Landscape design is an art, but one of the most important skills is understanding people. Listening and understanding the client is the most important part of landscape design. It is also often the least thought about. Understanding what clients expect is the key to providing a great design. Design in landscaping requires several key elements. Schools teach the elements of color, line, form, texture, and scale, unity, balance, transition, proportion, rhythm, focalization, and repetition. Then, you must combine those design elements with extensive horticulture knowledge and understanding. A good landscape design begins with good site evaluation. Grades, elevation, and other site conditions can be challenges that need to be considered first. A lot of future problems can be avoided with proper attention to the actual limitations of the site to be landscaped.