How Garden Alchemy Works

Your garden should be beautiful and serve the needs of the people who will use it. By meeting regularly to obtain feedback, the landscape elements and experiences that are important to you will be reflected in the final plan.

Garden Alchemy collaborates with a talented group of contractors for quality installation and strives to incorporate sustainable design/build practices into all the gardens we design.

Design Program: We will meet to establish a design program and define the look and feel you desire for the garden. We will also determine an initial budget for the project.

The Base Map of the garden, drawn to scale, shows the existing conditions of the site. We also conduct a Site Analysis to record how climate, soil, views and light will influence the design.

Rough Alternative Designs show the initial layout and materials selection for the built elements, plant beds and trees. We meet at this stage of the process to review the rough designs and the preliminary cost estimates for the installation of the garden.

The Final Plan brings together all the elements of the garden design through the use of drawings that illustrate plan views, elevation changes and perspectives.

Planting Plan: Garden Alchemy excels in plant design. We take great care to balance form, texture and color to create extraordinary plant palettes. The Planting Plan illustrates the exact placement and number of trees, shrubs and ground covers.

Irrigation Notes indicate how each zone of the garden should be watered. They also specify key irrigation methods to ensure the plants receive appropriate water.

Lighting Design can enhance the beauty of the garden and add needed safety for navigating the garden in the evening. Designs for lighting can include path and stair lights to up-lighting key trees or focal points.

Water Features add wonderful sound and reflective qualities in a garden. We design small container water features, fountains and naturalistic ponds.

Furniture & Focal Points: The right furniture, containers or a key piece of art can enhance the beauty of garden. We both design layouts for and source furniture, custom cushions, and art.

Contractor Meetings & Construction Observation: Garden Alchemy collaborates with an excellent group of contractors. We can participate in meetings with Contractors and resolve any questions as the garden is installed.

Susan Leahy, owner of Garden Alchemy, has been designing residential gardens in the East Bay since 2000. Susan studied design at U.C. Berkeley and Merritt College and has a Masters Degree from U.C. Berkeley. She is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) and is an affiliate member of the California Landscape Contractors Association.