Landscape Post-Secondary Programs Demands from Student Applicants

1. Landscape Post-Secondary Programs Demands from Student Applicants The following is based on comments at the WAAE Summer Conference • 1. Come to work every day (if you’re not there, you can’t do a whole lot) • 2. Creative, Positive Attitude (rest doesn’t matter as much and can be taught) • 3. Works well with others • 4. Active and likes to be outdoors • 5. Maybe knows something about plants

2. Steps for Successful Landscape Design By C. Kohn Based on Designing Your Gardens and Landscapes by J. Macunovich

3. The 12 Step Program • Set Goals (this week) • Determine a Budget (this week) • Think About Maintenance • Assess the Site • Make a Plant List • Choose a Focal Point • Make a Scale Drawing • Place the Focal Point Plant • Frame the Focal Point • Add to the Basic Plan • Outline the Garden • Adjust Before Planting

4. The First Step • The first is to set goals. • You must ask your client “Why do you want a garden?” • The goals created from the answer to this question will be necessary in determining whether or not we’ve accomplished our goals • Even “Pretty” is a legitimate goal – however, usually there are additional reasons and goals that a client is seeking from a garden or landscape design • Some potential reasons to have a landscape design implemented are included in the following slides.

5. Why we want gardens • To create interest in a specific location • To create a more welcoming entrance, a place for meditation, or to highlight a key piece of architecture • To enhance some aspect of the scenery • Bay windows, statuary, gazebos, etc. can all be more impressive with proper landscaping. • If you will pay the money to have these things, you want them enhanced by your property, not negated • To define a space • A properly landscaped yard should create “outdoor rooms” where people can gather in semi-privacy while enjoying the outdoors.

6. Why we want gardens • 4. To increase property value • A well-landscaped yard can increase the value of a property by 10-20% • 10-30% of home maintenance should be spent on the surrounding yard • 5. For fragrance • Scents add value and enhance the enjoyability of a home. They allow for the seasons to have added value and appeal • 6. For relaxation • A well-landscaped yard should enable a person or group to reduce their levels of stress and increase their effectiveness elsewhere

7. Why we want gardens • 7. To attract wildlife, birds, and butterflies • A well landscaped yard should be an ecological safe-haven for desired wildlife and provide an environmental learning opportunity • 8. To cover defects and eyesores • Meters, utility boxes, doghouses, and other unsightly features can reduce the value and enjoyability of a home • NOTE: landscaping around an eyesore may draw attention to the eyesore more so than if it had been left alone • 9. To reduce mowing • Mowing is a drain on time, money, and the environment • A well-landscaped yard should reduce maintenance requirements and costs

8. Why we want gardens • 10. To conserve the environment • A well-landscaped yard serves as a buffer between the human-related aspects of a property and the environment • Landscape design should prevent further ecological harm, not cause it • 11. To replace a poorly growing part of a lawn • There are places where grass grows poorly due to low light, moisture, or other reasons • A landscape project can replace this area with a more appealing display • 12. For erosion control • Grass on steep slopes can contribute to erosion and runoff problems • A rain garden to reduce the loss of soil and pollution of surface water.

9. Goals • You should listen closely to your client and all related parties • Their needs and desires, more so than anything else, will determine the success of your work • If they are not happy, it does not matter how well you did your work. • Most homeowners probably are not completely aware of what they are seeking • It will be up to you to fish out exactly what they desire • Ask your clients to be specific about what they want to be able to do in their landscaped area

10. Step 2: Budget By C. Kohn Based on Designing Your Gardens and Landscapes by J. Macunovich

11. Establish a Budget • The second step to a successful landscape design is to establish a budget • The cost of any landscape design can vary widely • You will have to discuss with your client what is feasible for their goals within the budget they provide • You will also have to seek unique and sometimes less-than-obvious solutions to meet their requests while staying within a prescribed budget • For example, a fountain may be out of reach but a koi point may be much more economically feasible • Compromises are common between goals and budget

12. Time vs. Money • A landscape design does not have to occur all at once • A step-by-step approach is usually a safer bet for clients on a budget • Be aware, most clients will want a perfect yard right away but will not want to pay for it • Salesmanship is crucial in convincing your client on a limited budget that sequential projects are a better alternative to a vast, immense, and over-budgeted project

13. Return to Your Goals • Time and money can be easier to talk about if you refer back to your list of goals • Rank the goals in terms of their priority and focus on the top priorities first • Ask your client what they’d need most from their landscape and what they would be willing to sacrifice in order to make it a possibility • Ask what can wait and what cannot • For example, if your client is planning the landscaping for a wedding, some things may need to be done by a very specific date.

14. Establishing a Price Range • It will be very difficult for someone who has never or rarely purchased landscaping materials to know what an appropriate budget will be • Your best bet is to compare to what your client is already familiar with • For example, you may have good odds comparing a landscaping project to a room renovation • In many ways, they are quite similar • The cost of a garden or landscape is similar to the cost of a new living room for a respective home

15. Living Rooms vs. Landscaping • Just as entirely brand new furniture, carpeting, and design for a living room would be quite expensive, so is an entirely new landscape design • Often a homeowner will decide that it is feasible and even quite effective to re-incorporate some existing elements of a living room into the remodeled room • The same is true for landscape design • Not everything has to be new or completely redone • An effective landscape can utilize existing elements to achieve many or all of the initial goals without adding to the final cost unnecessarily.

16. Tracking Costs • When it comes to proposing a final dollar figure, you will be in one of two situations • 1. You have planted gardens before and can identify a price range based on previous experience (probably not a high schooler) • 2. You do not have extensive experience in planning and creating landscape designs. • If so, keep track of all materials, labor, and expenses. • Propose a figure within a range that you think the total of these expenses will fall

17. Turn Reasons Into Numbers • For example, if a goal of the landscape is to provide privacy, compare the cost of your work to that of installing a privacy fence. • If a garden will be used to provide food, compare it to what you would spend on fresh produce at a farmers market. • In our case, if a garden will be used to enhance education, compare it to what a school would spend on educational equipment. • Whenever presenting your budget to your client, be sure to justify why you included each and every expense!

18. Balancing the Budget • It will be up to you, the landscape designer, to determine if the budget constraints and goals of your client are compatible. • Common concerns – • If the budget is entirely flexible, focus on the goals more than the budget • If not, prepare your client to sacrifice goals for the sake of maintaining a budget • Prepare your client for unanticipated expenses and be sure to be aware of all expenses before submitting a price figure. • For example, is there a cost for Digger’s Hotline? • Offer the opportunity to accomplish goals in future years in separate budgets. This can reassure the client as well as provide you with more job security.

19. Last word… • Be open to the idea that expenses can be reduced by recycling materials, asking for donations and discounts, and utilizing old materials in new ways • Starting plants from seed can be an effective way to minimize cost and maximize appeal • A bag of flower seeds costs $2 • Designing your own focal points can add to the appeal while minimizing costs • Focal points can be effective so long as the design principles are solid • A focal point does not have to be expensive to be effective so long as the principles of design are applied.