Must you visit the plot?
Within the Bay Area, yes: we measure in person. Elsewhere we post a measuring sheet and walk you through it on video.
Specimen sheet
A Palo Alto plot, drawn at 1 : 50
Tape, laser and spirit level on site; ink on trace after.Garden design studio · Palo Alto, California
Rooted.
Garden plans for Palo Alto homes, measured on your own ground, drawn by hand at 1:50, and made so any good mason or nursery can build from them.
Mon–Thu 10am–5:30pm · Fri to 2pm
Hand-split basaltReclaimed oak sleepersWeathering-steel edgeDecomposed graniteSalvaged common brickLime mortarCobble settsBay Area natives
How a commission is held
“We take the lengths ourselves, once, with a tape and a level — so every line you are handed is a line you can dig to.”The studio’s working rule
- Local plots measured in person
- Further afield: a measuring sheet and a video call
- One fixed fee per project
- Invoiced half at survey, half at delivery
Asked at the front desk
Small questions, plainly answered
What arrives in my hands?
A dimensioned base plan at 1:50, a planting scheme with a plant list, and hardscape concepts with a materials board.
How is it billed?
One fixed fee per project, by invoice: half when we survey, half when the drawings are delivered. No hourly clock.
Slopes, shade, clay?
Those are the interesting plots. We record levels and sun hours on site and plant to what the ground actually does.
Do you also build it?
We draw; we don’t dig. Sheets are dimensioned so any landscape contractor can price and build from them.
How long does it take?
Five to six weeks from the day we measure to the final folio, with a round of revisions folded in.
Thirsty plants?
Our lists lean on Mediterranean-climate and California natives, chosen to settle in and need little summer water.
Can I change my mind?
Yes. Every package carries at least one full revision round, and the Folio carries two.
From the plan book
The sheet is only as honest as its scale
Measured, not estimated
Boundary angles, fence runs, finished-floor levels, and where the water goes after the first November rain.
1:50
One centimetre on the sheet is half a metre of your ground.
Five to six weeks
From measure day to the final folio, with your revision round set in the middle.
A note from the studio
Drawn at the board, checked on the ground
Skyecrofte began with a stubbornness: a garden plan should come from the plot itself, not from a satellite image and a guess. So we go out with tape, laser and level, and the first sheet is always pencil before it is ever pixels.
What you receive is a set of drawings that a mason, a carpenter and a nursery can each read without ringing us. Everything is billed per project, by invoice, so nothing ticks while you think.
- Pencil first, CAD second
- Every dimension checked twice, once on site and once on paper
The studio, 315 Everett Avenue
Before we first speak
Four things to have to hand on the first call
- Four photographs, one from each corner of the plot, taken at head height.
- The lot lines: a plat, a deed map, or a pencilled sketch with the fence runs paced out.
- Which wall takes the afternoon sun, and where water pools after rain.
- Anything you would never part with — the old fig, a flagstone from a grandmother’s path.
No plans to hand? Ring us and we’ll talk you through the plot from your kitchen window.
Packages · priced by the plot
Three sheets, one fixed fee each
The Survey Sheet
$685Site measured, base plan at 1:50, a sun-and-shade study and drainage notes. One revision.
Reserve a surveyPlanting & Stone Scheme
$1,940Everything above, plus planting scheme with plant list, hardscape concepts and a materials board.
Ask for the schemeThe Full Folio
$3,275Scheme plus construction details, two revision rounds and a handover call with your builder.
Commission the folioAdd to any package
Extra site visit$165
A second walk of the plot with tape and camera.
Plant-list sourcing$240
Nursery codes and sizes, ready to order from.
Lighting concept sheet$310
Low-voltage positions for paths, steps and trees.
Irrigation zoning sketch$275
Drip and spray zones laid over the planting plan.
Request a fee
Send us the plot, we’ll name the fee
Corner lots, odd slopes and long thin yards are priced the same day we see them. Email a few photographs and we reply within two working days.
What to send
Four photographs and a pencilled sketch
Lot lines if you have them. Rough is fine; we’ll correct it on the day we measure.
Phone first
Ring the studio, speak to the drawing board
(408) 655-2155We answer Monday to Thursday, 10am–5:30pm, and Fridays until 2pm. Out of hours, leave a message or write and we’ll ring back.
Come to the studio door
315 Everett AvenuePalo Alto, CA 94301
- Mon–Thu
- 10am–5:30pm
- Friday
- 10am–2pm
- Sat–Sun
- Closed