For landscape architects & designers

Plan, design, present and promote outdoor spaces

Accurate existing conditions before you draw, a 3D model your client can understand, and photographs of the finished work from angles no ladder reaches.

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What this covers

Four moments in a landscape project where a drone earns its place

Plan. A landscape design starts with what is already there: grades, drainage, trees, hardscape, structures and the edges of the property. A drone flight produces an orthomosaic, an elevation model and contours of the whole site in one visit, which you can bring straight into CAD as a base.

Design. A 3D model of the existing site lets you test grading, walls, planting and sightlines against the real terrain rather than a flat plan. For larger sites, cut and fill between the existing and proposed surfaces gives a first estimate of earthworks.

Present. Clients rarely read plans well. An aerial view of their own property, with the design placed into it, shows them what they are buying. The same view helps at a public meeting or a design panel.

Promote. The finished project, photographed from above and at eye level in good light, is the best marketing a design firm has. The ability to show your work well can be the difference between winning and losing the next contract.

Four moments in a landscape project where a drone earns its place: Illustration

What you receive

Deliverables that fit a design workflow

Orthomosaic (GeoTIFF) scaled to the site, for a base plan
Contours (DXF) at the interval your design needs
Elevation model and a textured 3D mesh of the existing site
Tree canopy and hardscape visible in one georeferenced image
Aerial and ground photographs of the completed work, edited for print and web
Short aerial video of the finished space for your website and social media

Choosing the method

Photogrammetry or LiDAR for a landscape site

Site	Better method	Why
Open lot, lawn, hardscape	Photogrammetry	Gives an orthomosaic and a surface in one flight; the ground is visible.
Mature trees, dense shrubs	LiDAR	Laser returns reach the ground under canopy, where cameras only see leaves. See LiDAR.
Steep ravine or shoreline	Often both	LiDAR for the ground, photogrammetry for the image your client recognizes.
Finished project photos	Camera drone and ground camera	Planned for light, season and the angles that show the design intent.

How it works

From the first site visit to the portfolio

Tell us the site and the purpose

Boundary, what you need to draw and the accuracy you need. For a planning base, ground control ties the map to the surveyor's coordinates.

Existing conditions flight

One visit, with surveyed control where accuracy matters.

Files into your software

Orthomosaic, contours and surface in your coordinate system, delivered on one project record.

Presentation views

Aerial views from the angles your client will care about, ready for the design to be placed in. See aerial panoramas and renderings.

Completion shoot

Photographs and video once the planting has settled, often a season after handover.

From the first site visit to the portfolio: Illustration

The people around the job

Who else touches the site data

Land surveyor

Ce qu'il leur faut de vous: Their legal boundary and control respected.
Ce qu'il vous faut d'eux: A detailed topographic base without paying for a full ground survey of every tree.
Sur le dossier DroneLink: The flight is tied to the surveyor's control points; legal boundaries stay the surveyor's work. See surveyors and engineers.

Civil engineer

Ce qu'il leur faut de vous: Grades and drainage they can check.
Ce qu'il vous faut d'eux: Their comments on the same base you design on.
Sur le dossier DroneLink: Everyone works from one elevation model on one record.

Client

Ce qu'il leur faut de vous: To understand the design and trust the budget.
Ce qu'il vous faut d'eux: A quick yes.
Sur le dossier DroneLink: Aerial views of their own property with the design shown in place.

Architect

Ce qu'il leur faut de vous: The building and the landscape to fit.
Ce qu'il vous faut d'eux: Their model placed on the same terrain.
Sur le dossier DroneLink: See architects and designers.

Questions

Is a drone map accurate enough to design on?

For design, yes, when it is tied to surveyed ground control: results are typically within a few centimetres. Legal boundaries and anything that needs a surveyor's stamp remain the surveyor's work.

Can you see the ground under trees?

With LiDAR, largely yes. With photogrammetry, only where the ground is visible from above. We recommend the method once we see the site.

When is the best time to photograph a finished landscape?

Usually a growing season after completion, in soft morning or evening light. We plan the shoot around the planting, not just the handover date.