[Christa]

Thanks, J.Nielsen, for the reply!

I spoke to one leadership coach. They clarified that a career coach helps with resumes and mock interviews, while a leadership/executive coach helps with goal setting, improving the way you show up for your team, and reaching the next level in your career, whatever that may be. The service is pricey, more than $1k per month, or $700 per session (based on my one data point). I have decided to hold off for now, and am instead perusing some leadership, healthy habits, goal setting books available from my library or audible. So far, it’s been helpful just to put some thought into the idea of leadership, so I’ll keep going and see where it leads me.

[Christa]

I have worked in brownfields, which involves the remediation of oil contaminated sites. In my experience, the liability aspects of site redevelopment lead the discussion. If this is a site that will not be redeveloped, you will have greater flexibility with experimenting or using experimental green technologies/methods to meet your management objectives. There are lots of consultants working in environmental assessments and remediation. The process generally starts with a Phase I assessment to look at the history of the site. Then they do a Phase II to test the soil and ground water. This quantifies the contamination. EPA is the federal entity involved, and they may have grant funding to help with the process. Your state may also have an active brownfields program, and if oil sands are not unusual in your region, your state environmental agency would likely be a good place to start. 

I am also interested in biosystems and ecological restoration, which is what I think of when I read your question. However, in my experience, these sites are often driven more from a liability, economic, and redevelopment perspective. I would not advise anyone to acquire or receive ownership of properties such as these until you know what is involved from a liability perspective. Title transfer usually carries all of the liability concerns as well, even if no money changes hands.

I am not sure that’s on point for your question, but I hope it helps a bit. Good luck!

[Christa]

I have LEED ND, and thought that process was much more difficult. When I took it I had to purchase a course that gave me experience in a LEED project. SITES just required the exam, which was not difficult if you have a history of working with or studying sustainability principles. I would say LEED ND is more allied to planning and community, whereas SITES is more allied to landscape and environment.

[Christa]

I’ve used GrassPave (#2 I think). It has held up well with tifway bermuda #419 to light residential use in SC. 

[Christa]

Alissa,

I graduated in 2010, and am still what I would consider early days as far as my LA career. However, as far as I can tell, there is a demand for the scientific knowledge. My undergrad is in forestry, and I seem to be doing alright. I have had some interest based on my background, and some don’t seem to count it one way or another.

An MLA takes about a year longer if you don’t have a background in design, at least where I went. If you add in a summer or two, that’s practically as long as an undergraduate (although some undergrad design programs are closer to 5 years, I have heard). I can’t tell a real significant difference in the regard held for an MLA vs a BLA, although I can attest to the cache a graduate degree brings in indirect ways. 

As for drawing, that totally freaked me out as a student. I was so self conscious to draw in a studio setting with classmates all around me. I’ve taken some drawing classes, and now get decent compliments, unsolicited, from LAs on my drawing. I’m not Picasso, or anything, but I can pass. I can recommend Mike Lin’s course, and his son, Brian is really good, too. Also, computer graphics are pretty big now, which is a whole other ball of wax. You’ll want to know some Photoshop and Illustrator and SketchUp, and then maybe choose from the library of other really cool graphic programs (check other discussions for info). Once you apply to a program, start learning the software.

I think different schools emphasize form over function, or vice versa. Science is more functional, and art is more about form. Function tends a bit toward engineering, such as ecological or biosystems engineering, which may also be careers of interest. Design is a combination of the two. It took me a semester to begin to see design, which is to say to pay attention to the shadow, shape, and space around me everywhere. I was more focused on the ecology and management. But now that I do actually see, I love it. I enthusiastically recommend the profession of landscape architecture, because of the cool stuff I have already learned and get to do now at work, even though I’m still a newbie, so to speak. It’s a tough course of study, and the profession is hard to describe because it is so variable, market-driven, and broad, but it’s totally worth it.

[Christa]

Native grasses usually have deeper root systems for slope stabilization. Not much advice, but I hope it helps.

[Christa]

Thank you!!

[Christa]

Great! It sounds like you’ll be at a booth. If so, which one? I’ll stop by and say hello!

[Christa]

I recently had a similar discussion with two LAs, one a professor and one in practice. They both talked about the need for good writing skills The professor said writing comprises roughly 70% of our daily activities, from email to proposals. So, if no writing sample is included in the portfolio, you could ask for a short descriptive paragraph, or sample email to a client.

In my limited experience interviewing interns I find I prefer the personality questions. I want to know about how the person deals with challenges, and try to get a sense of their work ethic. I ask these  students about their hardest class, and their favorite class. This starts the ball rolling, and from there we can usually get into something of a little substance.

Good luck with the interviews!

[Christa]

1. I like myPantone, although it may be more helpful for computer work/graphics. It lifts the color palette from an image and gives you the recipe to match (RGB, etc) in photoshop, etc.

2. Sun Surveyor is good for plotting sun/shade in smaller scale work. You can look through the camera on your phone to see where the sun will be at different times of year relative to what you see on your camera/screen. 

3. In the SE US, Dirr’s Woody Plants is available as an app. Dirr is my plant reference of choice, and it’s handy to have it convenient. (The book is huge and heavy!)

I wish they would make a Time Savers/Standards app or audio book to help me study for the LARE. 🙂

[Christa]

Crossvine might do, although the texture is a bit coarser than Jessamine and it wants full sun. Bignonia capreolata. It’s native, climbs by twining and with adhesive cups that don’t damage mortar. Flowers are red-orange, and attract hummingbirds. I have it in my yard, and the species performs better than the cultivar I purchased at the local university plant sale a few years back, fyi. 

Another suggestion would be Clematis armandii, although it prefers more shade, especially on its base. It is beautiful, the leaves are elongated, bigger than the crossvine, and elegant even when the plant is not in flower. I’ve never grown it, but have heard it can take a few years to establish, and then if it’s happy, will really fill in. It’s not native, however, so you lose that. Good luck! Have fun!!

[Christa]

Landscape architecture becomes fundamentally important as soon as you recognize the value of good design. There is no other profession trained to see as we see, so their ideas will fall short of what is possible, what is optimal for any site. We alone are trained to take a wider view that bridges form and function. The professionals trained in function are by definition specialized in matters not having to do with form, or ‘design’ as I define the word. Therefore, professionals trained in engineering are by definition incapable of accomplishing on a site what could be achieved with a landscape architect. Design is broader and more general than the tools and techniques we use. Landscape architecture is a profession of synergy. It is not a skill that can be mastered ‘on the side’ while main focus is given to other pursuits. 

I, too, think this opinion may be a little bit more negative, and too solidly reliant on what I believe may be your own personal experience, and perhaps the experience of your cohorts in the profession. It does not need to reflect the future, nor the experience of any other landscape architect clever enough to forge for themselves a more expansive definition of the profession. I for one do not view landscape architecture to be a sort of dressing, but rather view it as the required basis for any high functioning landscape. I do not think yours is the definition of the profession I intend to honor in my own work, nor do I think it is representative of the opinions held by other professionals.

[Christa]

I agree that university programs should not spend any time learning how to handle such specialized situations as wind turbine placement, since these matters are indeed the purview of other professions. It doesn’t mean that a landscape architect can’t be involved in these projects, just that it’s not common enough to occupy time in school. I think I understand what you’re saying, and it seems that we are in agreement!  

 

I do hold to my opinion that other more common technologies should be given more attention in school. There is much of the mundane to an effective design. These details are needed for implementation, and in fact do impact the final design. The width and depth of an effective bioretention cell, for example, is important to know but was not covered in my program. I ventured into engineering to find the information, and there it was treated with vocabulary and approach foreign to me. I am an advocate of bringing more of the engineering into our studies; not to the point that we threaten the engineering profession, but enough to enable us to better support our own.

[Christa]

I agree that landscape architects are separate profession altogether from wind turbine engineer. To me it is the technology that impacts design that could be better explored in our universities. Soils, phytoremediation, low impact design methods are all examples I see as being directly related to our profession and to properly functioning design. How can we design a downtown for improved walkability and function without also considering the needs of urban trees, at least to some degree? Or parking areas without giving some thought to stormwater? It seemed to me as a student it was sufficient to say this or that technology would be utilized to great effect, without needing to have any understanding of the technology beyond what might be available in a marketing brochure.

 

Ultimately this discussion leads me to note that while landscape architecture is a profession that enjoys a wide variety of specialties, it also seems to suffer from some lack of definition among its professionals. How is it that half of the discussions are seeking to defend the role of the landscape architect from the likes of the engineer, while the other half of discussions are arguing that the technical aspects of design are not our concern?

[Christa]

I am writing from the East coast, so the short answer to your question is No, I don’t have any specific plant recommendations to offer. 

 

I did work on a green roof project growing plants in a greenhouse and then placing them on a local roof, and can second the sedum/delosperma suggestion for tolerant succulents. These genus are huge, so there’s bound to be something suited to your area. I found the plants’ performance to be generally but not exactly reflective of the literature. I think it’s ultimately a pretty site-specific issue, so I would suggest hedging your bets with a variety of plants. In our study, we started with 12, and ultimately would only recommend about 4, with one being the clear winner. If another green wall is available in your area, I would find out as much about it as I could. This technology is still new enough that the experience learned in a previous installation would likely be really valuable to your project. Good luck! Document and share your process!!

[Author]

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