Andrew Garulay, RLA

It is a diverse field both through education and experience. The uniqueness of each individual’s education and experience through landscape architecture is very likely to transfer well to a number of other professions, but it may not be so easy to determine that most landscape architects transfer well to this or to that because of that…[Read more]

Is there a trend in universities toward adding MLA accreditation and dropping BLA accreditation?

In this economy every landscape architecture office is flooded with resumes whether or not they have a position to offer. There is little reason to spend money on advertising for entry level or all purpose staff when you do have a position if you are sitting on a pile of fresh resumes.

When would you advertise a position? When you have a special…[Read more]

It seems to me that putting too many details into a zoning ordinance causes more problems than it solves. The more detail that is written in, the less discretion the boards have to use. The thing that makes success is flexibility, at least to some point.

We have several specialized zones in one of the villages. They are so specific that they keep…[Read more]

… and those are interesting and are well written about, aren’t they?

When the high end restaurant left because the customers could not find it, did not like avoiding the kids skateboarding in the parking lot, and the buying power of the “walkable” demographic only allowed for fast food.

I think that we need to be honest with ourselves a bit, too. There is a lot more that an architect can do to affect energy consumption and material uses than very many of us can. A green roof still requires a building and let’s face it, bioswales and rain gardens do not make great repetitive articles or eye candy on a magazinepage. Of course a…[Read more]

Nothing is more refreshing than someone who sees multiple sides of issues. You do well with that and articulate it well, Jason. I appreciate that.

Nothing is worse than people who declare something as “the only right way” and force it on everyone else.

Complex issues are just that, complex. They are never solved with simple solutions.

Another important point is scope of work. What goes into a landscape design can be so variable that establishing a modus operandi is essential in order to get your feel for what flat rate you should charge for a particular job. You’ll see that one may charge $50 per hour with a final design fee of $500-$600 while another might mention the same…[Read more]

It is much easier to sell residential as a flat rate backed up by a high hourly rate for things outside of the contract. You can base that flat rate on your anticipated amout of hours times that high rate, if you think it can fly. It is very difficult to get someone to commit to pouring out $100 per hour without an end in sight.

High rates are…[Read more]

I think there is always a tendency for any of us to project the problems in the regions we work in to all others. A problem in one place is a solution in another. This is most commonly applied by people in low rainfall areas deciding that everywhere else needs to act like there is no water for some reason.

What is invasive in one region is not…[Read more]

I agree with Zach. While often over used, groundcovers have a practical application in many situations as well as having aesthetic uses. Why not decide that shrubs are outdated since they are so widely used. To be against ALL groundcover use sounds like imposing a personal bias rather than a practical reason.

Many are invasive, but not all. Huge…[Read more]

From ASLA’s website:

Eligibility Requirements – Initial Licensure
Requirements: To qualify for the written examination, applicants must have six years of training and educational experience in actual practice of landscape architecture. A degree from a school of landscape architecture approved by the board is deemed equivalent to four years of t…[Read more]

It depends on the state. In Massachusetts you need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited LA program and two years of full time work as an employee under the direct supervision of a Registered Landscape Architect, or a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture, or six years of full time work as an employee under the direct supervision of a…[Read more]

JS

I’m either not communicating well, or you are not reading what I wrote. All I’m saying is that IF you want to stay on the licensure track, starting a design/build right out of school is going to make that very, very, difficult. I’m not saying anything about whether or not it is a better road to follow.

Glenn,
You completely get it. It sounds…[Read more]

It is not the knowledge gained from hands on experience that works against you.

It may not work against you at all. Thatt is going to depend on whomever is doing the hiring. The reason why it can work against you is that people tend not to like the idea of setting up a competitor. A more mature person who is putting his own business on hold in…[Read more]

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think anything is a guaranteed career killer, but that you can position yourself so that in order to advance, you have to go backwards. If you have a family and are having some success as a landscape contractor, how is an intern position going to work?

No one is going to pay more for an intern because his needs are…[Read more]

I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it. I am saying that it will be very difficult to change the track that it will take you on once you get on it. You will be on a track that will give you only the experience you can get from the type of work that you can get and you’ll not have an easy time getting work that you don’t have a track record of doing…[Read more]

You’ll need to at least go to your town hall and fill out a d/b/a (doing business as) in order to legally use a company name.

You’ll probably be fine operating as a sole proprietorship since it is unlikely that you have a ton of assetts to protect and the grand it costs to register an LLC in MA is probably not in your curent budget.

Liability…[Read more]

Is it cause and affect, or affect and cause?

The notion that people will walk to accessible destinations is pretty elementary. What is missing is that proximity is a two way street. Some people prefer to be in the thick of things and some prefer some separation. Still others prefer a great deal of separation.

This goes back to that Rybczynski…[Read more]