Yardzen Powers Online Landscape Design with Digital Tools

Online landscape design service Yardzen utilizes satellite imaging, 3D rendering and virtual reality (VR) video technology to revolutionize the process of landscape architecture.

Although it only launched in 2018, the Sausalito, Calif.-based startup claims that based on number of designs completed, it has joined the ranks of largest residential landscape design firms in the U.S. The company moved into a new headquarters in early 2019, and expanded its service areas from strictly residential to commercial and institutional landscaping as well.

"Prior to Yardzen, nothing like it existed," says founder Allison Messner. "We've rethought the entire landscape design process and figured out how to create a stunning, custom landscape design at a fraction of the cost of traditional landscape design or architecture."

The process has a lot in common with virtual home styling and personal shopping and tailoring services that have gained popularity with consumers. Homeowners or property managers take photos of their property, and Yardzen supplements those photos with satellite images. Then, a two-person professional landscape designer and horticulturist duo pores over all the images to assess the site and propose a new landscape design that works within the site's physical specs, climate, regional plant life, and terrain.

"Our designs default to native and climate-adapted plants and sustainable, ecologically-responsible materials," says Messner.

Each design team also has a concierge—like a project manager—who serves as the primary point of contact for the client and makes sure the client's wishes are being addressed.

"Design is so personal, and it makes for a great customer experience to have experts to guide the process," says Messner.

Another innovation geared toward improving the collaborative design process is a custom video walkthrough that uses VR to allow clients to virtually experience their new backyard.

Recently, the company took on mid-sized commercial and public projects, including a California public university looking to revamp its student housing space and a yet-to-be-announced nationwide fast-casual restaurant chain.

"Yardzen makes sense for any organization for which consistent landscape design across many properties is a priority," Messner says.

Yardzen's offers landscape designers and potential clients from across the country a way to work together without the physical site visits that used to restrict landscape designers to a drive-distance radius. Just as other remote gig platforms have done in other fields, this service created a national, virtual marketplace for designers and homeowners.

"For landscape designers, Yardzen acts as a platform for flexible, interesting work," says Messner. "Landscape design used to be hyper-local. As part of rethinking the whole process, we've built all of the tools required to empower our designers to design in new areas and broaden their portfolios."

However, in order to become one of Yardzen's contract designers, candidates must be vetted, and only those with a BA or Masters in Landscape Architecture are approved. There are full-time staff landscape architects and horticulturists at the Sausalito headquarters who primarily work on the product and oversee processes. Heading up the in-house and remote contractor teams is Kevin Lenhart, who came from traditional landscape architecture firm WRT, LLC in Philadelphia.

Messner found that most clients wanted to have a trusted contractor install their design right away, and would ask Yardzen to recommend one. A new element of the Yardzen product flow is the handoff of completed designs to the appropriate Build Partner, a landscape contractor that can execute the designs and maintain communication with the team.

The handoff is not the end of Yardzen's oversight, however. The product and engineering teams are creating tools for the Build Partner to auto-update the client design plans when they need to make a small amendment because of a discovery on the job site, or choose a material based on availability and delivery time, for example.

"I'm personally very excited about the possibilities in this area," says Messner. “Much like landscape design, landscape contracting is an industry that has seen little technology development and innovation."

Yardzen is also partnering with building contractors who want an easier way to plan out the landscape design portion of larger jobs, since Yardzen offers a cost-effective, streamlined and trackable way to make property improvements.

Smart online landscape design is here—a relief for property managers and commercial owners who have no time to get stuck in the weeds.