"In the town as in the country, a wise garden designer will study [her] site in silence and consider carefully [her] clients, their taste, their wishes, their way of life, their likes and dislikes, and absorb all of these factors at least as important as the ground that lies before [her]."

The Fragrant Garden is a small residential landscape design office, located in the metropolitan Austin area. Design services are available in greater Austin, and depending on the scope of the project, may be available in the areas between Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. Mitzi is Sole Proprietor and lead designer, occasionally bringing in other design professionals (such as architects or engineers) to consult on complicated structural issues.

The design process is very personal and driven by the following goals:

• To make the garden design process a pleasure for both the client and the designer
• To educate the client about the many possibilities for the garden in terms of both style and structure
• To develop a plan which takes the client's wishes into consideration and weaves them into a garden based on the basic design principles of unity, scale, time, space division, light and shade, texture, tone and color
• To coordinate the design phase and the construction phase so that designer and contractor are working together to address client needs and goals
• To produce a garden that will please the client, be in harmony with the architectural style of the house and the local environment, and remain stable over time

Initial visits are free of charge. Following that visit, a proposal (estimating hours and fees for the project) will be prepared at the client's request. If accepted, a retainer of 10-15% of the fees will be required at that time. Several visits will take place to measure and photograph the site as well as to share books and ideas with the client. Then, a Preliminary or Conceptual Plan (along with a Preliminary Plant List) will be presented. Once approved by the client, the next phase is to produce a Master Plan. This Master Plan provides the necessary information (Layout Plan, Planting Plan, and other necessary Design Development Drawings), which allows the contractor to build the project. Mitzi prefers to follow the design through the installation phase, providing construction facilitation billed on an hourly basis.

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TRAINING
Mitzi graduated from the University of California, Berkeley Extension program in Landscape Architecture in January of 1997. Her 3.9 grade point average was accumulated by taking 17 courses (55 semester units) over a four year period. She continues to take course work intermittently through programs at Strybing Arboretum and elsewhere.

Mitzi's previous 26 years as a Registered Nurse contribute to her ability to organize tasks, space, and time, and her ability to work with many different kinds of people. Helping partners who may have differing visions of the proposed garden to see both what is wanted and what is needed, and to bring the two together, is a specialized service of this small, personalized design firm.

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