Landscape Professionals

Landscape architects and designers are landscape professionals who play different roles in helping to create ideal landscapes. They can help to solve specific problems and set priorities. How do their functions differ?

• Landscape architects use technical and artistic talents and education to plan and design built environments (landscapes.) Molders or architects of the land is one way to describe their jobs. Training and studies are rigorous. A landscape architect studies to do engineering analyses as well as design-and-build specifications for both large commercial projects and smaller residential landscapes. Landscape architects undergo apprenticeships and lengthy examination before licensure.

Landscape architects may study and exploit additional training in social sciences – such as behavioral psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics – to bring a human dimension to their designs. Breaking and Entering, a film about a London landscape architect with Jude Law in the starring role, is an example of this approach.

Many times, people, especially home owners, think they need to use a landscape architect for projects. However, unless there are significant or unusual environmental problems, hiring a qualified landscape designer, at a significantly lower price, might be the best bet.

• Landscape designers analyze exterior spaces to plan, design, and create livable landscape designs. Their building blocks are plants and hardscape components. Organizations like The Association of Professional Landscape Designers® promote standards of excellence and a certification process within the profession. However, be aware that almost anyone can use the title “landscape designer.” Some individuals possess good artistic talent, academic credentials, and on-the-job experience, while others know only a little, leaving customers frustrated and dissatisfied.

Garden centers and landscape firms often employ landscape designers as a complementary customer service or as an add-on fee-for-service option. Finding a landscape designer in this manner can be a good deal for a customer. However, this approach may lead to designers using only what their employers want to emphasize and sell, resulting in neighborhood or regional look-alike designs.

Landscape designers have created some of our best-known and well-loved garden landscapes. The book, Pioneers of American Landscape Design, contains synopses of the lives and work of many garden designers and architects. Here are three of my 20th century favorites – two American women and one British profiled in The Principles of Gardening: A Guide to the Art, History Science and Practice of Gardening:

• Edith Wharton (1862-1937),
• Beatrix Jones Ferrand (1872-1959), and
• Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932).

Green Industry Professionals, the second article in this series, describes services of landscape contractors (landscapers) and landscape contractors. The thrid article in this series describes specialized services of landscape professionals who provide a multitude of services. The 4th and 5th articles look at how to choose the correct professional for a project, and how to find and hire a professional.

©Text and photograph by Georgene A. Bramlage, January 2007. Reproduction without permission prohibited.