does the process work?

Will (and occasionally Anthea too) make several visits to your site to understand your needs and the potential of the space. Over the course of these visits, the plan moves from a site analysis, to a draft , and ultimately a full-colour hand-drawn illustration of your design, accompanied with notes about permaculture principles, plantings, maintenance, and more. We will work alongside you to determine your goals, develop plans, and educate you in permaculture principles. After you get in touch, we’ll ask some questions about your goals, property location, size, etc and send you a services agreement. Upon your acceptance, we will arrange our first visit with you.

For further detail, see the concept design process below.

Portfolio and Testimonials

Designing and consulting on properties from small urban backyards, right up to acreages across
the Hunter Valley and Central Coast, we have worked with dozens of clients to help them in creating abundant gardens. Will is recognised by other experienced permaculturists for his hand-drawn design work, and his illustration for our property was featured in Sowing Seeds magazine.

Browse through our client feedback and portfolio images here.

How much does it cost?

Our comprehensive garden design will provide you with an understanding of your landscape and a hand-drawn plan to support you creating the garden of your dreams.

$3850.00
Suitable for designing homestead gardens and small acreages. A permaculture principled layout combining beauty and function for the gardens and livestock requirements around your homestead. This may include naturalistic borders, cut flowers, kitchen gardens, outbuildings and enclosed growing spaces, livestock yards and structures, fencing divisions, water features, wind breaks, orchards, etc.

(Updated November, 2024).
The design price is inclusive of GST and travel costs within a one hour drive from our farm.

Travel fees at a cost of $55 per hour may be applied for sites over one hour drive from our farm, or if your property is much further away or interstate we will make alternative arrangements and quote these costs for your consideration before commencement.

*We generally only design for properties at an acreage scale. If you have a large property or enterprise, we recommend seeking an experienced large farm designer and can provide local suggestions for your area.

Payment: We will provide an invoice with our account details at each stage of the project outline below. We insist on a policy of receiving your payment within 14 days of each invoice.

What will I receive in my concept design?

Will produces artist impression drawings that aesthetically communicate the features of your property, or garden. We don’t produce perfectly accurate or scaled drawings for construction or landscaping purposes, nor have the equipment to do so.

You receive:

  • Property Illustration - Full colour A1/A2
    A bespoke, hand-drawn and rendered artist’s impression of your property from an aerial perspective (A1 or A2 sized)

Add on Framing: $150.00
Black, white, ‘woodgrain look’ available

  • Notes
    Supporting documentation includes;

    • planting schedule - this shows the plant selection, quantity, and location.

    • implementation schedule - an order through which to approach the project.

    • water harvesting calculations - support your garden with the appropriate water storage/plantings for rainfall.

    • implementation techniques - a guide on how to implement projects, such as food forest layers and no-dig beds.

  • Education
    Around four hours of in person discussion and education

  • Support
    Complementary follow-up

What is not included in the concept design?

We focus on permaculture education, and artist impressions, to capture a design based on your goals and property patterns.

We are not able to provide:

  • contour surveys

  • scaled construction and landscaping drawings

  • documented location of underground services

  • physical implementation of design (though we do have planting services)


    While not included, if you are able to provide any of the above information, it can assist us in a more accurate design for you.

What about the installation?

Full installation: Will does not currently offer full installation services. He is happy to recommend local landscapers if he is familiar with those in your area.

DIY: Typically, our concept plans are designed to allow you to slowly work on the implementation yourself, very suitable for the homesteader, and weekend projects over a longer period of time. Rarely, does Will recommend wholesale changes to your landscape at a broad scale.

On-site work: Available at a further cost, Will is happy to provide;

  • Planting services ($75/hr)

  • Fruit tree pruning and care ($75/hr)

  • On-site support to professionals implementing your installation, eg. earthworks, landscaping, etc ($165/hr)

  • On-site support to you when implementing ($165/hr)

Plants: We are registered with wholesalers to provide an option to source your plants through us, and Will can recommend options in your area.

Ask about plantings with us, and we will provide an estimate based on the wholesaler plant availability and delivery.

What else to know?

A concept plan puts everything into place with reasonable scale and accuracy. The illustration and notes do contain specific suggestions, but aren’t the likes of construction drawings or engineering plans.

Ultimately, the exact measurements and implementation is up to you (or a contractor). Our plans are illustrated concept designs, with their strength in permaculture principled design and creativity - they do not contain the construction details.

Remember, a design is alive - things change and you respond - that’s why we don’t focus on perfectly accurate or scaled drawings, instead we educate you in permaculture principles to help you grow with your space.

We think this is a standout reason for choosing us to help you design your property or garden. We’ll give you a plan, but it’s flexible, and we will have educated you to help you understand how to respond as your property changes over time.

Please feel free to get in touch if you would like more information.