A friend of mine recently interviewed me for an article she published online, regarding landscape designing in the fall. Ironically, many people put off designing their landscape just at the time when they could be taking advantage of cost-saving opportunities. In addition, many people aren’t aware that much of the physical landscaping work can be done in the fall and winter, especially in the Denver/Boulder area of Colorado. And, from a landscape designer’s perspective, the fall and winter are ideal times for designing a landscape that will have year-round interest. Here is the article:

Landscape Design in the Fall: How Can You Save Money While Getting Faster and Better Results?
by Bonnie Driscol

Savvy shoppers know that often the best time to buy something is after “the season” is over, or before it begins. According to Tom Altgelt, a Colorado landscape designer serving the Boulder/Denver area, this is very much the case with landscape designs. “I often encounter potential clients who think they may as well wait until spring before having a garden designed. I tell them that there are actually many advantages to starting the planning process in the fall.” Specifically, a homeowner can have a landscape much quicker, and end up with a result they are happier with, while saving money.

Altgelt says, “The first good reason for starting the process in the fall is that we are much more likely to get a great contractor.” Evidently landscape contractors’ business tends to slow down in the winter, which can make it possible to negotiate a better price or to book a contractor who wouldn’t be available in the spring. The most on-demand contractors can be difficult or impossible to hire if the design process is put off until spring.

Depending on location, it might be possible to do much of the physical work over the fall and winter, particularly with a southern exposure. In the Boulder/Denver area, says Altgelt, “Often, starting in the fall, the really messy work of the ‘hardscape’ construction, i.e. earth moving, creating rock formations, retaining walls and paving can be completed over the winter.”

If Tom needs really gigantic (i.e. up to 20 ton) boulders for a project, he races against time to get the boulders tagged and moved before they are snowed in. “These boulders are often up in the mountains, deep in ranch property.”

In addition, most trees and shrub plantings can be done in late fall. “They love being planted in the autumn, as winter is when they establish their roots.” With a root base established, they’ll be ready to present a display of foliage and blossoms in the spring. Some landscape plants will also be discounted in the fall, and the specialty plants can be ordered in late autumn for a spring arrival, to get the very best of the best plant material.

“People who start in the fall will often have a landscape that is blooming and starting to look beautiful in the spring. Those who wait until spring may end up with a big ugly construction mess, with back hoes and mud for much of the spring and possibly into the summer months.” I don’t think I would want to see bare earth outside my window when I could be looking at a lovely garden taking shape.

Then there is the design itself. Ideally, a landscape will be beautiful for all four seasons. However, according to Altgelt, “Most landscapes are designed for the spring and summer, because that’s easy with so many plants that are just extraordinary those times of year. When a landscape is designed in the fall, it is easier to envision the effects of plantings that are beautiful in the fall and winter.” He mentions the reddish or pinkish Sedum of Autumn Joy, which perfectly complements the deep purple Salvia in the fall. The bright gold black-eyed Susan adds to the fall palette, along with many other spectacular autumn plants that are sometimes overlooked when the fall season is not in the designer’s awareness.

The next challenge is to design a landscape that is lovely in the winter. “After the leaves fall and plants begin to go dormant, they reveal their more subtle, internal structure to us. This too can be beautiful, and we take this into account more readily when we design a landscape in the fall.” Some plants, like the evergreens and some grasses, are colorful in the winter. There is a red twig shrub and yellow twig shrub with colorful bare stems after the falling of the leaves. “The earth also begins to reveal more of its sculpted forms when the plants have shed their lushness.”

In Tom’s experience, the fall and winter lend themselves to listening and contemplation, which present opportunities for a connection with the land itself. He has found that most people who own property feel a deep connection with their land. By truly listening to his clients and to the nature within the land, he finds his best inspiration.

So designing a landscape in the fall can yield benefits, both the practical benefit of saving money, and a more soulful benefit of co-creating with nature. To Altgelt, this is a magical combination.