Leah

Hey Chris,
We are in Phoenix, and we do mainly design and subcontract the work out on high end residential designs. I believe we are the main contractor, and the work is divided accordingly.

Chris,
I operated a design/build company for 25 years where most of the work we did in-house with some sub-contracting on the specialized features. I now work by myself designing and then managing the projects. I have a network of contractors that work on these projects. I have a design fee and then negotiate a management fee with the…[Read more]

Elif-

I have learned that high-level or not, clients don’t read a lot of text. They’re swayed by images, sketches, pretty colors, and your passion. If you say Mondrian, show them what/who that is so they don’t have to ask. Have images that clearly delineate the connection between a Mondrian piece and your design (for example). If you communicate…[Read more]

Chris-
My advice:
If you love design, find a couple of good contractors you can send work to on a regular basis. They will (or should) pay you a commission or referal fee for the work you refer to them. They will in turn send you work, some of which they will pay you for directly. Probably a little at first, then more as your relationship builds.…[Read more]

Hey Chris,
My principal here in AZ is a licensed contractor. It’s pretty involved here, but definitely opens up many opportunities…

Visit new Urban Design Podcast on iTunes and http://bit.ly/277Mrz

i am interested to set up online landscape design company for project in middle east and like to invite landscape architect to work online on project base.
mustafa kamal
mail@hortigroup.com.pk

I’m a residential Landscape Designer in San Diego’s East County. Has anyone mentioned Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano? They have a nice newsletter as well you can subscribe to.
I like to incorporate garden-friendly california natives in my designs.

Hi Guys”
Greetings!!!!!
An innovative design in stone surfaces that offers a customizable line for interior and exterior wall claddings
Cheers / Bharat Mishra

If you want a little marketing inspiration, listen to this months podcast from LandscapeLeadership.com.

Designers Susan Cohan and Rochelle Greayer discuss how they’ve built a following and presence online by blogging. Learn how blogging has directly impacted their businesses.

Both are members of The Lounge.

You can listen and download the…[Read more]

SOURCING NEW DESIGNS
I edit a FREE newsletter each month on a theme
– 50 new pots and planters [april]
– New outdoor kitchens [may]
– Shade solutions [june]

If you would like to receive copies please let me know anne.robert@btinternet.com
IF you have designs to share same thing!
A bientot
A http://www.TheOutdoorSTylist.com

Here are some other resources. las pilitas nursery. 2 locations. North San Diego county (Escondido) & San Luis Obispo. http://www.laspilitas.com. website is deep with info. Another is “California Native Plants for the Garden” by Carol Bornstein, Bart O’brien & David Fross. Cachuma Press. David Fross was my Cal Natives Professor at Cal Poly, SLO. Lots of…[Read more]

Agree with Ken and Blake. There’s also some nurseries that specialize in natives. Yerba Buena Nursery south of SF has a demonstration garden with labeled plants and the owners are VERY knowledgeable. Also, North Coast Nursery and Cal Flora in Sonoma County. Also, it’s good to be mindful of the fact that California has many totaly different native…[Read more]

Katrina, to clarify, UCBG and Tilden are in Berkeley and Merritt College is in Oakland.

The South Lake Tahoe and North Lake Tahoe Demonstration Gardens show a plethora of California Native plants used in the high Sierra. These gardens give great examples of California Native plants at diffrent stages of development.

Agree with Blake — the Merritt program is great. I also volunteered at Tilden’s native nursery on Thursday mornings — propagating, etc. It was a great way to learn about natives. U.C. Botanical Garden and the Tilden Park (native) Botanical Garden are both stunning places to check out CA natives in a park setting.

you may also want to check out the horticulture program at Merritt College for i.d. classes. http://www.merrritt.edu

Re Justin and Glass Factory Brownfield conditions.
Is there contamination of anything other than “broken glass” and in what condition would that contaminate be? .. Glass is just another form of sand, I wonder if you could tumble the contaminated ground in something like what they tumble new bricks to make them look old. Smooth off the edges, maybe…[Read more]

In regards to mitigation measures for the redevelopment of brownfield sites, the two design options that I am most familiar with, is to install a 40mil impervious linear and or install 3′ of clean fill.
The basic concept is that you are capping the areas of contaminated soils with a liner or with soil.

In regards to the impervious liner,…[Read more]

Will definitely browse a number of sites and see what they have. . thanks laura