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Elaine our specifications did not cover retaining walls but they are definitely boiler plate and have been vetted through a review process cover soils, planting, irrigation, and tree protection. You can download them and their associated details at the ISA website or ours. http://www.urbantree.org.

Agreed. I am not suggesting recruiting. I do not like recruiting or attempts to convince people to enter any particular field. I agree that trying to “sell” someone on any profession does both that person and the industry a disservice.
But I do not believe that talking to young people and adults or answering questions about the profession is the…[Read more]

No, it is not worth waiting for. If you want to make enough money to buy a house and support a family, you need to cut your losses and take the position in your family’s company. Harsh words, but it sounds like you’ve already come to this realization already. LA, as taught in college, bears zero resemblance to the working world. If you’re in in…[Read more]

I’m curious to see where the LA River work is going to go – lots of work that will happen related to it.  Getting in touch with the consultants on that project should help (Mia Lehrer, Frank Gehry, etc).

As others have pointed out, a lot has to do with positioning.  I had a similar job while in grad school, mostly CAD jockey, but I got work on planting plans were I managed to get some freedom to design mostly based on understanding what planning boards may be looking for (an engineer might say less-evenly spaced shrubs, while you might call them…[Read more]

There are many roles to play in the LA profession and we often work with consultants who specialize in specific parts such as lighting, ecology, structural engineering, etc. We also have people join our company who have spent time working in those consulting firms early in their career. So yes there is a chance for you to move on to design office…[Read more]

True.  The 101 is awful. But Los Angeles is changing its ways.  And I can’t help but think that the complexity of challenges it presents sure would make it an interesting place to practice.

Thanks for the wise words everyone.  While many of the kids I went to school with walked out of school and into some of the top firms in New England, its nice to hear that is not the normal story, and many took a much more journeyed trip into where they are.  I’m gonna try and stick it out for awhile longer and try a little harder to get my foot i…[Read more]

Hi William,
Great advice from Robert Anderson and Andrew Garulay.  
If you have the passion, your designs will come from your skills, your training and from your heart.  A future employer will pickup on your passion and your ability to connect with the hearts of their clients and their clients’ projects , so don’t give up William. 
Andrew Ga…[Read more]

Hello.  We are a full service landscape company in Winter Park, FL looking for a qualified Landscape Architect.  Please send your resume to:  mai@signaturelandscapecontractors.com if you have interest.
Thank you

Thanks for reporting back Kathy.
If I were a student, I would be learning VWL and after a couple weeks I’d feel just fine drawing up a site plan and playing with site mods What makes things more complicated in the professional world is need for accuracy and file interoperability with other consultants. I’ve spoken with Robert before and he is very…[Read more]

12/31 – I bit the bullet and purchased VW Landmark.  I’m also working my way through the videos and feel it’s going to be a bit of a learning curve to get up to speed.  I was hoping to work through a small design that I have to do in VW, but have decided that I better just keep plugging through the videos until I feel I have a better grasp.  
I al…[Read more]

We are officially, albeit slowly, transitioning our small practice to VW Landmark. I’ve been running two trials back to back on different computers to try and get the hang of the software and although I’ve been tinkering and watching all the videos I can for several weeks I can say with certainty that I am still just scratching the surface.
The…[Read more]

I graduated in ’97 at 35 and had just started a family in Idaho. I moved back to Massachusetts 2 years later when I really started looking for work. I was in the same boat as you in that I was not getting hired by anyone and wound up drafting in a CE office. Just like Robert, I did everything that I could toward designing sites rather than…[Read more]

Hi Will,
I was (am) in your same shoes.  I graduated with my degree at 28 and am now 32.  I too have been on the fence about the industry at times since finding jobs is very difficult without the usual 3-5 years experience.  I started doing my own projects on weekends for friends and through craigslist to generate my own experience and build my re…[Read more]

Thanks for the insight.  I do love living in AK, however it does severely limit my job prospects.  I may have to reconsider where I call home. Although moving makes me a little leery as well, only because I have already moved twice for jobs where they “where going to start me in drafting and then move me to design work when they had space”, and t…[Read more]