Landscape Architect / Landscaping Designer

A Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer is the person behind beautiful parks, lawns, and gardens. Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designers conceptualize, plan and create outdoor spaces to maximize the area's potential. To become a Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer, one must have thorough knowledge of plants and trees, urban design, natural and manufactured environments, hardscaping, institutional design for such areas as hospitals, corporate offices, hospitals and other public spaces, plus standard civil engineering elements such as irrigation and city planning.

Education requirements: It is necessary for a future Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer to obtain a bachelor's or master's degree in landscape architecture before being considered for any type of job. This also includes entry level positions with the Federal Government. Students may choose from one of two bachelor's degrees, including a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture (BSLA) and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA). Both courses typically require four - five years of study in natural science, social science, art, history, design, and construction techniques.

The master's degree program for a Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer is typically the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA). This course of study can take two - three years depending on the student's undergraduate degree.

As of 2007, 61 colleges and universities offered programs in landscape architecture accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The requirements for obtaining an MLA are more stringent than the bachelor's degree and require the student to study such subjects as of general management; computer-aided design and other software; geographic systems; landscape ecology; regional and urban planning; history of landscape architecture; nature, plant and soil sciences; surveying; construction techniques; site design; landscape design; and geology.

Currently, 49 states require Landscape Architects/Landscaping Designers to be licensed by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Board. Licenses are obtained by taking the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.)

Many states have different requirements for licensing and maintaining that license. Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designers may be required to participate in continuing education to keep a license valid and current.

The Federal Government does not require Landscape Architects/Landscaping Designers to be licensed.

The occupation of Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer can cover a lot of areas. Many Landscape Architects/Landscaping Designers specialize in specific areas in order to make their jobs easier and to allow them to become an expert in a certain discipline.

The most common split in this field is between residential and commercial work. Both areas include a great deal of knowledge and planning in order to create a functional and beautiful exterior to any building. Therefore, a Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer must have knowledge of design, zoning, botany, native flora and fauna, reclamation, soil science, art, conservation, and overall expertise in natural and manmade structural elements. Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designers must also have refined math and standard accounting skills, as well as business experience in order to create estimates, negotiate labor and material costs.

Residential work most often includes conceptualizing, planning, designing, implementing and maintenance of the landscaping of homes and private gardens. This may include soil reclamation and conservation, planting, transplanting, irrigation, statuary, water features, masonry and other hardscaping such as tile, concrete, block, brick and other structural additions and/or repair.

Commercial work is a much broader area and the Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer must have all of the above listed skills and many others as well. Commercial work covers a lot of ground and is more or less the side of the business that does everything but residential architecture and design.

Some commercial projects may include: golf courses; public parks and recreation; schools; playgrounds; college and university campuses; shopping centers, parkways; gardens and arboreta; monuments; therapeutic gardens; urban design; institutional; hospitality and resorts; security design; landscape art and sculpture; corporate offices, complexes and compounds; historic preservation and restoration projects; reclamation; transportation corridors and facilities such as highway medians, roadside design, and scenic and rest areas; streetscapes, conservation; erosion repair; irrigation systems; wetlands; and more.

Within these specialties, all Landscape Architects/Landscaping Designers must be able to perform specific tasks, both creative and on a business level. It is imperative to understand mathematics, supply chains, accounting procedures, purchasing, and negotiation skills.

Daily duties may include: Conceptualizing, planning and designing a wide variety of outdoor spaces; sketching; presentations; grounds maintenance; hiring and scheduling labor, internally or externally; understanding city or county regulations and zoning, including that of historical societies; deciphering appropriate planning and zoning in regards to weather systems and zones; preparing land for grading, reclamation, planting flowers, grass, trees and shrubs according to owner's preference or from original design; cultivating, sodding, transplant, installation of various objects including retaining walls, water features, and other hardscaping; determining appropriate soil elements such as effective fertilizers, seeds, sprays and other treatment; mowing; trimming; operation of hand and power tools including hedge and edge trimmers, various lawn mowers, saws, pruning tools, rakes, shovels, hoes, scythes, hoses, sprinklers, spades, trowels, cement mixers, grading and reclamation machinery; building exterior elements such as bridges, gates, fountains, sculpture, walls, and out buildings; and much more.

The skills required for a Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer is a formal education; a love of nature; solid organizational, math, business, computer, and accounting skills.

Nearly 20% of all Landscape Architects/Landscaping Designers are self employed, which means that salaries are often unpredictable. The most recent median annual salary for a Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer is $62,250.

Everyone has seen the work of a Landscape Architect/Landscaping Designer at some point, whether it's the work of a professional or avid hobbyist. However, there are a large number of professional designers that have gained notoriety for their works. Some of these include:

Fletcher Steele, creator of Naumkeag, a spectacular multi-level garden located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Thomas Church, designer of Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia.

Frederick Law Olmsted, creator of Central Park in New York City.

The American Society of Landscape Architects American Nursery and Landscape Association

Landscape designers are in demand in most large cities. Some of the top cities accounting for landscape design job placement are Los Angeles CA, Miami FL, and Atlanta GA.