The real problem with full-cycle projects
'Multiple crews lose deadlines' isn't about lazy crews. It's that the designer hands off the plan and disappears, the earthworks crew doesn't know where the irrigation runs and trenches over it, the planters arrive on a freshly seeded lawn and trample it with a wheelbarrow, the terrace installer doesn't know the drainage layer is already built around the house. Information leaks between stages.
We removed that gap: one foreman runs the project from the first meeting to handover, one designer owns the plan and approves changes on the fly.
The 16-week breakdown
Weeks 1–2: Survey, sketch, agreement. Site measurements and level checks referenced to fixed objects (house, fence, driveway). Sketches with three scenarios, choice of the final one.
Week 3: Working drawings. Elevations, details, engineering routes, plant and material schedule. Final estimate after design approval.
Weeks 4–6: Earthworks and engineering. Strip the contaminated upper layer, level for slopes, drainage system, irrigation lines, exterior lighting cables. In parallel — backfill with topsoil.
Weeks 7–9: Paving and platforms. Paths, parking, terrace platform. Paver, curb edging, runoff.
Weeks 10–12: Terrace and built-ins. A 28 m² larch terrace, hidden fasteners, perimeter lighting. Install the garden anchors: fire bowl, bench, mounted grill area.
Weeks 13–15: Planting. Specimen trees (three), hedge, beds, lawn. Top-grade soil under planting, mulching.
Week 16: Handover. Irrigation test, lighting check, care briefing. Documentation: engineering layout map, irrigation passport, plant list with watering schedule.
What to know up front
The Estonian growing season is short — late April through end of September. If you want to move into a finished garden 'by end of summer', the slot needs to be booked in winter — by early March. We say this honestly: 'hot' season costs more, and some plants (specimens especially) can't be sourced in time if the decision lands in June.
One contact after handover too
After handover the property stayed with us on seasonal care. That's not a side bonus — it helps us spot issues with specimen trees and irrigation early. We know that system down to the last solenoid because we laid it.