Andrew Garulay, RLA

Honesty is the best policy. If you are capable most people understand that it takes a bit of time to build up enough work to go full time into freelance design. They will know up front that you can only be reached at certain times and such.

I worked for 5 years “on the side” to get established while working full time in a civil engineering office…[Read more]

I believe that when you stamp and sign a document you have something akin to a trademark. This can be important in the future because I don’t believe that anyone or firm could stop you from using that work as part of your portfolio. It may also carry more weight with a future employer to see plans stamped by you in that portfolio.

A solid body of…[Read more]

Everyone has different ways to deal with it.

My father used to tell me that when you reach a creative block it is best to do something knowing that you’ll undo it later rather than to stagnate. I found that to be true back when we were building rock gardens … we’d add a plant or rock that did not really do what we wanted it to do, but soon…[Read more]

Brian,

I agree with some of what you are saying, but the license and ability to use the professional title is a big incentive to jump through all those extra hoops. Those extra hoops take a lot of effort and commitment which builds knowledge. If you take that away by making it available to anyone, almost everyone would bypass gaining that extra…[Read more]

We were also taught that we are important and need to take control of everything landscape – the less you do the more diminished you are. This is something that took me forever to learn. It goes back to the most important thing that we need to do -Get Work. Every time we over reach we are affecting someone else’s livelihood. Some would call it…[Read more]

Leslie, those three areas that you mentioned you are weak in are exactly the types of things that were beaten into our heads by professors and cheerleaders of the profession.

I do a ton of pool plans (especially since the Great White Shark spike here on Cape Cod). I don’t touch the pool guts other than for accounting for the structure of an…[Read more]

One thing that I did not understand early on and for a long time after was that the concept of that all landscape architects need to know and be good at a certain template of skills and knowledge to succeed is not necessarily true due to the diversity of the profession. I think I wore cement shoes for quite a while trying to do what I was taught…[Read more]

Amber,

If you are just starting out you might want to start with flat rate fees. That makes it much easier for a prospect to feel comfortable about the overall cost. You’ll need to write a contract with the scope of work described so it is clear what you are and what you are not doing for the fee. You should state how many revisions you’ll do…[Read more]

I’m all for 50% retainer, but I know there are some states that limit how much you can take up front. I’m almost certain that California is one that limits it to 10% or $1,000 which ever is more. I might be confusing this with Oregon, but I don’t think so.

Check your state laws on how much you can legally ask for up front. I think California limits that to 10%.

The simple yet complex answer as to what landscape designers charge is this – whatever someone is willing to pay. We are not selling something that comes in a box that is the same thing in the box that the next landscape designer is selling,…[Read more]

J.,

Now you can develop your side work without a conflict of interest. You also don’t have to rely on it for your sole source of income. I used that to allow myself to pick and choose side work to develop a portfolio of built work and develop methods and strategies that worked for me.

It helps that you do not necessarily have to charge top…[Read more]

J.,

I’m glad to share.

The secret to walking on water is knowing where the rocks are.

My mentality is to harness energy that already exists rather than trying to force something. If you pay a lot of attention and observe where the energy is or more importantly where it starts to grow.

An analogy is to put your mill wheel where the river is flowing. Recently, all the good mill sites were filled so there was no place to put your…[Read more]

I can only speak from my own little area and my own niche. Two “disasters” have benefitted the niche that I work in.

First is the boom in seal population on Cape Cod which has made a steady and fast growth in Great White Shark sightings and a few incidences in the last 8 years or so – this has raised a high demand for swimming pools. I am quite…[Read more]

And, I totally understand that “autoCAD” is where the LA profession has been for many years. But, I’ve seen way too many “autoCAD” drawings where maybe only (1 or 2) line weights were used…very difficult to read & understand those drawings. A variety of “line weights” makes a huge different, whether it’s “autoCAD” or “Hand Drawn”. What’s…

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“Whether drawings are created using “autoCAD” or “Drawn by Hand”……both the Design and the quality of the drawings need to be “outstanding”! Creativity, Strong Graphics, Good Line Weights, etc…High Quality Design & Graphics, regardless of the method/s you use should be a high priority, IMO.”

I’m not sure why it is. Maybe it is the computer age.…[Read more]

I have never had to sign anything, but it is pretty standard practice that a dwg is sent with an email stating that the dwg shall only be used exclusively to do the landscape plan or whatever the request is for. It protects them from you passing it along to another surveyor to stake the job. More importantly is that they are making it clear that…[Read more]

The simplest way would be to say that you would like the lower slope concave and the upper slope convex, or so I think this is what you want to describe.

Definitely agree that there are lots of people in lots of different boats in society at large and lots of different niches in the landscape architecture world. Some are in calmer waters than others.

This is a good time to pay attention to which segments of the market stay active and who keeps doing well. I’m talking about the people who hire LAs…[Read more]