FAQ's
Stephen Coan creates plant-forward, ecological gardens and landscapes, guided by The Coan Method.
Stephen Coan Garden Design creates bespoke, nature-inspired landscapes shaped by ecological intelligence, refined planting design, and quietly integrated hardscaping, with a process designed for clarity from first conversation through long-term garden evolution.
Begin with a brief phone conversation to explore your goals and property. When we’re aligned, on-site consultations are scheduled and the most appropriate path forward is defined.
This bold blue jay with sapphire and charcoal feathers visits my window most days, perching close, sometimes on my open window, and “talking” in a soft, curious chorus of clicks and calls. Over time, she’s grown comfortable with my presence, lingering as if in conversation and edging near enough that she’ll almost feed from my hand, a small daily reminder of years of trust between wildness and home.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Stephen Coan Garden Design creates bespoke, plant-forward, nature-inspired landscapes shaped by ecological intelligence, refined planting design, and quietly integrated hardscaping throughout the Philadelphia tri-state (NJ/PA/DE) region and destination commissions nationwide by invitation.
Quick Answers
1) What do you do, in one sentence?
I create plant-forward, nature-inspired gardens and landscapes with refined planting design and quietly integrated hardscaping, built to mature beautifully and function ecologically
2) What areas do you serve?
Stephen works throughout Southern and Middle New Jersey and the Philadelphia tri-state region, including Philadelphia, the Main Line, and the Delaware Valley. A limited number of destination commissions nationwide are accepted each year by invitation.
3) Are you licensed, bonded, and insured?
Yes, Stephen Coan Garden Design is licensed, bonded, and insured. NJHIC# 13VH08688500.
4) What is the minimum project size or starting investment?
Garden-only projects often begin around $15,000 to $20,000, with gardens incorporating light hardscape starting near $35,000. Many residential clients invest $30,000 to $80,000, while larger estate properties are often developed in phases beginning at $150,000 and beyond.
5) Do you design and install, or design only?
Both. Some clients engage Stephen for consulting and design only and implement with a qualified contractor. For select projects, Stephen also provides personal planting installation and on-site artistic plant layout through The Coan Method™. In certain cases, Stephen can also work alongside you during installation, guiding layout, spacing, and sequencing so the garden is placed correctly while you participate in the build.
6) How do we begin?
We start with a brief phone conversation to explore your goals, your property, and mutual fit. When aligned, a paid on-site consultation is scheduled to read the site and define the best path forward.
7) When do you install and plant?
When the site is ready. Timing is based on soil conditions, weather patterns, and plant performance, not a warm week or a generic calendar date. In the Philly tri-state, planting often extends well beyond spring, commonly through fall and sometimes to around Thanksgiving, with spring bulb layering sometimes continuing later. Perennials, shrubs, and trees often slow or pause by late October depending on temperatures, but final timing is always guided by real conditions.
Full FAQ's
Getting Started
8) What should I prepare before our first phone conversation?
A few photos of the property, a rough sense of what you want the landscape to do for your life, and any known constraints (drainage issues, deer pressure, grading, budget comfort zone, and timeline expectations).
9) Does the on-site Initial Consultation include design?
No. The Initial Consultation is for site evaluation, feasibility, and defining the best path forward. It is not a design session and includes no drawings or written deliverables. Any design recommendations, deliverables, or contracted consulting beyond this visit begin only under a signed agreement.
10) Do you offer virtual consultations?
Sometimes, as a follow-up or for specific advisory needs. Most projects begin with an on-site visit because site intelligence matters: light, wind, drainage, grades, and existing plant communities are best read in person.
11) Can you work in phases?
Yes. Many landscapes are developed in thoughtful phases. A master plan provides a cohesive roadmap, allowing the work to unfold over seasons while preserving continuity and long-term vision.
12) How long does the process take?
Timelines vary by season, scope, and complexity. The process typically begins with consulting, followed by master planning and planting design. Implementation may occur in phases, with ongoing evolution guidance as the garden establishes.
13) Do you work with new construction homes and blank-slate landscapes?
Yes. New construction projects often benefit from a master plan first, so grading, circulation, utilities, drainage, and planting strategy are aligned before money is spent in the wrong places.
14) Do you redesign and rescue established gardens?
Yes. Many projects begin as a rescue: clarifying structure, correcting water behavior, editing what is worth keeping, removing what is working against the garden, and rebuilding the planting community over time.
15) What if I’m not sure what style I want yet?
That is common. The on-site consultation is where we translate preferences into direction by reading the architecture, the site, and how you want to use the landscape. Clarity comes quickly when the site is read properly.
Services and Approach
16) What is The Coan Method™?
The Coan Method™ is Stephen’s proprietary approach to consulting, design, and implementation, refined through decades of ecological study, fieldwork, and hands-on craftsmanship. It brings structure and continuity to the project, from site evaluation and design intent through planting composition, on-site layout, and long-term evolution.
17) What is plant-forward landscape design?
Plant-forward design prioritizes layered plant communities over lawn. It is designed for four-season legibility, long-term resilience, and ecological function, supporting pollinators, birds, and local wildlife while remaining refined and intentional.
18) What is the difference between naturalistic and nature-inspired gardens?
Naturalistic gardens read more like an edited plant community, with a looser “of-the-place” feel. Nature-inspired gardens are often more composed and architectural, borrowing cues from nature while keeping a clearer hand in the structure. Both can be refined, ecological, and plant-forward. The right choice depends on your home, your site, and how you want the landscape to feel.
19) Do you use native plants only?
Not exclusively. Stephen often uses native plants as a core foundation for habitat value and resilience, and may also incorporate well-behaved, climate-appropriate non-natives when they strengthen structure, seasonal presence, and long-term performance. The goal is an intelligent, refined plant community that thrives in your conditions.
20) Can you create habitat gardens and pollinator landscapes?
Yes. Many gardens are designed to function as living habitat, supporting pollinators, birds, and other wildlife through nectar and pollen resources, host plants, shelter, and four-season structure, while still reading as composed and intentional.
21) How do you handle deer pressure in NJ/PA/DE?
Deer pressure is handled through layered strategy: plant selection, placement, density, seasonal vulnerability, and realistic expectations based on your neighborhood’s browsing patterns. When needed, Stephen will recommend additional protective measures that still preserve a refined look.
22) Do you design for privacy and screening?
Yes. Privacy is often achieved through layered planting and thoughtful placement rather than heavy hedging. The goal is a natural, refined screen that still feels like a garden.
23) Can you include outdoor rooms, patios, terraces, steps, or small structures?
Yes. Hardscape and garden structure are treated as quiet architecture: restraint, longevity, and clean transitions that support the planting instead of overpowering it. When a project requires licensed trades or engineering, Stephen coordinates with the appropriate professionals to protect design intent.
24) Do you provide lighting design and installation?
Yes. Stephen designs lighting as quiet structure: guiding circulation, emphasizing form, and creating calm evening atmosphere without overpowering the garden. For smaller projects, Stephen can design and install lighting directly. Stephen also installs special artistic elements himself, including art glass accents and mood lighting where placement and restraint matter. For larger or more technical systems, Stephen may bring in a qualified lighting professional and direct the work to ensure the result remains aligned with the design intent.
25) Do you offer consulting only, without full design or installation?
Yes. Consulting can remain a standalone service. After the on-site consultation, clients may engage Stephen under a signed agreement for feasibility guidance, phased recommendations, troubleshooting, coaching, or ongoing advisory support.
26) Can you work with my contractor?
Yes. Stephen can consult with your contractor and project team to keep the work aligned with the design intent and the plan. Stephen serves as the client’s representative consultant, providing review and clarification while contractors and licensed professionals remain responsible for their own execution, means, methods, and services.
Water and Site Intelligence
27) Do you design rain gardens or solve drainage problems?
Yes. Water is treated as a design element and ecological force. Stephen designs rain gardens, drainage strategies, and planting-based stormwater solutions that are both functional and visually integrated.
28) Can rain gardens work in heavy soils common to our region?
Often, yes, when they are sized correctly and paired with appropriate soil strategy, grading, and plant communities. The right approach depends on your site’s water sources, infiltration potential, and where water needs to move safely.
29) Can you solve standing water without making the yard look engineered?
That is the goal. Many solutions can be quiet: subtle grading, integrated basins, stone channels, and planting that reads as garden, not infrastructure.
30) Do you design ponds, fountains, or other water features?
Yes, when it aligns with the property and project scope. Water features are approached as quiet architecture: sound, reflection, microclimate, and presence, integrated so they feel inevitable rather than decorative.
31) How do you decide what water solution is appropriate for my property?
By reading the site: grades, soil behavior, roof and hardscape runoff, where water concentrates, and where it can be slowed, absorbed, or safely redirected. The best solution is the one that performs quietly and disappears into the design.
Installation Timing and Site Readiness
32) Why don’t you start just because we get a warm week in February or March?
Because in the Philly tri-state, a warm stretch is often false spring. Timing is a site-intelligence decision based on soil moisture, freeze-thaw patterns, and whether the garden can accept work without compaction and plant stress. Starting early can cause damage that takes the entire season to unwind.
33) Do published “spring start dates” apply to my property?
Only as rough guidance. Some years spring arrives early, other years it arrives late. Stephen bases timing on real conditions, not a calendar estimate.
34) Do you ever wait for plants to emerge before deciding what stays or goes?
Yes, often. Early growth helps identify what is a true weed versus a valuable plant, what is simply late, and what is worth saving, eliminating, or relocating. Moving too fast can remove the very plants that should anchor the composition.
35) What site conditions must be true before planting begins?
Soil must be workable and not saturated, access must be stable, and site prep must be complete. If conditions are not right, planting is delayed to protect establishment and long-term performance.
36) What should I do during “mud season” to protect the garden?
Stay off wet beds, avoid dragging equipment through soft soil, and limit foot traffic to firm paths. Compaction reduces oxygen in the soil and can lower plant performance for the entire year.
Technical and Permitting
37) Do you provide permit drawings or engineering?
If permitting or engineered drawings are required, Stephen coordinates with the appropriate licensed professionals while maintaining a unified design intent. Stephen Coan Garden Design is not a landscape architecture firm, but the process integrates licensed services when needed.
38) Do you provide construction documents for contractors to bid accurately?
When construction is part of the scope, yes. Stephen can produce drawings and documentation that translate design intent into clear direction for estimating, coordination, and execution, scaled to the needs of the project.
39) Can you coordinate with township requirements, HOAs, or special review boards?
Yes, as part of the overall project coordination, with the understanding that certain submissions may require licensed professionals depending on jurisdiction and scope.
Investment, Estimates, and Billing
40) What investment level should we expect?
Investment varies by scope, site conditions, and materials. Garden-only projects often begin around $15,000 to $20,000, with gardens incorporating light hardscape starting near $35,000. Many residential clients invest $30,000 to $80,000, while larger estate properties are often developed in phases beginning at $150,000 and beyond. Scope and sequencing are refined through a paid consultation and master plan prior to construction.
41) Why can’t you give an accurate project cost estimate before design is complete?
Because true costs follow decisions. Until the plan, scope, materials, site conditions, and planting strategy are defined, any estimate is guesswork. The design process creates a clear roadmap that contractors can price accurately and that clients can build confidently.
42) Can you work to a budget?
Yes. Budget is a design constraint, not an afterthought. Stephen can shape scope, sequencing, and phasing to meet a realistic investment level while protecting the overall vision. Most clients initially underestimate what quality landscape work truly costs, so part of the process is aligning expectations early and then designing a plan that can be built intelligently over time.
43) How are fees structured after the Initial Consultation?
After the on-site consultation, all work proceeds under a signed agreement and is billed hourly. Stephen charges for any and all time spent on your project, including consulting, design, documentation, coordination, site time, and project communication. A retainer is used to reserve time in the design queue and is applied to ongoing work as the project progresses.
44) Are expenses billed separately?
Yes. Project-related expenses are billed in addition to time. These may include travel, procurement time, delivery and pickup coordination, and direct project purchases such as plants, materials, lighting components, specialty items, and other job-specific supplies required to execute the work properly.
45) Do you charge a fee when contractors or construction are involved?
Yes. When outside contractors, construction trades, or licensed professionals are involved, Stephen applies a 10% contractor and/or construction consulting fee to contractor and construction work performed as part of the project. In addition, Stephen’s time consulting with the project team is billed hourly. This reflects Stephen’s role as the client’s representative consultant, protecting design intent through review, clarification, and coordination, while each contractor or licensed professional remains responsible for their own means, methods, and services.
46) Do you receive referral fees or kickbacks from contractors?
No. Stephen does not accept referral fees or compensation from contractors. Contractor selection is based on skill, reliability, and fit for the work, so recommendations remain grounded in quality and integrity.
47) How do you handle plants and materials purchasing?
No. Stephen supplies the plants for your project rather than having clients purchase them directly. This protects quality, sizing, availability, and appropriate substitutions, and keeps the planting composition aligned with the design intent. Plants are sourced only from top growers selected for health, consistency, and long-term performance.
48) Do you take on many projects each season?
No. Stephen accepts a limited number of new clients each season to ensure each project receives the highest level of attention and craftsmanship. When a season fills, new inquiries transition to a waitlist or future-season
49) Do you provide weekly maintenance, mowing, or lawn care?
No. Stephen Coan Garden Design focuses on consulting, design, installation, coaching, and Garden Evolution Management rather than weekly maintenance or lawn service. Evolution Management is seasonal stewardship: editing, refining, and selectively adding, removing, or replacing plants as the garden establishes and matures.
Common Concerns
50) Do you offer a plant warranty?
Plant performance is influenced by site conditions and factors outside anyone’s control, including weather extremes and wildlife browsing (including deer). For that reason, plants are not warranted by default. A plant warranty can be purchased as an optional add-on, but Stephen often advises against it because it typically costs significantly more than the original plant purchase, plus time for replacement and installation.
If you choose a warranty, it requires an irrigation system and regular monitoring, typically including weekly check-ins during establishment to adjust watering and make timely edits. Stephen provides an initial watering schedule that lasts many weeks and gradually tapers through the remainder of the first year. Stephen favors drought-tolerant plant communities where appropriate, but drought-tolerant does not mean “no water,” especially during heat waves and prolonged drought.
Woody plants require longer-term support. Shrubs and trees often need consistent watering through the first 3 to 5 years as they recover from transplanting and build enough root mass to sustain themselves. Many failures happen when watering stops after year one, and the decline doesn’t show until year three. Warranty terms and care requirements are provided in writing.
51) Is it better to plant a small tree or a large tree?
Often, smaller is better for long-term success. Larger-caliper trees can take longer to recover from transplanting and may grow slowly while they rebuild roots. Smaller trees, and even whips in the right situation, frequently establish faster, grow sooner, and can catch up to and surpass larger planted trees over time because they spend less time stalled from transplant shock.
That said, some projects call for immediate presence, screening, or a focal-point canopy where a larger tree is the right choice. Stephen can source and install larger material when appropriate, including very large trees when access allows, but larger moves require specialized equipment, a qualified tree-moving company, and strict care requirements to protect establishment. Availability and scheduling for large material is planned well in advance. The goal is to balance impact on day one with performance for decades.
52) Will an ecological garden look wild or messy?
Not if it is designed with structure. The goal is habitat value with refinement: clear edges, intentional composition, and four-season presence so it reads as a designed landscape, not neglect.
53) Do invasive plants affect the timeline?
Yes. If invasive plants are heavily present, site preparation can become the pacing item for the entire project. In some cases it may take a full season, and occasionally a year or more, to reduce pressure enough for a successful installation. The goal is to create conditions where the new garden can establish without being immediately overrun.
54) How do you control invasive plants, and do you use herbicide?
It depends on the species, extent, and site sensitivity. Stephen builds the control plan around the plant’s growth cycle, timing work to reduce re-sprouting and weaken the plant over time rather than just cutting it back. Mechanical-only control is possible, but the tradeoff is time, disruption, and less predictable results.
When invasive pressure is severe, targeted treatment, especially in new bed areas before planting begins, is often the most reliable way to start with a cleaner slate and protect the installation. Some species require multiple treatments across seasons for meaningful control. Any control plan is discussed in advance so you understand the method, sequencing, and expectations before installation.
55) What if I like to garden myself?
That can be an excellent fit. Stephen can design the framework and provide coaching and seasonal direction so your efforts build the garden up, rather than working against its long-term composition.
Planning and Fit
56) Do you offer a master plan before we commit to construction?
Yes. For many properties, a master plan provides the long-range roadmap: circulation, grading intent, water strategy, garden structure, and phased planting priorities. It allows you to build in stages without losing cohesion.
57) Can you help me decide what to keep versus remove in an existing landscape?
Yes. A major part of early consulting is identifying what is worth saving, what is simply in the wrong place, and what is working against long-term success. In many gardens, waiting for spring growth helps distinguish valuable plants from weeds or short-lived volunteers.
58) Do you take on small projects?
Occasionally, and only when the scope is exceptionally clear and the project aligns with Stephen’s work. Most clients engage Stephen for phased landscapes or garden transformations where long-term maturity and craft matter. The best way to determine fit is a brief phone conversation.
59) What makes your work different from a landscaper or a typical garden install?
This is not a commodity install. Stephen’s work is guided by horticulture, site intelligence, and on-site composition so the garden matures with intention, holds structure across seasons, and functions ecologically, not just visually.
60) How late into the year do you plant in the Philly tri-state?
Planting often extends well beyond spring. Perennials, shrubs, and trees are typically installed through fall and often into late fall depending on weather and soil temperatures. In many years, planting can continue to around Thanksgiving, and sometimes later, especially for spring bulb layering. Many years, woody planting slows by late October, while bulbs extend the season.
Stephen typically avoids midsummer planting, especially in July, when heat and drought pressure can be highest and establishment is less predictable. Bulbs are usually installed only once soil temperatures drop in late fall, when conditions support rooting before winter. Final timing is always guided by real conditions, not a calendar date.
Begin the Conversation
Begin with a brief complementary phone conversation to explore your goals, your property, and mutual fit. When we’re aligned, an on-site consultation is scheduled and the most appropriate path forward is defined.