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My only thought on monochrome, which is of course beautiful, is that it would be nice if the decision to go monochrome had some relevance to your design.

Nicely done!  I’m so glad I put my money in free-range electromagnet futures!

done

+2

April,
 
It is a huge advantage not to need work to keep you fed. A big trap door for a lot of people when they do this is that at some point they start taking on lower level work in order to bring in some money, next comes pricing to desperately make a sale, and before you know it you have become a discount landsaper getting more references for m…[Read more]

Aw, c’mon…take a swing.  You know you want to!
Seriously – I have had TONS of client contact in my previous jobs with some very difficult and demanding people.  I don’t see how a landscape installer can be any worse than Bill Gates Sr. (yeah, that one – NOT the nicest guy), an attorney that graduated from Yale that thinks his shit doesn’t s…[Read more]

I would prefer to hear all the nasty realities.  My partner of many years owned a building company back in the 80’s that went bankrupt.  I have heard the stories.  Believe me…I wouldn’t be able to lift a finger towards a goal like this without a ton of research, a solid business plan – solid enough to convince a lender to extend a line of cr…[Read more]

Are there rules against dreaming and wishful thinking on this board? 
Let me assure you I’m more pessimistic than my post lets on.  In fact, if I’m not careful, I’ll morph into the female version of you if I don’t watch it.

Thanks Jay!  I’ve talk to a few principals of LArch firms in NYC about the realities of the job and the day-to-day tasks.    Having earned my first masters, I went through the process of having my academic safe, free-thinking bubble burst when I went to work for the City of New York.  Trust me, a crappy day of work in the Landscape Arc…[Read more]

It sounds like a good plan. The problem is going to find someone with those skills who wants to partner up with you. What do they get out of the deal? You believe that it takes them to the next level, but do they believe it does that?
 
What are their alternatives to partnering up? They can hire a designer for each individual job that requires…[Read more]

thanks. this is my first time seeing b&w masterplan. i always thought that the masterplan must be in colour or not it would be considered as an unfinished work.

yeah, thanks Walter. this is the kind of things i am searching for. i would actually want to develop my style of presentation which is in monochrome and the blog does inspire me. 

thanks.. this would really help in my presentation next time. 

That’s great news for you Heather! But, you do have one huge advantage: you and husband were a LA design build duo. One person doing this route solo, especially right out of school would find a more difficult time.
I can guarantee that a graduating nursing student will FIND employment before a landscape architecture one! By average in the long…[Read more]

April, you are definitely dreaming!! How do you suppose of getting your license working with a non-licensed landscape contractor? If you think your schooling is teaching all you need to know about the design aspect of LA….then you are spending way too much time in Disneyland. Heed to Jason’s advice and comment.

You said it all, Jason! Students today simply DO NOT know what they’re getting themselves into…this roller coaster of a profession.

Jay, this is what I’ve been hollering and yelling out to students for the past 10 years!!! And I’ve been having this debate with Craig Anthony for months on end. Tell the students the hard truth. As students, you are the University’s clients. Those school projects are not realistic. In the real world, you don’t have countless hours to spend on a…[Read more]

I need your support, please just save me 10sec to vote on facebook for my Africa project… i need your support to make my dream real <3

There will not be one this spring. All of my other opportunities came through. The closest reviews I will be doing are Sections C and E in Denver, and Section C in Philly.

Maybe I can work something out in the fall.

Well, the design build market around where I hang my had is woefully oversaturated, and competition would be very tough. You have the large companies that have been doing it forever, you have the nurseries/garden centers that are well equipped, plus have access to their own plants since many here grow their own (they write off the design p…[Read more]