[BJR]

Hi everyone.

I haven't been on-line for a while. Some of you might know that I live in Australia. I am looking to expand my business, and by doing so I am wanting to do a landscape design course by correspondence.

I have found one called Landscape Design School. I think it is over your way somewhere. It looks very good.

Has anyone heard of this course, and how recognized is it?

[agla]

If that is the Anna Gresham Landscape Design School, it is out of New Zealand.

I think that you have to look at any design school or degree in terms of what it can do for your abilities rather than anyone recognizing the name. People almost never ask where you went to school or what your credentials are in the landscape design arena. That makes the knowledge you get from the program the determining factor in its value.

My personal opinion is that a correspondence course is better than no course, but with landscape design the key is really constant interaction, critiques, and discussion. Universities that have LA programs usually have a curriculum that will have you in studio design class for 9 hours a week every year with projects that will keep you camped in there for at least another 10. Then there are the graphics classes in your first or second year for at least 4 hours a week for a year. Plant ID and usage classes for 4 hours a week for a year. Most other landscape arch classes are done in the studio or in charette form. In other words, you eat live, and sleep it with the same people interacting day after day after day.

In a correspondence course you will be spoon fed and will get only a certain perspective. I do not see a lot of value in it, but that is just my opinion. When there is freedom in studying more freely, we all have a tendency to study what we know or what we like. That is not conducive to broadening horizons and gaining in areas that we avoid or simply have not been exposed to.

If you are looking to get some basic overview and general training in drawing and layout it will certainly help. Knowing a little bit about you from your earlier postings, it may be all you need. If I recall, you have a lot of landscape install and plant knowledge. You may only be looking for just for a few skill sets that you want to add to put you over the top. In that case it will be good.

No one cares about your or my credentials, only our portfolios of built work. All that matters is how well you can show what you can do for them and how comfortable they are with you getting the job done.

[BJR]

Thanks Agla.

20 years ago I did 3 1/2 years of the Diploma in Horticulture. I was unable to finish as I had 6 staff to take care of and a flurishing business. I could not spend the time needed to complete thae course. Since then I have done all facets of landscaping especially structural. I also owned a retail nursery for 4 1/2 years. My landscaping and plant knowledge is very good. My design knowledge is lacking. I have great ideas but find it hard to put onto paper as a professional looking plan.

I have a growing Landscape business, a family with 3 kids under 6 and not much time. A TAFE or Uni course would be ideal, but with limited time, not practical. A corespondence course where I can be in charge of the hours is a better option.

I believe that a good design is not how good it looks, but how functional it is and if it suits the clients lifestyle and budget.

I also believe that the difference between a good designer and a mediocre designer is their willingness to be constantly researching new ideas, materials and attend seminars and trade shows. As you know landscape design is a living thing, constantly growing and changing. This also goes for Landscape contractors.

So what I am really looking for is a good course to teach me the fundamentals and how to draw. The rest will come from me interacting with other people in the industry.

What are your views concerning freehand designs and computer generated designs. Is a CAD system better.

[agla]

It sounds like you may already be a good designer, but are looking to make nicer looking plans.

Hand drawing vs. CAD is not a yes or no answer. It depends how well you can draw, how well you can CAD draft, and how much your drawings will have to come from or go to other design professionals.

I use CAD, but I do not have professional quality drawing hands. For me, it is also important to be exchanging files with architects, engineers, and surveyors which means CAD is essential.

As far as being a fine quality document for implementing a landscape design, it does not matter. It has to be able to communicate what is necessary for the particular job, should be helpful in making a sale, and should be efficient to produce. Sometimes that means a lot of precision or a pretty well rendered plan while other times a scrap paper with a quick sketch is fine. It depends on what your designing, who it is for, to what degree of accuracy is necessary, and how much effort you can invest in the design (design profit or potential sale).

You have to know your market and where you fit into it in order to really know what is too much and what is not enough. Sometimes it is best if you can identify a viable market and target it as a niche for you to operate in.

In my opinion, too many landscapers try to fill every part of the market. When they do that they tend to wallow in the lower end of it. I think that it is because the lower you get in the market, the bigger the market is. Just on those odds the likelihood of a higher volume of lower end work is always higher. I also think we are all identified by our lowest 30% of work.

I still have not found a landscaper that does not describe his work as high end. I was once given the advice not to do any discount work because once you do you are then a discounter.

Aim high and stay high (not a Cheech and Chong reference).

[jwholden]

BJR,

I, like you, went to school for horticulture. I only took one design course while in school and my presentation skills have evolved over time, but are nowhere near where they could be. I haven't hit a wall with my drawings not selling the job, but would like to be able to draw a decent plan as I search for that elusive upscale, or almost upscale market.

With some help from agla I have been working on my plan graphics and found a great book about drawing. It should be called plan graphics for idiots but it does a great job of explaining all the stuff that most designers take for granted. I bought it at amazon.com but I found it here. I highly recommend you check this book out:

Plan graphics

[BJR]

I live in Newcastle about 2 hours north of Sydney. I grew up in Sydney and started landscaping there. I know the Sydney market and also the Newcastle market. Currently the Newcastle market is laging behind the Sydney market as far as quality, pestegious landscapes are concerned. I believe that in the next 6 years the Newcastle market will be somewhere nearer the Sydney market as more Sydney people move up. I want to be the main player in up market landscaping. I have always chased this in paving and retaining walls, which is my speciality. But I want to branch out into full on prestegious landcapes. I want quality work not volume.

I now spend 2 1/2 days a week in the office doing quotes and keeping up with the paper work. This is just to keep 4 staff going. I have calculated that it won't take much more to keep 6 staff going. This will allow me to stand back from the tools and concentrate on running the business and chase the better jobs.

Thanks for the info on the book JW. I will try and find a copy here.