Do yourself a HUGE favor...bite the bullet, deal with your impatience, enroll in U of Guelph, and earn your MLA. I'm new around here, thus the late response...but I feel I'm qualified to give you some career advice. I'm a managing partner/owner (and RLA) in a Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering firm. I'll be very frank with my response...my hope is that you'll take it seriously and not be offended. If I were to get a resume from you with the MLD from Conway as your highest level of education (along with your BA History of course), I wouldn't give you a second thought. With a promising cover letter, I MIGHT peruse your info to find out more about the Conway education but you would not be a candidate for any job openings. With the current massive layoffs in the industry, you will be up against some of the top talent in the field...believe me - I've already laid them off or seen their recently brushed off resumes. To sit for the LARE, in MOST states/provinces you'll have to ALREADY have completed 2+ years of apprenticeship under a licensed landscape architect. On top of that you'll be required to have a BLA or MLA from a CLARB accredited school (schools have to renew their accredidation with CLARB every few years and that in itself is no cakewalk for the institution). There are sometimes (depending on state/province) ways around the education part, and you could very well qualify with your work experience...BUT... And then of course is the test...I worked with a person who sat for it numerous times during a 15+ year career before passing (wasn't good with the grading and construction sections but was a great conceptual designer). And that's just the licensing part. Reading your posts, I believe you're ready to go into a MLA program...and I recommend and encourage you to do so if you're serious about this: "primary interest is along the lines of large scale design, subdivisions, parks, resorts etc." You will never do that type work without being a LICENSED/REGISTERED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. The profession is so much broader and truly design-based than plants, patios, and pergolas. I think you've realized that whether you know it or not. When I was in school, we students had an inside joke...we thought it was easier to get a degree in landscape archtecture than it was to quadruple-major in art, horticulture, engineering, and ecology. And for some perspective, you mention "2 of the 3 projects are on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts..." In my BLA program (and I'm sure is the same across the board), we would do 4-6 projects on a scale that far exceeds garden design or even residential layouts in one class (each semester)...and that was only our studio course, which was on top of a couple of lecture classes and/or core-related electives. I could go on and on with reasons why you should get your MLA over the Conway certificate, but I don't want to wear my fingers out typing (I've got a little sketching to do tomorrow)...just do yourself, your significant other, and future family a favor and complete your education to prepare you for what (I think) you truly want to do. A few final and perhaps random thoughts: - You mention putting a time constraint on what you want to achieve...with the time constraint you'll never achieve your goal of designing subdivisions, resorts, parks, etc. - Listen to DD when he talks about the rules...they are in place and you have to play by them. - The Univ. of Guelph will prepare you for a great career in Landscape Architecture...my best employee (who I've unfortunately had to lay off) is a graduate and is an extremely talented designer who understands the design process and is effective at commuunicating his design intent, which is always very well thought out. Of all my employees, I think his education prepared him better than most. - You've got to quit equating "landscaping" and "landscape design" with "landscape architecture"...they are two totally different things and are on very different levels. You must embrace that fact. - And on plantings, planting design, and the horticulture end of our profession... There's currently great debate regarding how plants and planting design fit into our profession and if it is or isn't being given it's proper attention. I'm of the opinion that unfortunately it's on its way to being a lost art. IMO, it's our greatest medium, but too many don't appreciate and understand plants as well as they should; and many RLAs deal very minimally with plants and focus instead on other aspects and scales of the profession where individual plants don't come into play . Plantings are VERY IMPORTANT to my designs, but only about 10% of the work I do actually involves plantings...the rest is planning (at varying scales and phases), rezoning, grading/drainage design, hardscape design, construction administration/observation, coordination of plans and designs with other consultants, water quality strategy with my PEs, etc, etc. - Pick up a few books to see if they peak your interest...if so, enroll in Guelph...try these: Landscape Architecture: A Manual of Site Planning and Design by John O. Simonds Site Analysis: Linking Program and Concept in Land Planning and Design by James A. LaGro Jr Design with Nature by Ian L. McHarg The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte Those are a few...there are many more. Good Luck!

Check with your county extension service. They offer Master Gardener training so getting certified as a 'master gardener' could be a start for you right now. That would qualify you to do some small-scale planting for profit. I would also check with your state licensing division and find out what type of knowledge, experience etc. is required to become a landscape contractor. Could you work for a nursery? What about a local landscape contractor supervising the planting of plants? Oregon has the best in the country. You might be able to find some kind of part-time nursery staff gig (saturdays are the busy days so they often have people who work Saturday's only). I lived in Oregon for awhile and had a wonderful time touring many of the unique nurseries. By central Oregon I am assuming more of the Bend area? Joy Creek Gardens in Scappose (by Portland) offers design classes on Saturdays. Check their website. It's worth the trek just to see their amazing display gardens. In June, Old Heirloom Roses in St. Paul has a huge rose symposium that you should attend. The best thing about attending these kinds of things is that it helps you network and learn from people already doing the work. I think that on-line classes are a waste of time IF you are doing them to get professional credentials. At the end of the study, you might have information but you are no more connected in the community than you were before. You need to develop your skills but also consider marketing. I will be launching my own design business in 2 more years. My youngest will be in first grade then. Until that time, I'm working for someone else and learning what's involved in the actual construction (I have a design degree but learning it on paper and learning it in real life are two different things). I'm using this time to get the last of the baby weight off and developing a network of quality professionals. I volunteer on the advisory board of a local botanical garden and have done a number of similar things that will help me become more of a player in the design community prior to launching my own independent business. Consider those kinds of things. There's a wonderful gardens publication put out by I don't know who but it's a free thing you can pick up all over the place. Call the nurseries listed in it and find out what classes (if any) they teach. Take the classes and get to know key people. Oh- check with the new botanical garden in Silverton too. I'm sure they have classes and or local certifications that will help you. Certainly getting in with these people will help you find opportunity and they can probably direct you on the best ways locally to improve your skills.

This is such a great thread. The stories have been so wonderful to read. GP your great grandmother is such a beautiful, strong woman. That photo is fantastic. I grew up in suburbia on Long Island and my parents had a beautiful yard.....although I never appreciated it. I would have to pull weeds from rocks, which I abhorred, spread manure in the veggie garden (gross), and I was sooooo bored when my mom would drag my twin brother and I as young children to the nurseries where she picked out plants. All I wanted to do as a kid was swim in our pool and play with friends. Fast forward to the building of our first house. I started to really get into gardening. Fortunately, both my mom and my MIL were avid gardeners, along with my sister and my DH's uncle. I had a lot of people to draw info from as well as lots of books. I also happened to move to a town with an amazing nursery where I perused plants. I realized that I really DO like gardening! My mom was shocked. She never thought I would be interested. After gardening for a number of years I asked my parents about the property where we grew up. I thought back and they really did do such a great job with the placement of trees, slate patio, shrubs and the pool. There were also lots of interesting trees and shrubs as opposed to the lollipops and azaleas that were so ubiquitous where we lived. I told my parents that I really admired the entire landscape both for layout and plant material choices and were giving them kudos on how great a job they did. My mom then rather nonchalantly said "oh, we didn't do that.....we purchased the landscape plan with the house plans." WHAT?!?! And here I thought my parents were true garden geniuses! LOL! Well, my parents are garden geniuses and have a gorgeous, natural garden in NC and I've learned so much from them. My mom and I go on garden jaunts all over and it's so much fun to share that with her. My grandfather also had a beautiful, well-kept yard not far from us on LI which I also never appreciated growing up. When he moved down to NC to be closer to my parents in his older years he moved into a little horseshoe of cottages. There wasn't a single potted plant anywhere to be seen. He was in his late eighties when he changed that. He planted roses and vegetables and other shrubs and plants in his little area. Well, it started a trend with everyone who lived in the cottages (all elderly) and they all started getting potted plants, some planted in the ground, etc. Looking back it is so nice to have that memory of grandpa starting a gardening trend in his little community and to see the little horseshoe of cottages transform to a colorful lively place. So, I guess gardening had always been in my genes, it just took until my 20s for the gene to be flipped on. I'm so glad it was!

I'm a self tough person and I learned from working at a garden center. Not only do you learn about the plants, but also learn how to help the customers which I think is important I also learned from talking to the growers, they are more than willing to talk about the plants they grow. What's great about the Horticulture field is you can never learn all there is about it