landscape architecture's topics - tribe.net

to many landscapers

costin — Sat, 03 May 2008 23:17:39 GMT

and the number of clients go lower

just because the $$$

posted in landscape architecture - 1 reply

Maybe LA.......

FireShaman — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:56:37 GMT

So I think I've finally settled on Landscape Architecture as a graduate program. Here is my problem, I have a BA in Anthropology and Environmental Studies with very little art or design experience. I was just wondering if anyone else out there started there MA/MSLA/MLA with virtually no design experience? Also, anyone want to recommend/comment on schools? I'm thinking UGA or Ft. Collins (admission gods willing).....

Mitchell

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

Paying for Grad School

~J~ — Sat, 03 May 2008 19:51:04 GMT

Out of curiosity, how many of you were able to pay for grad school outside of student loans? i ask because I'm 35 and don't want to spend the next 20 years paying off MORE student loans than I already carry from my last master's degree in Urban and Environmental Planning. Are TA positions common? I understand studio schedules are pretty intense, so is outside employment off impractical? I know a lot of you will say contact each school I'm interested in, and I will, but I'm curious to hear from the student perspective first. =)

Also, I was thinking of getting one of those part time certificates from UC Berkeley or UCLA extensions, but my fiancee and I little desire to return to california.

Any and all perspectives would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!

posted in landscape architecture - 1 reply

what kind of landscape architect are you?

sunrisedancer — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:43:59 GMT

i think one of my favorite qualities of landscape architects is their ability to infiltrate into so many worlds of design...

i just began working for a plant nursery and doing small garden design which is quite different from the work that i have done previously in urban design and environmental restoration firms. what is it that you work on? is it a specific scale of design or niche? i'm interested in who is here and how you are using landscape architecture in the world!

posted in landscape architecture - 16 replies

Landscape Design Contest with Cash Prize

Ken — Tue, 22 May 2007 16:08:20 GMT

I just got a mailer promoting a landscape design contest. has pics of last year's winners. pretty impressive, they offer a $5000 first prize. The company is VERSA-LOK. Mostly hardscape. rules and entry form are at www.versa-lok.com/designcontest.asp

If anybody knows more about versa-lok or the contest, please post.

posted in landscape architecture - 1 reply

plants

filippo — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 04:58:15 GMT

whats your favorite plant?

posted in landscape architecture - 14 replies

land/art installations at burning man

dana — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 17:47:13 GMT

is anyone participating in or interested in participating in any land/art installations at burning man?

posted in landscape architecture - 5 replies

freelance designers

sunrisedancer — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:34:09 GMT

within the last months, i have chosen to leave my job in a firm to pursue the wild and wonderful world of freelance. i am not yet licensed, but have sat for part of the exam and plan to complete it eventually.

is there anyone out there that does freelance landscape design? do you have advice on how to go about marketing myself? it seems like work opportunities are all around me, but i am scared to really go after them without a website, etc. in order.

what is the most important thing that you can share about working for yourself? will i need to work with a licensed landscape architect for small residential type jobs?

any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!

posted in landscape architecture - 3 replies

new plant list: shade tolerant edibles? groundcovers?

spaceystacey — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:50:47 GMT

I am hoping to generate a new plant list from all you botanic nerds. What is your favorite shade lover? I am in love with five fingered ferns. Their delicate fingers reach out from a hillside along lower Highway 9 in a mass that is simply gorgeous, I always slow down and wave back.

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

Spatial Recall Symposium at UCB

Sparkle Bottom — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 03:42:34 GMT

Hey there everyone! I know that not all of you are local, but for those who are, I wanted to mention that there is a very promising symposium at UC Berzerkely on March 9 & 10th, and it's FREE! You have to sign up for both days, but full days attendance are not required.

Here's the site to check it out:

http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/sites/spatialrecallsymposium/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

I'm not affiliated with UCB, just an associate at a local landscape architecture firm. It seems like the symposium is geared towards the interdisciplinary aspects of spaces. I love that stuff.

I'm new on this tribe, and wanted to say hello and have something to offer. What a cool group! Yay.

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

lare exam

sunrisedancer — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 07:53:24 GMT

has anyone taken it? passed? tell us your experience.

posted in landscape architecture - 4 replies

Graphics

Dane — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:41:29 GMT

Does anyone know of any good websites where there are examples of plant / hardscape graphics? I want more style.

posted in landscape architecture - 4 replies

HGTV is casting guest landscape architectects and designers for upcoming shows

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:16:21 GMT

Please reply to landscapesmartsf@edelmanproductions for more info.

Much Thanks!

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

geoff lawton speaks in santa monica

sunrisedancer — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:45:39 GMT

cross referenced from the permaculture tribe***

Tuesday June 27th 6-9 PM Lecture and Powerpoint presentationwith Geoff Lawton
Santa Monica Public Library, The Auditorium Donation $10-$15
The library is located on Santa Monica Blvd. at 6th street in Downtown Santa Monica. Ample parking, entrance on 6th street.
Contact David or <info@sustainablehabitats.org> 1-323-667-1330
More Details: www.sustainablehabitats.org

Geoff Lawton is a world-renowned permaculture practitioner. He emigrated from England to Australia and studied permaculture with the originator, Bill Mollison, in Tasmania. He founded the Permaculture Research Institute www.permaculture.org.au
on Tagari Farm in New South Wales, Australia, a 147-acre farmstead previously developed by Mollison. Since 1985, Geoff has designed and implemented permaculture projects in 18 countries for private individuals and groups, communities, governments, aid organizations, and multinational corporations. He has taught the Permaculture Design Certificate course in 20 countries.

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

new website up

spaceystacey — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 04:01:40 GMT

Hi fellow gardening afficianados! Please visit my new website : hartlandscaping.com.

I hope you like it! feedback most welcome

posted in landscape architecture - 1 reply

Peter Del Tredici's articles in LA Magazine.

cairo_east — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 18:54:35 GMT

Did anyone read the two articles relating to Peter Del Tredici in the February edition of Landscape Architecture Magazine? I thought they were fantastic. Far too often I've run into landscape architects who espouse "sustainability" and "native plant restoration" without understanding the ecological realities of their environment. Placing a tree in a 5'x5' hole in the sidewalk is inherently a non-native environment.

I live in the Midwestern USA which can have periods of extreme weather. It's impossible to find a tree that can survive in an urban environment without the assistance of fertilizers and irrigation. I've seen whole streets and highways in Kansas City with flashed native trees because the designer didn't recognize the climatic realities of the environment. It's incredibly frustrating as sustainability is a great concept, but few are taking the time to recognize that "sustainable" and "low maintenance" aren't necessarily compatible.

It becomes a question of what would you rather have: a native tree that has to be replaced every 2-15 years with low maintenance, or the best (possibly native, possibly exotic) tree with soils and water management that can survive the environment with moderate maintenance. Given the benefits of shade and heat island mediation, I prefer the latter. Your thoughts? Complaints? Agreements?

posted in landscape architecture - 1 reply

new to this tribe

spaceystacey — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 15:33:50 GMT

Hello, I just joined this tribe because I am a landscape contractor who has been in the field for 10 years running my own business. I am located in Boulder Creek, CA. I work primarily in Santa Cruz county, but I like to design anywhere in the Bay area. My business is design/build and we also run a regular maintenance circuit. I have a permaculture design certificate also. It is a tough business to make money, I can tell you! My daughter is 13, when she goes to college, I plan to become a landscape architect. I feel I am going to be really good at it after all the experience I've had putting in gardens over the years. I hope to help re-design the residential and rural landscape to be more sustainable and environmental. Right now, I would like to at least learn auto-cad. I hand draft everthing these days. I am always happy to take referrals and give advice. My gardens tend to have long lazy s curves and imformal hedges or screens in layers to mimic nature. I am excited to be here and look forward to future discussions.

posted in landscape architecture - 3 replies

graduate programs

andreamckay — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 22:55:06 GMT

Hi guys. I'm in the process of putting together applications for MLA programs. The schools i'm planning to apply to are UC Berkeley, U of Minnesota, UW (Seattle), UBC (Vancouver), U of Toronto, and RISD (Providence). I have moments of feeling very confident, and i have moments of fearing that i won't be accepted anywhere. It is in regards to the latter that i'm writing... It's hard to get a sense of the rankings of landscape architecture grad programs. And i want to make sure i'm applying to at least one or two "safety schools." I'm sending emails to the schools listed above, asking them about their admission rates, but i was wondering if you guys had any thoughts on this... I believe that UC Berkeley, UW, and RISD are pretty competitive programs. I don't know about Minneapolis, UBC, and Toronto, though - do you think any of them would qualify as a "safety school" of sorts? I know this is a hard question, considering that you have no idea how qualified i am for any of these schools... But how competitive are they relative to other schools...? Thanks!

posted in landscape architecture - 3 replies

vinegar as an herbicide

spaceystacey — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 15:36:05 GMT

Has anybody had luck with straight vinegar sprayed as a non toxic herbicide? We have tried it, but so far the rain hasn't let it stay on the plant very long. It doesn't seem to work on oxalis, but what does? I am trying weed cloth and mulch in a problem garden. I am a big fan of cardboard and wood chips, but what about slopes?

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

With Gilded Eyes: Utopian Urbanism

Sun, 11 Dec 2005 18:08:12 GMT

If anyone's interested I've posted a critique on the New Urbanism at urbanparadoxes.blogspot.com. I would appreciate hearing your comments, posted either or on the blog site (or private message).

Frank

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

Need some direction please

Jenn — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 16:20:42 GMT

I have about 1/3 of an acre that I want to landscape. I think what I need to do is have my current crab grass ripped out and dug out by a tractor and new sprinkler system put in etc... I am not sure where to start. In other words, should I go with a landscape designer and a contractor or ? I have been to Home Depot and got some books on landscaping but it all seems so overwhelming...and I only have about $3,000 to put towards this... I know it won't get me far. I want to put in a koi pond at some point, but I think the earth excavation is the first step. I get so overwhelmed with it all, not knowing where to begin and should I hire a draftsmen, how much do they cost roughly etc...

posted in landscape architecture - 6 replies

Looking for a Landscape Architecture Firm in the Bay Area

ross — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 18:00:50 GMT

Hi -- I have a bit of an unusual request. I am working with the San Francisco Parks Dept. to put together a proposal to the Parks Commission for a permanent 18 hole disc golf course in Golden Gate Park and could really use the expertise of a quality landscape architecture firm. As a small volunteer club we do not have funds to pay so are looking for a firm that can do pro-bono work. However as a project of the San Francisco Parks Trust (http://www.frp.org/programs/partners.asp) your contribution would be tax deductible. We will need to have documents ready in time for the OCtober 20th meeting of the Commission.

If you have any ideas of who I could contact I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

posted in landscape architecture - 1 reply

Free Japanese Flower Arranging Exhibit at Yerba Buena

ericsf7 — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 22:10:07 GMT

Sogetsu ArtScapes– Japanese Flower Arranging

Friday, September 23 – Sunday, September 25, 10am – 5pm
Yerba Buena Gardens, East Garden

An exhibition of the beautiful art of Japanese flower arranging called Ikebana - one of Japan's most popular traditional arts, enjoyed and practiced by thousands of men and women throughout the world

FREE and open to the public

Yerba Buena Gardens is located on Mission Street between 3rd and 4th Streets

http://www.ybgf.org/

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

Walkable Urbanity

Thu, 25 Aug 2005 21:47:16 GMT

Please check out my blog on "Walkable Urbanity" at http://urbanparadoxes.blogspot.com. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts as landscape architects.

f.

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

this should be interesting

cairo_east — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 04:06:41 GMT

Hey there! Just coming in to see what's going on. Tribe.net seems like a pretty cool deal, so I thought I'd join in. I'm here in Kansas City, doing some pretty eclectic LA stuff in my office. More later, I suppose.

posted in landscape architecture - 4 replies

landscaping/ landscape architectue jobs?

natechien — Tue, 17 May 2005 23:27:21 GMT

Hey everybody...
my name's nate, i live in walnut creek, east of oakland and am looking for work in the bay area. i love being outside, and working with my body. working inside sucks! and plants are so very cool. i am intrigued and enraptured by them, and want to get more submerged in ther world. i am especially interested in medicinal and native californian species, though i at present know little. i have landscaping and construction experience and am a 25 year old able bodied male. ideally i would be helping to build zen gardens and planting native trees and herbs while busting my ass outside under the california sunshine. if anyone has any connex or suggestions, i would love to hear from you.
nate

posted in landscape architecture - 0 replies

stone wall and brick patio

andreamckay — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 13:25:39 GMT

Hello out there. I'm planning on building a brick patio and stone wall/bench in my boyf's backyard this summer. I've never done anything like this before. Do you have any tips? How to prepare the ground before laying the bricks?...How to make the wall actually stay together?...Books to read? Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

posted in landscape architecture - 1 reply

A good book

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 02:27:21 GMT

Hi,
Seems a little quiet in here?
Could anyone recommend a good book of landscape design/architecture for contemporary gardens? I'm working on my yard and want it to look professional!
Thanks,
Scott

posted in landscape architecture - 6 replies

3-Year MLA/MArch in Urban Design? MLA or MArch?

Michael — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 00:20:12 GMT

I’m looking for some pretty specific graduate school recommendations: a professional graduate design degree for individuals without prior design experience (hence the three years) suited to an urban design and planning career.

My background: I’m working as a “junior planner” for consulting firm. I technically studied geography as an undergrad, but spent enough time hanging out in the planning school, which didn’t have an undergrad degree at the time, to convince my current employer that I’d make a good planner.

I’m enjoying the job, but I’d like to broaden my skills and thereby my work. Instead of just describing what makes a good street or neighborhood in a plan document, I’d also like to be able to design a good street or neighborhood and illustrate the principles graphically. I’d like to get a sense of what residential and commercial densities, setbacks, minimum frontages, etc. look and feel like by trying to design within these constraints, and thereby also improve the quality of my plans and zoning codes. I don’t want to stop planning, but I’d like to plan in the more traditional sense in which policy gets mixed with physical form.

So that brings me to my current conundrum—what should I study in graduate school? The ideal program would probably be a MUD program, but these all seem to require a professional design degree. I don’t really want to do an MCP/MUP, because, even with an urban design concentration, I don’t feel like the experience would be all that useful. I’ve already taken several graduate planning courses, and I don’t feel like they were substantially different from the rest of my undergraduate experience or would provide me skills that I could otherwise gain by working for those two years.

So that brings me to either a three-year MLA or MArch grad program, but one which has a strong emphasis on urban design. First off, does anyone have any recommendations? Secondly, which profession would better prepare me for urban design: Landscape Architecture or Architecture? It would seem that both would be to some extent an imperfect fit--not enough built form with a landscape program and not enough landscape/environment with architecture. Looking at the office in which I work, all of the “urban designers” are architects, but the people who actually do the detailed on-ground urban design (streetscapes, plazas, etc.) are landscape architects. That said, I’m not particularly interested in detailed design/construction documentation…but then again I’ve never tried it. Additionally, all of the CNU people (not to start a discussion about the merits/failures of the movement) seem to be architects—not landscape architects.

I’d appreciate any advice that you might be able to share, particularly from people who consider themselves to be urban designers.

Note: I’m cross posting this in several different tribes to get a variety of opinions.

posted in landscape architecture - 2 replies

welcome welcome

sunrisedancer — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 02:35:43 GMT

we have members! sorry i haven't initiated if you were waiting for me...but welcome to the larch tribe! i thought that this would be a great forum for information exchange and getting to know other landscape architecture professionals and those interested in it.

i've been practicing for almost 3 years now and recently began working in los angeles. my degree is from penn state university and my main interest lies in green design. please introduce yourself, ask questions, let's get this party started!

posted in landscape architecture - 2 replies