The Landscape Architecture Design Process: Concept to Completion

The Landscape Architecture Design Process: Concept to Completion

By Joshua Tripp, Landscape Architect, ASLA — PLACE Landscape ArchitectureLast updated: June 2026

Most people hire a landscape architect picturing the end: a finished terrace, a planted slope, a driveway that finally makes sense. What they rarely picture is the path that gets them there — and that path, not the final rendering, is where a project succeeds or fails.

After three decades of work across the Inland Northwest — mountain homes on Hayden Lake, civic spaces, the Hemmingson Center at Gonzaga, lakefront sites around Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene — the single most common mistake I see homeowners make is treating the design process as a formality on the way to construction. It isn't. The process is the product. By the time a shovel hits the ground, every expensive decision has already been made on paper, where changing your mind costs an eraser instead of a demolition crew.

This is a walk through how a landscape architecture project actually moves from a first conversation to a built landscape, with realistic Pacific Northwest timelines and an honest account of where projects tend to go sideways.

The Six Phases, Start to Finish

The profession organizes design work into a sequence of phases — the same framework the American Society of Landscape Architects and the licensing exam administered by CLARB are built around. Each phase produces something concrete, and each one is the foundation for the next. Skip a step and the cracks show up later, usually in permit review or during construction.

Phase	What happens	What you receive	Typical PNW timeline
1. Discovery & site analysis	Goals, budget, survey, soils, drainage, slope, sun, code constraints	Site analysis, program, feasibility read	1–3 weeks
2. Schematic design	Broad layout options; where things go and why	Concept plans, sketches, rough budget alignment	2–4 weeks
3. Design development	One direction refined; materials, grades, plant palette set	Developed plan, material selections, planting intent	3–5 weeks
4. Construction documents	Permit-ready, buildable drawings and specifications	Stamped drawing set, details, specs	3–6 weeks
5. Bidding & negotiation	Contractor selection, pricing, scope alignment	Bid comparison, awarded contract	2–4 weeks
6. Construction administration	Site visits, submittal review, problem-solving as built	A landscape that matches the drawings	Duration of construction

For a residential master plan in our region, the design phases alone — discovery through construction documents — typically run 8 to 14 weeks. Commercial and civic projects run far longer, often four to nine months, because they fold in coordination with civil engineers, architects, and reviewing agencies, plus public process on public work.

Phase 1: Discovery and Site Analysis

This is the phase amateurs skip and professionals refuse to. Before a single line is drawn, the site gets read: a current survey, soil and drainage behavior, slope and grade, sun and wind exposure, existing vegetation worth keeping, and — critically in the Inland Northwest — the regulatory layer.

On a Lake Pend Oreille or Hayden Lake property, that regulatory layer can be the whole project. Shoreline work routinely triggers Idaho Department of Lands encroachment review and county setback rules before design even begins. A forested mountain lot brings wildfire defensible-space considerations and erosion control into the conversation. Discovery is where we find these things — not in permit review, where discovering them is expensive.

The deliverable is a site analysis and a program: a clear statement of what the landscape needs to do, what the site will and won't allow, and roughly what it will cost. Get this right and everything downstream is easier.

Phase 2: Schematic Design

Schematic design answers the big questions: where the driveway lands, how you move from house to water, where the grade changes happen, what stays wild and what gets shaped. We usually present two or three directions at a deliberately high level — bubble diagrams and concept plans, not finish details — because the goal here is to commit to a direction, not a doorknob.

This is the cheapest moment in the entire project to change your mind. A homeowner who rearranges the whole plan at schematic design has cost themselves nothing. The same change during construction documents costs real money, and during construction it can cost a season.

Phase 3: Design Development

Now the chosen direction gets real. Materials are selected, grades are refined, and the planting palette is set — and in our region, that palette is a technical decision, not a decorative one. Native and regionally adapted species sourced against USDA hardiness zones and WSU and University of Idaho Extension guidance are what survive a Bonner County winter and a dry August. Design development is where a plan stops being a nice idea and starts being a specific, buildable landscape.

Phase 4: Construction Documents

Construction documents are the buildable, permit-ready set: dimensioned layout plans, grading and drainage, planting plans, hardscape details, and written specifications, assembled into one coordinated package. On work that requires it, these drawings carry a licensed landscape architect's stamp — which is exactly what a building department, or the Idaho Department of Lands on a shoreline file, needs to issue approval.

A strong CD set is the difference between a smooth build and a job that stops every week for a "what did they mean here?" phone call. It is also where the design coordinates with the rest of the build team. On new construction, this is the moment landscape decisions have to line up with the builder's work — driveway grades, drainage swales, downspout tie-ins, where heavy equipment can and can't go. We coordinate closely with custom home builders on this; on North Idaho projects that often means working alongside a builder like Mountain View Construction so the site plan and the house plan agree before either is built.

Phase 5: Bidding and Negotiation

With a complete document set, contractors can bid the same scope and you can actually compare apples to apples. This is an underrated benefit of doing the earlier phases properly: vague plans produce wildly different bids and finger-pointing later; complete plans produce comparable numbers and accountability. We help review bids, check that scope is fully covered, and align the contract before work is awarded.

Phase 6: Construction Administration

Design doesn't end when the drawings are done. During construction administration, the landscape architect stays involved — reviewing submittals, visiting the site, confirming that what gets built matches what was drawn, and solving the inevitable field conditions no drawing fully predicts. A buried boulder, a drainage surprise, a plant substitution because a grower sold out: someone has to make those calls with the whole design in mind. That's what construction administration buys you, and it's the phase clients are most tempted to cut and most often regret cutting.

Where Projects Go Wrong

If I had to name the failures I see most:

• Starting at the plant list. Jumping to "what should we plant" before the site is analyzed and the grades are set is backwards. Plants are the last 10% of the decision, not the first.

• Treating permitting as an afterthought. In our region — shoreline, wetland, steep-slope, wildfire — the regulatory environment shapes the design. Finding that out in review instead of discovery is how timelines blow up.

• Cutting construction administration to save money. It's the cheapest insurance on the whole project.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the landscape architecture design process take? For a Pacific Northwest residential project, expect roughly 8 to 14 weeks from first site visit to a permit-ready set of construction documents. Construction itself is separate and depends on scope and season. Commercial and civic projects run four to nine months on design because of engineering coordination and agency review.

Can I skip phases to save time or money? You can compress them, but skipping them rarely saves what people think. The phases exist because each one catches problems while they're still cheap to fix. The money "saved" by skipping schematic design or construction administration usually reappears — with interest — during construction.

Do I need a landscape architect, or can a designer handle the process? If your project involves grading, drainage, structures, permits, or shoreline and critical-area review, you need a licensed landscape architect whose drawings can be stamped and approved. For a plant-focused refresh of an existing yard with no permitting, a designer may be the right fit.

When should I bring in the landscape architect on new construction? As early as possible — ideally alongside the architect, before the home's site placement is locked. Driveway location, grading, drainage, and tree preservation are best decided before the foundation is poured, not after.

What do I actually receive at the end? A coordinated set of construction documents — layout, grading and drainage, planting, hardscape details, and specifications — plus, if you retain us through construction administration, the assurance that what's built matches what was designed.

Why does the Inland Northwest need a regional landscape architect specifically? Because the constraints here are specific: shoreline permitting on the lakes, freeze-thaw and snow load, wildfire defensible space, dryland sites in the Tri-Cities, and a native plant palette that differs by sub-region. A firm that designs to this region's realities designs around them instead of discovering them in review.

Working With PLACE

PLACE Landscape Architecture is a licensed, ASLA-affiliated studio with offices in Spokane and Sandpoint, serving clients across the Inland Northwest — Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint, the Tri-Cities, and beyond. We take projects from that first discovery conversation through construction administration, and we're candid at every phase about what your specific site needs and what it doesn't. If you're starting to think about a project, get in touch — the best time to bring us in is earlier than most people expect.

Image: photo by Alena Darmel on Pexels.