Comments on: Do it Yourself or Hire a Landscape Architect?

By: Jim Lewis, Portland Oregon Landscaping

Jim Lewis, Portland Oregon Landscaping — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 06:36:29 +0000

If you want it to turn out well, you should hire a good design/build firm with good references and plenty of photos of their previous work. An "A" listing on Angie's List doesn't hurt either. Hiring an actual "landscape architect" is a little overkill for the project you're describing. Portland Oregon Landscaping

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:18:41 +0000

Although I am a DIY kind of person too, I strongly encourage others to follow this route of getting professional advice especially as John mentioned above.

Congrats to getting the pros in the beginning stages!

By: John Black

John Black — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:38:56 +0000

You might be interested in the bit I wrote last year on DIY vs. hiring someone: http://tinyurl.com/pdogtd

And before that on the difference between landscape architects, designers and contractors: http://tinyurl.com/oqoq7d

Bottom line for DIY is, take on what you’ll love… and hire the appropriate pro for the rest of it.

Good luck!
John Black
Verdance Fine Garden Design

By: LC

LC — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:32:22 +0000

I can’t see hiring a landscape architect for such a small job as a single home. You might want to study a few principals yourself. In particular, environmental care, expressed in such things native plants and rain swailes, would be out of your hands. It does not seem to be standard practice for professionals, around here at least.

By: Wojciech @ Fiscal Fizzle

Wojciech @ Fiscal Fizzle — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:50:40 +0000

Since my wife is an LA, this article caught my eye, and I just wanted to reiterate the points above.

A landscaper and landscape architect are two different things, the latter requiring at least 6 years of schooling and/or LA experience in most states, as well as professional licensure.

LAs can not only provide you with design experience, but will often have great knowledge about green building practices that will save you money on irrigation, maintenance, and the like.

Many partner with contractors to provide design-build services that can save you a lot of money in the end (you get two services in one).

Good luck with the project!

By: Kristia@FamilyBalanceSheet

Kristia@FamilyBalanceSheet — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:58:58 +0000

I just wrote about our front yard landscaping that we did ourselves on my site. We saved ourselves a ton of money.

Last fall, we hired someone to put in a 600 sq foot patio with retaining wall in our back yard. This was not a job we could do ourselves. We spent several months interviewing contractors and getting bids. We also called their references and actually went to see their work. I would highly recommend this. We narrowed our search down to two people that were both very qualified, capable and certified. We went with the guy who was the most detail oriented. We had lots of questions and decisions to make and our guy probably came to our house at least three times to review our plans before he even dug one hole.

Very exciting project…good luck with your search. We absolutely love our new patio, it has become an extension of our home.

By: Madison

Madison — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:14:09 +0000

@ Katie & Susan: Thanks for the helpful advice! The three that we picked are all landscape architects focused on the design, so hopefully they’ll be able to design something beautiful and functional for us.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:07:49 +0000

I knew a Landscape Architect major in college. He smoked a lot of dope. Good luck!

By: Susan Schlenger

Susan Schlenger — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:04:34 +0000

I agree with Katie, and I’ll expand on that.

There are three main types of professionals you can hire.
1. Landscaper – Typically they do not have the expertise in design (for those of you that might, I apologize). Their expertise is in the installation of the project.

2. Design Build firm – Same as a landscaper. They may or may not have landscape designers or architects working for them. Regardless, their goal is to get the job. That is where they make their money, not on the design.

3. Landscape Designer or Landscape Architect – their main business is to provide designs and possibly project management. They are not interested if they can make more money installing pavers rather than bluestone, or if they have some shrubs left in their nursery they want to use up. Their sole purpose (or should be) is to provide a creative and functional design within or close to your budget. They are working only for you.

Susan
Landscape Design Advice

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:11:26 +0000

I have a landscape architecture degree, but don’t practice in that field any more. Give me a place to stay and feed me and I’ll help you design it

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:23:51 +0000

There is a monumental difference between a landscaper and a registered Landscape Architect. Please note the terms are not interchangeable. if you are putting in retaining walls you should hire a licensed professional to perform the design work. anyone can open up an landscaping business, it takes commitment and time to become a licensed professional.