Before deciding what to add to an established landscape, record what you do not want a redesign to erase. Make a feature-by-feature list, connect each entry to a photograph and location, and label your preference: keep, reconsider, or needs assessment. Leave room beside that preference for questions and professional confirmation.
The distinction matters: “I want to keep this” is a request, not confirmation that it can remain unchanged through a proposed project. Your list should make both the request and its unresolved details visible.
Start with what is already there
Review the property by familiar areas rather than starting with a blank-sheet wish list. Include plants, planting groups, paths, patios, walls, fences, fixtures, and other existing features that matter to your decisions. Give a feature its own entry whenever you would want it discussed separately.
Use photographs to identify the feature, not to establish its condition or feasibility. Assign each entry a short reference label and use that label in the photo filename or caption. Add a plain-language location description that someone unfamiliar with the property could follow. State the viewing direction when using left or right.
You do not need to know a plant’s species to record your preference. Describe its location and visible appearance, and leave identification as an open question if needed. If a planting group contains a particular plant you care about, identify it separately rather than relying on a broad bed label.
Give each feature a preference label
- Keep: You want the feature retained. Specify whether keeping it in its present location matters, or whether you are open to discussing alternatives without assuming they are feasible.
- Reconsider: You are open to a change but have not approved a particular outcome. Record what you like, what concerns you, and what you need to understand before deciding.
- Needs assessment: You want professional input before settling on a preference. Write the question rather than guessing at plant health, structural condition, or compatibility with proposed work.
Keep an unresolved-question field for every entry, including those labeled keep. A strong preference can still require assessment. Likewise, reconsider does not mean permission to remove, replace, or relocate anything.
Explain why keeping it matters
Record the value you associate with the feature: a familiar view, household use, privacy you enjoy, appearance, or sentimental significance. Distinguish attachment to the particular item from attachment to the role it plays. That gives a professional something more useful to discuss than an unexplained keep label.
Ask other household members to add their priorities before a proposed plan is developed. Keep differing preferences visible until you resolve them. For a commercial property, use the same approach to record the property decision-maker’s preferences and relevant user needs, without turning the list into a maintenance scope.
Copy this feature-retention worksheet
Repeat this record for each feature you want discussed. Copy it into a document or notebook and keep the matching photographs together. This is a planning aid for your own use, not a Lawn Care Plus inspection form or preservation plan.
- Feature description and reference label: ____________________
- Photo reference or filename: ____________________
- Plain-language location, including viewing direction if needed: ____________________
- Reason this feature matters to the household or property users: ____________________
- Homeowner or property decision-maker preference, keep, reconsider, or needs assessment: ____________________
- Location preference, must be discussed in its present location, or open to discussing alternatives subject to assessment: ____________________
- Unresolved question and professional assessment needed: ____________________
- Confirmation status, not assessed, awaiting response, or confirmed as described below: ____________________
- Professional response, what was confirmed, by whom, and when; reference any written response: ____________________
- Conditions, limits, and questions still outstanding: ____________________
- Corresponding proposed-plan version and any discrepancy to resolve: ____________________
Keep professional questions separate from your wishes
Ask whether retaining the feature is feasible with the proposed changes, what further assessment is needed, and who should provide it. If relocation is raised, record it as an option requiring assessment, not an agreed solution. Leave protection methods and any implications of nearby work to appropriate site-specific professional guidance.
When a response is provided, record exactly what was confirmed and any conditions or remaining questions. A preference being acknowledged is different from a retention approach being assessed and documented.
Compare the proposed plan with your list
- Match each worksheet entry to the proposed plan or its accompanying notes. Ask about any feature that is missing or ambiguously labeled.
- Check whether the proposal reflects your location preference and the reason the feature matters, not just whether the item appears somewhere.
- Resolve discrepancies and identify outstanding assessments before approving the affected decisions. Do not treat silence in the proposal as confirmation.
- Save the agreed list, matching photographs, professional responses, and corresponding plan version with your project records. Update them together if a decision changes.
Lawn Care Plus is based in Roslindale and serves residential and commercial clients throughout Greater Boston and Metro-West. When you are ready to discuss landscape changes, review its landscaping services or full service overview. Bring your retention list to the discussion and ask which requests and assessment needs fall within the proposed work.
