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Pre-Design
Analysis Services

Gardener Trimming Shrubs

Plants, like humans and animals, have their preference on where they want to live. We offer a suite of pre-design services to study and understand your property and its unique needs. This helps to ensure that selected plants and designs are chosen for appropriate locations and that your landscape investment has the best chance to succeed.

 

These initial steps give us the data needed to make a successful landscape design plan and give you confidence in understanding your current property

Baseline Soil Study

A Baseline Soil Study is the ultimate insurance policy for your landscape design, replacing costly planting guesswork with definitive data to ensure your investment survives and thrives.

Starts at $149

If you decide to hire The Balanced Wild Co. to implement the remediation, a new design or ongoing Stewardship plan, you will receive 100% of the base analysis fee (before addons) as a credit toward the service.

Best Value
Design Foundation Package

We combine our baseline soil study and design ready site review into one package. You will receive the same detailed drawings and reports as if you purchased these separately, but you save compared to booking both services individually

Starts at $849
Design Ready Site Mapping

We create a detailed site map using survey grade measurement equipment to capture the precise local topography of your site. We create an 'as-is' site drawing including important plants, paths, structures, and hardscapes. 

Starts at $749
Image by Paul Hanaoka

Design Foundation Package

We combine our baseline soil study and design ready site review into one package. You will receive the same detailed drawings and reports as if you purchased these separately, but you save compared to booking both services individually

The Design Foundation Package Includes

  • Everything in the base Design Ready Site Mapping service

  • Everything in the base Baseline Soil Review service

Optional Paid Add-ons:

  • Larger Property Sizes 

  • All add-ons for the Design Ready Site Mapping and Baseline Soil Review Services may also be added to this combined package

Base pricing includes properties and design areas up to 0.5 Acres

Starting at $849

Our studio utilizes professional-grade GNSS RTK positioning and geospatial data analysis to provide high-precision site maps for landscape planning and concept design purposes. Please note that we do not provide licensed land surveying or certified civil engineering services. This data does not constitute a legal property boundary survey and should not be used as a definitive basis for property deed transfers, legal boundary disputes, or structural projects requiring stamped, state-licensed architectural or engineering seals.

Service Notes:

If your property or project is more than 2 acres or you have a special request please contact us for more information

Survey Equipment Outdoors

Design Ready Site Mapping

We create a detailed site map using survey grade measurement equipment to capture the precise local topography of your site. We create an 'as-is' site drawing including important plants, paths, structures, and hardscapes. 

All Design Ready Site Reviews Include:

  • Precise measurements using survey grade measurement tools to map existing bed shapes, local topography, hardscapes, and structures

  • List and layout of existing established trees and woody shrubs

  • Detailed landscape drawing showing the current property state

Optional Paid Add-ons:

  • Larger Property Sizes 

  • Hydrologic and drainage assessment (+$350)

    • Additional drawing layer is provided showing slope vectors and likely pooling points for surface drainage​

    • Visible drainage features like downspouts, drains, and pop-up emitters are captured in the drawing

  • Rain Harvest Potential Calculation​ (+$175)

    • We calculate viable surface areas for rainwater harvesting​ and provide recommended solutions based on your site details

  • Impervious Surface Calculation (+$150)

    • We measure the existing impervious surface percentage of the property​

Base pricing includes properties and design areas up to 0.5 Acres

Starting at $749

Our studio utilizes professional-grade GNSS RTK positioning and geospatial data analysis to provide high-precision site maps for landscape planning and concept design purposes. Please note that we do not provide licensed land surveying or certified civil engineering services. This data does not constitute a legal property boundary survey and should not be used as a definitive basis for property deed transfers, legal boundary disputes, or structural projects requiring stamped, state-licensed architectural or engineering seals.

Service Notes:

If your property or project is more than 2 acres or you have a special request please contact us for more information

Hands Holding Soil

Baseline Soil Study

A Baseline Soil Study is the ultimate insurance policy for your landscape design, replacing costly planting guesswork with definitive data to ensure your investment survives and thrives.

All Baseline Soil Studies Include:

  • On site soil sample collection and preparation for all selected services. Several samples are collected to provide an average result for the area

  • Included Base Tests
    • pH testing- determine if your soil is acidic or basic

    • Primary macronutrient testing for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N,P,K)

    • Soil texture study- identify the percentage of silt, clay, and sand in your soil. This indicates how readily your soil will drain excess moisture

    • Soil compaction testing- utilizing professional tools we measure the subsurface compaction of the soil at several depths, identifying potential drainage issues and evaluating how your soil will drain excess water

  • Soil core extraction to observe surface layers and structure

  • Report card for your soil's health with easy to understand results and graphics

Optional Paid Add-ons:

  • Additional basic tests for different landscape sections (+ $50 per zone)

  • Lab verification and high precision results. (+ $99 per zone) Test includes: pH, total Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, CEC​ (Cation exchange capacity), and soil texture

  • Heavy Metal and Environmental Toxin Lab Testing- Essential for urban lots, suburban properties built on old farm or industrial land, properties with children or pets, or edible gardens (requires lab verification add on, in addition to stated price)

    • Heavy metals Testing Level I (+ $100 per test): This test determines the total sorbed levels of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, chromium, and zinc

    • Heavy Metals Testing Level II (+ $175 per test): This test contains everything in Level I, plus arsenic, mercury, molybdenum, and selenium

Base pricing includes a single section of the landscape

Starting at $149

Lab testing is completed by the Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory. We collect, package, and ship the soil samples to the lab for processing with barcode labeled containers. Our report will include the original lab report documents where applicable.

 

Heavy metal testing samples will be sealed immediately after preparation on-site with a tamper evident seal to help ensure an appropriate custody chain is in place for each sample

Service Notes:

If you need more than 3 tests or have multiple properties to test, please send us a message detailing what you need and we will be happy to provide a custom proposal

Ready to Restore?

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