Regan Harrold, RLA, LEED® AP
What exactly do landscape architects do? I cannot begin to remember how many times I have been asked this question over the course of my career. Unlike architects and engineers, landscape architects must actually define our profession every time we meet someone at a cocktail party or even at a professional function. The cocktail party conversation invariably ends up with someone asking ―What color azaleas look best next to a walkway?‖ or ―Why can’t I get
my roses to look like the photos?‖ And of course, the classic ―What should I do about that crabgrass?‖
Although the profession of landscape architecture does include the design of plantings, it is more broadly recognized by practitioners as ―the analysis, planning, design, and management of the natural and built environment. Landscape architects enhance the quality of our lives by adding beauty—but they’re also problem solvers who analyze the environmental impact of proposed development, plan for pedestrian and automobile traffic, and determine the best use of each site.
At professional functions and conferences, landscape architects have to gauge our audience. Architects and urban designers often feel that they are the true landscape architects in the tradition of Frederic Law Olmstead or Le Nôtre. Civil engineers often think that landscape architects criticize their profession by complaining about the look of ―engineered‖ landforms such as rectilinear, utilitarian stormwater basins. And environmentalists fear that landscape architects will want to plant invasive or exotic species such as the dreaded burning bush.
WICKIPEDIA has done a pretty good job of defining Landscape Architecture:
“Landscape architecture is a multi-disciplinary field, incorporating aspects of: botany, horticulture, the fine arts, architecture, industrial design, geology and the earth sciences, environmental psychology, geography, and ecology. The activities of a landscape architect can range from the creation of public parks and parkways to site planning for
campuses and corporate office parks, from the design of residential estates to the design of civil infrastructure and the management of large wilderness areas or reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills. Landscape architects work on all types of structures and external space – large or small, urban, suburban and rural, and with
“hard” (built) and “soft” (planted) materials, while integrating ecological sustainability.”
Perhaps this should be printed on our business cards to save us the trouble of memorization?
At Beals and Thomas, Inc., a multi-disciplinary design firm most commonly recognized as a ―civil engineering firm, we are often thought of as ―landscape engineers, a somewhat more fitting title. We work as project managers, coordinating an in-house team of professionals, including engineers, surveyors, wetland scientists and CADD specialists. For a typical project, we analyze and plan site layout and grading, review zoning and permitting requirements, design
parking lots and site circulation patterns, develop details and specifications for site improvements and ensure safety compliance such as handicap access and sight distance. Finally, if we are lucky and have a savvy client, we are able to prepare a fabulous planting plan. We may even be asked to select and tag the plants at the nursery! Working alongside various professions and trades, we have become well versed in terms and technologies such as Stormceptor®,
AutoCAD, ArcGIS, ―horizontal control‖, and the endless barrage of permitting abbreviations (MEPA, NOI, RDA, ANRAD, DEP, ACOE, to name a few).
Those of us who have been in the profession for a while have performed most, if not all, of the aforementioned tasks over our careers. And the learning curve doesn’t stop there. Landscape architects are at the forefront of the development and implementation of new technologies that will make the places we create more sustainable.
We are far from being landscapers and far from being architects. Despite our apparent identity crisis, don’t forget about us if you need help with your yard, but please remember ALL that we can do when you are looking for a multi-disciplinary project manager and designer!
Regan Harrold, RLA, LEED® AP
Regan Harrold is a registered landscape architect and LEED Accredited Professional at Beals
and Thomas, Inc. where she works as the lead designer and project manager for a variety of
projects including mixed-use developments, park renovations, medical and educational campus
master plans and improvements, and commercial and residential developments.