Edible Landscaping as a Career?
entm
13 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (13)
Xtal in Central TX, zone 8b
13 years agodenninmi
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Landscape Architecture as a Career
Comments (6)I can't tell you what a typical day for landscape architects is anymore than you can tell me what a typical day is for sociologists. I can tell you how a typical day goes for me, one landscape architect (maybe the only one who participates on this messageboard, but I'm not 100% sure). I get up at 6:30 AM, turn on my laptop and local tv news. I make a nutricious breakfast and pour a 20 oz. coffee with cream and no sugar. While I eat my breakfast and listen to the news, I check my email and this as well as another messageboard for entertainment. Then I take care of personal hygiene, get dressed, load my pocket protector, palm pilot, and cell phone and do my 2 mile commute to the engineering firm at which I have a full time job doing a little bit of everything that is done in a surveying/engineering/landscape architecture office. I do about 10% what you might typically consider "landscape architecture", 5% survey calculations, 10% subdivisions or other survey design, existing conditions or as-built plans, and 75% civil site planning. The civil site planning is about 3 to 1 commercial to residential. I am essentially the right hand man to the principal engineer in the company. I am not an engineer or surveyor, so all of my engineering and survey work is under direct observation and approved by those who are. Everything has to meet all the regulations and standards of the jurisdictions they fall under. All of these have to be researched for each project. You can't take anyone's word because the information will be certified by the eng or surv when he stamps the plan. I probably spend an hour or two a week researching plans and deeds on the county website on average. I'm confirming flood zones, zoning jurisdiction, well head protection districts, wetlands resources, whether or not it is in a habitat for endangered species, if it is in an area of critical environmental or planning concern, ..... this gets done for every plan whether I or someone else does it. Plans need to be drawn, of course. That starts with drafting lot lines accurately according to deeds and record plans. Then survey data (long story) has to be made in order for them to stake out and/or locate objects, property lines, and topography in the field. Sometimes I do that, but not that often. Located items need to go from the surveyors data collector to the plan (another long story) so that it can be drafted precisely. I do some of that as well. But, most of what I do is proposed buildings, septic/sewer systems, roads, driveways, parking lots, grading, drainage, plantings, and such for an entire project making sure it meets all of the zoning and other regulatory requirements while eeting the needs and wishes of the developer (he's the client who is paying for it). This can be from anything from a small addition on a house to a 5 story hotel, a police station, affordable housing campus, razing and replacing trophy homes, wind turbines, and anything and everything else. A great deal of the jobs are in areas in the jurisdiction of wetlands protection as we have coastal wetland resources as well as freshwater wetland resources. Some are actually high and dry, but are critical to the function of wetlands. Protecting these and mitigating impacts on them are part of what I do during a typical week. Everyday is an adventure. Oh, I might do an ornamental landscape including a swimming pool, patios, walkways, retaining walls, ... from time to time as well. That can be as part of a full site plan, or for a homeowner, an architect, or a landscape contractor that is not doing any other business with the engineering firm. I often have to drop what I'm doing and react to a contractor, a developer, or someone else who needs a revision, a question answered, or God knows what. I usually have at least three Acad drawings open on my desk top along with pdf files, websites, and maybe a database or spread sheet at any time (maybe that is why I am supplied with a 21" and a 23" monitor with my computer). I will often go to site plan review, design review,ZBA, or Conservation Commission hearings. Sometimes I draw up concept building plans with floor plans and elevations for preliminary hearings prior to the hiring of a real architect. I even designed a bath house/mens room/ladies room with outdoor showers for a nudist camp I just never know what is next. After 8 hours I go home and either do something with my family or work in my own landscape architecture office that I run in my spare time. I meet with potential clients, current clients, measure existing conditions by locating trees, plants, and everything else by tape or laser tape, I draft up existing conditions plans, design new landscapes or rehab old ones. I don't think that is typical, but I'm not sure that anything else is either....See MoreLandscape/garden design as a career?
Comments (12)Couple more things... don't get me wrong, I know they busted their a-ses early on to build their businesses. I'm sure they did plenty of hard physical work. Both had fairly big lawn cutting businesses by the time they left _high school_. In fact it's funny they end up as marketing jobs because other sales/marketing jobs are in my rather informed opinion some of the easiest to make big money _without_ a lot of hard work or a vast educational background. People who can sell, can sell. These guys might have made even more, and without any sore backs, if they'd gone into selling retirement plans, investments, or whatever. But at least the one I worked for said he had to do something outside. Not a sit at a desk type...in fact that's why I briefly ran his office. Also, demographics change. The exodus to the suburbs as a trend starting in the 50s has stopped and might even be reversing. It's possible the very rich of 25-30 years from now will not care as much about living in a bunch of over landscaped fake mansions that cost a fortune to heat & cool in the suburbs. Possible...but nobody knows for sure. It's just a speculative thing to be aware of. The landscapers I mentioned surely benefitted from the biggest RE boom in history, and something like that may never happen again. Also, the DC market is pretty exceptional...lots of new housing stock and lots of people hopping from house to house and wanting to leave their stamp. I notice in the Philly 'burbs the nice big houses are overall older so there's possibly less need for design, more for mere maintenance....See MoreDreaming/planning to begin edible landscaping.
Comments (5)Here's my one cent: I haven't done much landscaping, as I'm from NYC and my patch of dirt was about 12' x 12'. I live in NC in a rental house on about 1/4 acre and have been playing around with the property a little bit, and thinking about what I would do. If you look up permaculture zones, you can get an idea of how to section the property to use it the most economically. It is wise to halt planting for now until you come up with a grand plan. I understand taking things slow and frugally. I would think about what you value most in your garden as far as structure is concerned. If you have slopes, you can uses swales, french drains, hugelkultur, to maximize your water and recycle/harness nutrients from waste material. You can even set up a site for water collection in a small pond and create an irrigation system from the overflow. Or if you want to invest in managing the landscape for the long term, you can save up to get machinery out or professionals to put in a retaining wall or terrace the slopes around your house. Another thing to think about is containers. Right now, I am part of a permaculture gardening group and we trade plants and seeds. I have a crabapple, wild peach, elderberry, mulberry, two lime, and grape vine, all growing in containers, until I get my own property. My advice is think about the types of plants you want to grow, join a master gardener's class/club, and start collecting plants while you make your plans. Good luck!...See MoreEdible Landscaping on 2 acres
Comments (10)Of course there's a logical way to go about fitting things in. But let's start with better familiarization with the property. It would be helpful if you show a few scenes in order to give us a feel for what is there. In the following photo, I'm suggesting 4 positions to place the camera (red circles marked A,B,C,D) and red lines which indicate the span of the view desired. If you would take and post these pictures I think it would be a helpful starting point. The pictures should be a medium size ... not too small. Essentially, it looks like you wish to have a few nut trees, an orchard and a large garden. The garden should be large enough to add all those small things you list separately. There is probably not a cleared area large enough to contain the orchard as a single unit so you might end up with 2 or three smaller, separate orchards. (We don't know what can still be cleared.) The nut trees could be farthest from the house, the orchard a little closer, the garden closer yet and the herb garden probably very near the house. You haven't mentioned wanting any space for growing flowers, but if you discover this joy, you might at some point want to enlarge the vegetable garden with another "wing" for growing them....See MoreGnomes
13 years agoAbundant Earth
13 years agofamilyfarmer
13 years agoleira
13 years agofamilyfarmer
13 years agolavender_lass
13 years agogirlgroupgirl
13 years agofamilyfarmer
13 years agooklahawg
13 years agoLeia Ames
7 years ago
Related Stories
HOUZZ PRODUCT NEWSWhat Landscape Designers Have Learned From Early Career Mistakes
Three garden pros on Houzz share the invaluable lessons that have helped their businesses grow
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNRecipe for Tropical Edible Garden Style
Appeal to exotic good taste with fruit trees, palms and tropical look-alikes in your temperate-climate garden
Full StoryEDIBLE GARDENSA Formerly Weedy Lot Now Brims With Edibles and Honeybees
Photographers transform their barren backyard into an oasis filled with fruit, vegetables, honey, eggs and more
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGFeast Your Eyes on Edible Gardens
Gorgeous vegetables, solo or paired with ornamental flowers and grasses, make landscapes easy to swallow
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNRecipe for Mediterranean Edible Garden Style
The only thing better than a delicious meal outdoors is the satisfaction of growing some of the key ingredients yourself
Full StoryEDIBLE GARDENSLessons From an Edible Garden on a City Roof
Reincarnation of New York City rooftop pool proves edible landscaping is possible just about anywhere
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNRecipe for Asian Edible Garden Style
A surprising number of food plants are hiding out in Asian-themed landscapes. Add a few more and extend the Zen flavor to the kitchen
Full StoryURBAN GARDENSExperiments Aplenty Fill Vancouver Edible Garden
Lush and brimming with test landscape plantings, a Canadian garden appeals to the eye and the palate
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGUnexpected Edible Gardens
How to grow your own herbs and vegetables almost anywhere
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGVertical Gardens Raise the Limits for Landscapes
Turn a small garden space into a towering success with an upward-bound collection of edible delights
Full StorySponsored
Emily