This is the set of ground rules we both work to, so the job runs smoothly on site and the finished garden holds up through Kanazawa’s wet seasons and winter snow.
What we’re doing
We will deliver garden design and landscaping to the scope, specification, and site notes agreed for your project. This includes the items listed below, and it also includes the normal on-site steps needed to build them properly, such as measuring levels, setting out lines, excavation, base preparation, and a clean finish.
Kenji Morita leads the design and plan set. Aiko Tanaka runs the site day to day and is your main contact during the build. Ryo Matsumoto leads hardscape installation. Mai Nishimura leads planting and finishing work.
* Scaled garden plan * Plant list and placement map * Paving and path build * Timber structures * Drainage and grading set-out * Lighting allowance setup
Booking deposit
To book your start week, you pay a 40% deposit when you sign the proposal. That deposit secures time for our team, holds your place in the schedule, and allows us to lock in key materials and deliveries.
If you cancel before we have started on design or site preparation, we will confirm what work and costs have already been committed and refund the unused balance. If we have already started design, ordered materials, or reserved equipment for your dates, the deposit is not refundable for those committed parts, because we cannot always unwind them. We will explain it in plain numbers.
Payment
You pay 40% to book the work when you sign, then the remaining 60% when the job is finished. We will invoice for each payment, and every invoice is payable within 14 days of its date.
If an invoice goes past due, we will pause any non-essential work until the account is brought up to date. If we are on site, that may mean we make the area safe and tidy, then stop until payment is received. If your delay causes wasted deliveries, remobilisation, or extra visits, we will price those costs and agree them with you in writing before we continue.
Changes on site
If you want to change the plan, materials, or layout after sign-off, we will price the change in writing before we do it. We only proceed once you confirm the updated scope and cost in writing. This keeps surprises out of the final invoice and stops small changes turning into bigger knock-on work.
If we uncover hidden conditions once excavation starts, such as buried rubble, soft ground, failed drains, or unstable edges, we will stop in that area and show you what we found. We will offer options and pricing in writing before we continue, including what it means for drainage, levels, and winter performance.
Access and decisions
You give us access to the garden during agreed working hours, plus a practical place to stage materials and store tools safely. Please tell us in advance about any access limits, opening hours (for shops or ryokan), and any neighbours we need to be considerate of for delivery and noise.
You will mark any private lines you know about and tell us where we can use water and power. We will ask for a few time-sensitive decisions during the job, such as final stone layout or plant substitutions. When we ask, please reply promptly so we do not have to pause the crew. Aiko Tanaka is your day-to-day contact on site.
What’s not included
Unless we have listed it in the agreed scope, we are not including: structural engineering or building consent work, arborist services for large trees, treatment of contaminated soil, or locating unknown underground services beyond what you can point out. Removal of hazardous materials is also excluded.
Electrical work is split: we prepare the lighting allowance setup in the landscape build, including trenches and conduit routes where agreed. A licensed electrician supplies and connects wiring, transformers, and fixtures. We will coordinate timing so the electrician can work efficiently, but their labour and supply are not included unless we have priced them specifically.
Finish and handover
We will leave the site in a tidy, safe condition at the end of each work day, and we will complete a final clean-up at handover. We make good areas we disturb as part of our work, such as re-levelling soil in affected garden beds and tidying around new edges, paths, and planting.
We do not restore unrelated areas that were already uneven, waterlogged, or worn before we started, and we cannot guarantee exact colour matching in natural stone or timber. Before final fixing, we will lay out stone so you can see the mix and joint lines. After handover, if you spot a snag, tell us in writing with photos if you can. We will arrange a practical time to inspect and put it right where it relates to our workmanship.
Problems and limits
We take responsibility for doing the work with care, to the agreed plan and accepted site practice for drainage, bases, and fixings. If we damage your property through our work, we will put it right or agree a fair remedy.
There are limits to what we can control on an outdoor site. We are not responsible for failure caused by extreme weather, flooding, frost heave beyond normal expectations, pre-existing drainage defects outside the work area, or unknown underground services and structures that were not identifiable before digging. Plant performance also depends on aftercare. We will give you practical first-winter notes, and we ask you to follow them so plants have the best chance to establish.
Ending the project
If you need to stop the project, or if we need to stop it, we will confirm the notice period with you in writing and set out what happens next. Up to the stop date, you pay for the work completed, materials ordered for your job, and any costs we cannot cancel.
If the project ends after design work has begun, we will hand over what has been completed and paid for, such as the current scaled garden plan, plant list, and any set-out notes. If it ends during construction, we will make the site safe, explain what is incomplete, and agree a practical plan for protecting open excavations and drainage lines until the next steps are decided.
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