WHO IS A LANDSCAPE DESIGNER AND WHY YOU AND YOUR PROPERTY NEEDs THEM

Whats makes a garden something that someone wants to walk through, look at and enjoy from a distance or pine over because it belongs to your neighbor and not you?

Maybe it’s luck because you own property/home that is in a beautiful location with reference to the flora or maybe you or someone before you spent a lot money hiring someone to get the back garden, front yard or fountain ready in a way that you could never have possibly envisioned yourself?

Hey, this is true. If you are not lucky enough to have a naturally beautiful location with your property, orchard or lot then maybe you will be in need of the help and knowledge of a landscaping expert! Someone with that green thumb that can come in and access your dirt and then tell you just what you wanted to hear or maybe not hear. Either way when speaking of gardens or lots the expert person or persons to approach and be advised upon are called professional landscape designers. Horticulture is their expertise and the landscape is their playground! They know sides of hills, valley’s from as big as a plateau to as small as a gully in a backyard as a trench. These are the experts you need to get you professional assessment for landscape design.

What about the meat and potatoes of the yard or backyard you own? Is this something that includes maintenance? No, not really. This is something that can be added as a side service if needed I suppose but normally yard maintenance and landscape design are 2 separate things and one or the other is a subgenre of the other.

Since this is a woman operated and owned business the matriarchy itself is supposed in the moniker or URL it is important to talk about women and how they have influenced landscaping. This will be skimmed over here but there will also be another blog in the future totally dedicated to women in horticulture and landscape design. Hand drafting is an expertise we possess.

See here to read more about other women in landscape design and enjoy from other current and past experts what this industry is all about from their perspective! Or, from the historical perspective there is Beatrix Ferrand and her amazing history and its contributions to landscape gardening and it became a “thing” to be recognized.

The in’s and out of what we do.

Here are some myths about what landscape designer/horticulturalists and contractors do.

They work outside.

Alright, so maybe you didn’t think that all landscape designer/horticulturalists work outside (or did you?), but believe it or not, that is a common comment I hear in conversations that start with the phrase, “So what do you do for a living?” The truth is, before I decided to pursue a career in landscape architecture, I thought I would spend about a third to half of my time in the field, but that is hardly the case as my un-tanned face would clearly betray. The amount of time “in the field” varies widely depending on the project and on the role of the landscape designer in his or her firm, but generally, landscape designers spend most of their days behind computer monitors or charts and architecture paper designing the world, or in meetings talking about designing the world.

Spring is their ‘busy’ season.

Nope. It’s not. This is another comment I hear a lot, especially from well-meaning extended family. Most projects take many months, if not years to plan and execute, thus eliminating the aspect of seasonality. There are many phases to project design, and most projects require review and approval by city or state agencies. This tends to expand a project design schedule from weeks to months. Also, once the design phase is completed, the project may only be half-way over. We still have to build it, folks!

They have green thumbs.

Mine are actually blue most of the time. Instead of working with plants, most of my time is spent drawing and redrawing spaces, and for that, we use our trusty 2H or B pencil. Planting design and maintenance is something landscape designers know a thing or two about, but it is only one aspect of the job. The truth is, there are many people out there who are really good with plants and planting design. Landscape architects specialize in outdoor places and integrating plants with the overall design goals of those spaces.

All male landscape architects have beards.

So, this myth might be true. Maybe not a full beard, but definitely some type of facial hair.

They don’t get along with civil engineers.

Definitely not true, Engineers and designers approach problem solving differently, possess different skill sets, and have different roles in project design, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get along. In fact, when working together, these different points of view makes projects better. To make this relationship successful, we have had to work on understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses and learn to communicate effectively. One tool that we often use is the design charrette (or workshop). This is a great way to work through many aspects of a project quickly in order to better understand the design problem and possible solutions. Another way we learn to get along is by going out for a beer.

So in summary this read is intended to be education as what a landscape artist does. It’s art and it’s labor. It’s a civic duty and it’s just plain old work that a professional background is paramount with a vast knowledge base of horticulture. With regard to your very own business it’s always important to define exactly what you are  fully capable of. In this case nothing short of design and artistic accomplishment in the gardens and fountains of your very own homes.