Garden design & planning by a landscape architect
Well-considered garden design from a single source – designed by a registered landscape architect and built by our own team.
How we plan your dream garden
A beautiful garden begins with careful planning. Together we develop a concept that suits you, your home and your plot – aesthetically considered and practical to build. Fuchs baut Gärten is your contact for garden design and landscaping in Bad Tölz and throughout Upper Bavaria.
Your path to the perfect garden
Our designer Rebecca Struller guides you through the whole process – from the first idea through the individual design to construction. We look at the big picture and the smallest details at the same time, so that everything comes together as a harmonious whole.
Who designs your garden
The design is the responsibility of Balbina Fuchs, Dipl. Ing. (FH), landscape architect and member of the Chamber of Architects. This means design at our company is not a by-product of building, but a service in its own right, backed by a legally protected professional qualification – something of an exception in landscape gardening.
In practical terms: if your project needs a building permit, we can prepare and submit the application plans ourselves – no additional architect is required. What this means for your garden, what role the second chamber registration in our management plays at the interface with the building, and how we work with your architect is explained on the landscape architecture page.
Garden plan, planting, lighting, technical design
Four types of plan that build on one another – each answering a different question.
Design plan and elevation
The design plan is the scale view from above: where the terrace is, how wide the path is, where each tree stands. This is where the decisions are made that are hard to change later – proportions, sight lines, path widths, seating area sizes. A terrace that is 40 cm too narrow stays 40 cm too narrow.
From above, however, you cannot see heights. That is why, for sloping gardens, walls and steps, we add an elevation: the same garden at eye level, as a section or elevation drawing. Only then can you grasp how high a wall will look, how many steps there will be and what a hedge will screen in five years. For the question of style, our garden type quiz can help.
The planting plan
A planting plan is not a wish list, but a parts list with locations: botanical name, variety, quantity, spacing, position. Plants are then ordered and planted accordingly.
Three things are decided here. Location: sun, partial shade, soil moisture, winter hardiness – at 800 m above sea level the choice differs from that in the south of Munich. Final size: anything that would crowd out its neighbour within three years is not planted, even if it looks lovely in the container. Flowering sequence: staggered so that there is something in bloom from March until the first frost, with seed heads left standing in winter. More on this: Plants and Perennial planting.
Lighting design
A lighting plan is not decided by the number of lights, but by what stays dark. Little is illuminated, and only with purpose: a specimen tree, a wall, a stretch of water that carries the light further. Paths get just enough light to be seen – ideally via motion sensors.
We plan in light points with cable routes, because ducting is laid before paving, not after. And two things are part of good craftsmanship: warm colour temperature and fittings that are shielded from above – this protects nocturnal insects. At night the light may be switched off completely; the garden then belongs to others. Examples: garden lighting.
Planning the furniture too
A dining set needs its space and a lounger its spot in the sun – and both only work well if the terrace size and surface suit them. That is why we clarify at the design stage where you will dine, relax and have shade, and whether it should be a parasol or an awning. As a Weishäupl partner, we show you fabrics and frame colours right here in our office: Garden furniture & parasols.
Photo: Weishäupl
How detailed should the design be?
At our company, design is a service in its own right – regardless of who builds later. And it can be scaled: you decide how deep we go.
- The design plan is the streamlined option: the scale view from above, as if a bird were flying over your garden. It sets out areas, paths and proportions – for many gardens, that is enough.
- Planting plan, lighting design, technical design. If you want to know which perennial goes where, where the lights sit in the evening, and how irrigation, water features or slope drainage are handled, you get separate plans for these. For water in the garden and on slopes, this is not a bonus but a necessity.
- A holistic concept considers the technical side from the very start – right through to the maintenance plan, which sets out what the garden needs in which month.
- See it instead of imagining it. On request, we show your garden as a 3D view in different seasons – and if you like, you can walk through it with 3D glasses before the first digger arrives.
The more extensive the design, the more work it involves – that is no surprise, but a decision you make. We will tell you openly in our first conversation what your project needs and what it doesn't. Request a consultation
What your garden plan really looks like
“We'll plan it” is easily said. So here we show you three sheets just as you would receive them from us – from two gardens that have long since been built.
Out of consideration for our clients, the title blocks with names and addresses have been cropped. How the two gardens look today is shown on the project pages.
A quick look
If you prefer to be shown: in just over half a minute, it covers what happens between the first conversation and the finished plan.
Six good reasons for professional design
As with building a house, careful planning is essential for a garden too – for a result you will enjoy for many years.
01 · Define the areas
Layout of spaces, sight lines and routes – uniform or varied.
02 · Choose the elements
Pool, beds, terraces, lawns – position and size to suit how you use the garden.
03 · Develop the garden style
Straight lines or curves, a sea of flowers or green, materials and lines – a harmonious whole.
04 · Clarify the details
Lighting, irrigation, planting and the order of the work stages.
05 · Long-term perspectives
Planned with foresight, so the garden can be adapted later with little effort.
06 · Realistic costing
All elements precisely defined – reliable cost calculation with no nasty surprises.
Accessible garden design
Enjoy your garden to the full, even with a disability: from the approach to your front door and parking space, through the living garden, to an accessible swimming garden – individually and thoughtfully planned. If you wish, we can lay out a garden from the outset so that it can later be adapted for easier access with little effort.
Visualisation & quote
We use modern technology to visualise your future garden in advance – as a 2D plan, 3D rendering or AI visualisation. The design fee depends on size and complexity and is payable regardless of whether the project is later built – you receive a reliable, stand-alone concept.
Save twice with your garden
Tradesperson services (e.g. garden remodelling, path construction, also new gardens): 20% of up to €6,000 = up to €1,200 / year. Household-related services such as garden maintenance: 20% of up to €20,000 = up to €4,000 / year. Example calculations in the tax bonus flyer (PDF, as of 2026).
“A garden is more than a green space – it is a place to unwind. Bringing Fuchs baut Gärten on board early was the best decision we made.”
Where we show you the plans
You can't really understand a garden plan over the phone. That's why we invite you to visit us in Lenggries: at this table we spread out the plans, lay the material samples alongside – natural stone, timber, liner colours – and walk through the garden step by step.
The room opens onto the garden, and our own Living Pool lies right outside the door. If you are thinking about water, you can go straight from the plan to the finished installation – and climb in. Book an appointment.
The people who draw your garden
Your garden isn't planned by an anonymous office, but by a team you get to know – and who will show up again on site later: six designers, covering everything from the garden concept and planting design to water design.
Rebecca Struller
Client acquisition & site management
B.Eng. Landscape Construction
Comes to the garden for the first appointment and later oversees the construction site as site manager.
Katharina Unterstaller
Design & planting design
B.Eng. Landscape Construction · currently on maternity leave
Draws the plans and designs the planting – from the first sketch to the plant list.
Markus Forberger
Design & perennials
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Landscape Architect
Our perennial expert – designs plantings that look better after years than they did at the start.
Hans Rampf
Water design
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Landscape Architect
Head of Biotop Swimming Pond & Living Pool – designs swimming ponds, natural pools and their technology.
Korbinian Stern
Design & construction
Journeyman landscape gardener · studying Landscape Construction Management
Trained landscape gardener, currently studying Landscape Construction Management – designs with knowledge from the building site.
Caspar Bartels
Client acquisition & site management
M.A.
Designs gardens and oversees them as site manager – from the first appointment to handover.
You can find the whole team – design, site management, carpentry, maintenance – under Our team. Photos: Benjamin Klopp / frames for good.
Look at the garden before you buy
A surveyor inspects the house. Usually nobody inspects the garden.
If you buy a house with a garden, you buy the garden too – including its condition and its follow-on costs. A surveyor checks the roof and the cellar, but the garden is usually not looked at at all, even though that is where the more expensive surprises can lie. We will look at it with you before you sign.
What will last, and what won't
Retaining walls and dry stone walls for stability, slopes for movement, paths and terraces for sub-base and frost damage, fences and gates for condition. A retaining wall that gives way is no small matter.
The trees
Large trees are the value of a garden – and sometimes its risk. We look at vitality, risk of breakage, distance from the house and what a tree will do in ten years. Also whether it is protected. More: Trees and large trees.
Technology underground
Pond and pool technology, irrigation, lighting, drainage: how old is the system, does it work, what does it cost to run, is there documentation? With water features we can quickly see whether the technology suits the basin – we have built over 440 of them.
What the garden will cost in its first year
In the end you receive an assessment: what has to be done straight away, what can wait, what you should keep and what has to go anyway. That is what you can budget for – before you buy.
And if you are selling
The reverse applies: no buyer will pay you back for an expensive new garden before the sale. What works is a clean maintenance prune, a tidy space, working technology and proof that someone has cared for the garden. That is far less effort than most people think – and we will tell you honestly if nothing needs doing.
Incidentally, we also take on the maintenance of existing gardens that we did not build – especially after a change of owner, when someone first has to get to know the garden. More under Garden maintenance.
You don't need to know what you want
Most home owners come to us with a feeling, not a plan: “somehow nicer”, “less work”, “finally sitting outside”. That is enough to begin with. Our job is to turn that into questions you can answer – and in the end, a garden.
Look first, then talk
You can take our garden type quiz – four rounds of pictures, under two minutes – and start the conversation with your result. Or you can browse finished gardens and tell us what you like and what you don't. Both help more than any description.
The first conversation costs nothing
We come to your garden, listen and tell you honestly what is possible and what we would leave alone. After that you will know whether we are the right fit for your project. Only then do we talk about design services.
Where we design and build
We design and build throughout the Bavarian Oberland and south of Munich: Bad Tölz, Tegernsee and Rottach-Egern, Starnberger See, Grünwald and southern Munich, Wolfratshausen, Geretsried, Penzberg, Weilheim and Miesbach – and if a garden is further afield, say in Rosenheim or the Chiemgau, we are just as happy to design it. For all locations and the projects we have built there, see our locations.
“We were in professional hands at every stage, from planning to handover.”
Answers about garden design
Who designs my garden – and with what qualifications?
Who offers individual advice on designing gardens and terraces?
What does garden design cost?
What happens at the first meeting – and how do I prepare?
Will I get a visualisation of my garden?
Do you design accessible gardens?
Do you also offer design only, without building?
How long does the design process take?
What if I don't like the design?
Is the design fee credited if we build?
Does my garden project need planning permission?
Do you also work outside Upper Bavaria?
How is my garden plan created?
Is my garden or my budget too small for you?
Can a garden be built in stages?
Is professional design worthwhile for a small garden too?
Let's talk about your project
We are happy to advise you in person, with no obligation.
Request a consultation