Landscape Professionals: Know the difference and make a difference

By G. Owen Yost

Many homeowners are taking some time this winter to think about embarking on landscaping projects in a couple of months. Stores and offices are considering future plans too. Usually this amounts to more than simply sticking a few things in the ground and hoping for the best. When it comes to landscape designs and redesigns, smart, cost-conscious owners turn to genuine experts for help ? just as they would turn to a doctor for meaningful medical help or a C.P.A. for accurate accounting.

A good design is what makes the difference between a hodge-podge of plants and an attractive, usable outdoor environment. Another big consideration, of course, is cost. A complete, all-inclusive design probably won?t have to be re-done and re-done again, and should reduce maintenance considerably ? saving you real money instead of dribbling it away.

Right now, when your landscape is probably barren and undemanding, is the ideal time to plan your landscape design. You can actually plant some things now, too.

So, who do you turn to for expert help? It helps to be clear about who does what kind of work, and just how qualified they really are. Here are most of the types of landscape professionals you?ll encounter:

• Landscape designers can be likely choices for exterior designs that do not require much construction, grading or other specific technical knowledge such as drainage, lighting or governmental regulations. Anyone can call himself a "landscape designer". Some architects and civil engineers do limited landscape design work on the side. No formal education or license is required; some landscape designers have pertinent education, and will gladly let you know it. Some are quite good! Designers are typically not comprehensively educated, however, in all aspects of the field, as are landscape architects.
• Horticulturists are trained in botany - the science of growing and reproducing plants, but typically lack design skills and comprehensive technical knowledge about drainage, utilities and land-use laws, and other aspects likely to be encountered in many design projects.
• Landscape contractors install the elements (plants, decks, patios etc.) of a design which has been created by a landscape architect or designer. Sometimes, landscape contractors may entice clients with a "free plan" in order to get the ensuing construction work. Many plant nurseries (whose income is derived mainly from plant sales) also do some contracting work on the side. A few of them are good!

I?ve not included the average clerk in the average plant store as a "professional", although a few may have a genuine knowledge-base. A good bit of advice is to ask anyone who wants to landscape your yard, including work on your trees, about education, training, licensing and how long they?ve worked in this area. And remember that good "landscaping" involves far more than sticking a few plants in the ground ? soil, drainage, weather and so on should be considered first. The plants are the "frosting on the cake".

Whoever designs it, the landscape should be a complete integration of natural and the man-made environments ? carefully designed to fit your individual needs and tastes, not those of the advice-giver. A landscape ? whether it be a small back yard or a huge retail complex ? should not look like it?s been forced onto the land, but should blend with it smoothly and naturally.

For more information about landscape architects in this area, contact the American Society of Landscape Architects at (202) 898-2444 or write to: A.S.L.A. 636 Eye Street NW, Washington D.C. 20001. A.S.L.A. has a very helpful web site at www.asla.org

Owen Yost is an area landscape architect specializing in designing low-maintenance landscapes while incorporating native plants with hardscape. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Keep Denton Beautiful and the Native Plant Society of Texas. His Denton office is at 4516 Coyote Point; call 940-382-2099 or 940-383-9655 or e-mail him at Yost87@charter.net