Having a career as a professional landscape designer gives you the best of all worlds! It’s a trifecta of nature, technology, and art—but it’s also people skills like listening, giving and taking direction, and compromise. There are academic, practical, and personal requirements to the job, so let’s have a look at just what they are.
To become a professional landscape designer, take a job or internship closely related to landscaping, get the right education—an Associate degree with relevant coursework, get certified with the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), and Cultivate connections with colleagues and potential clients.
You’ve been bitten by the gardening bug and you’re wondering what it takes to be a professional landscape designer! To start, it takes a blend of skills that goes beyond a love of gardening. In this article, I will tell you what you need to know to get the work experience, education, and certification necessary to become a professional landscape designer. I’ll also touch upon characteristics that will make you a great team player both with your crew and your clientele.
Get the Right Education
Unlike with a landscape architect, a four-year degree is not required to learn all you need to know to become a professional landscape designer. However, the skills required to be a great landscape designer are so different from one another that it’s hard to imagine a person being naturally proficient in all of them without the need for continuing education.
Qualifications vary according to the clientele who employ your services. Still, the minimum most clients are looking for is an Associate (two-year) degree with an emphasis on landscape-related studies, and relevant work experience. So, in addition to your core credits, you’ll select courses related to your occupational specialty.
Courses also vary based on what is offered at different colleges, but here is a general idea of related subjects to study for your degree.
- AutoCAD
- Drafting and Design
- Horticulture
- Biology
- Botany
- Pest Management
- Turf Maintenance
- Business Management
Some colleges offer an Associate of Applied Science in Landscape Design degree—that’s great to have, but not necessary for the job, so don’t let that stop you!
Computer skills are a must to become a professional landscape designer. Here are the three most sought-after by those hiring landscape designers, according to ZipRecruiter:
- AutoCAD
- Microsoft Office
- Sketchup
AutoCAD will play a huge part in your role as a professional landscape designer—it’s where much of the ‘design’ will come from, so pursue college courses or online training that will make you a master of AutoCAD.
The Microsoft Office family of software includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams, and more. You’ll need to be fluent in these various Office programs to make spreadsheets/databases, develop presentations, and take part in collaborative notetaking with the team about projects and more.
Sketchup is a drawing and design software that lets you render your landscape designs in 3D. This is a red-hot skill for those looking to hire Landscape Designers. There are paid subscription tiers, but they offer a (minimal) free version of SketchUpFree if you want to get familiar with the general user interface. The site also offers software training courses.
How Much Money Landscape Designers Make On Average
Take a Job Related to Landscaping
If you don’t already work in a landscaping-related job but plan to become a professional landscape designer, now is a great time to find either employment or an internship in this field. This will give you the real-life experience that classes won’t. It’ll also count toward your three years of landscape design work as required to be eligible for the Association of Professional Landscape Designers certification (more on that later).
Some jobs that will give experience relevant to becoming a Landscape Designer are those working with turf, such as groundskeeper, at places like golf courses, institutions (schools, hospitals, etc.), cemeteries, and city parks. Other workplaces with lots of potential are tree nurseries, plant nurseries, garden centers, arboretums, and botanical gardens.
It cannot be overstated that, in general, your landscaping clientele will strongly value relevant work experience in addition to education and APLD certification. Anywhere you can work with outdoor plants and people will be helpful to your education and look great on your résumé. Much of your learning will be on the job and there’s no time like the present to start.
Take this opportunity to hone your communication and collaboration skills. These, too, are highly sought after by clients and employers, yet not often mentioned on landscape designer résumés. Common situations where these “soft skills” will come into play with clients often are:
- Listening carefully to the client describe what they want
- Attention to detail in manifesting the client’s wishes
- Explaining (in a friendly way) to the client what is and isn’t feasible about budget, plant materials, location, etc.
- Ability to create client-pleasing designs when compromise is required
- Respecting the client’s time and money by being efficient and dependable
- Providing the client with care plans for their new designs and responding promptly if an issue arises.
You’ll need soft skills with your team to be successful, too. While getting your on-the-job training, remember to practice the following:
- Teamwork: most of your projects will take more than you to complete, so stay positive, cooperative, and complementary
- Communication: for projects to run smoothly, each team member must know what is expected, by whom, and when
- Respect: never forget that no one’s job is easy and it takes everyone on the team to “make it happen”
How To Become A Good Landscape Designer
Get Certified
Getting certified by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) is strongly recommended. This proves to potential clients that not only do you have the education and work experience, but that you have demonstrated to a third-party organization that you have met an above-average threshold of knowledge and skill—and yes, many potential clients specify APLD certification as a condition of employment or contract.
To apply for your APLD certification, you must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Agree to comply with the APLD Code of Ethics and Conduct
- Be an APLD Qualified Professional Member, or,
- Have an Associate Degree or 450 contact hours of education in landscape design or a related field, and,
- Three or more years of professional landscape design experience
To gain your APLD certification, you must do the following:
- Pass an exam that covers different core competencies with a score of 80% or higher per competency.
- Commit to adhere to the APLD Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
- Submit a portfolio that meets the specific APLD criteria
You’ll need to plan accordingly for your certification process: the APLD certification panel reviews submissions just twice per year—deadlines are February 1st and September 1st. The 2022 certification fee is listed at $300.
Get Connected
Perhaps as important as getting your credentials, it is time to begin cultivating positive relationships with your work colleagues and your instructors and classmates in college or trade school. Don’t wait until you have an official title. You may not realize it yet, but many of your interactions are shaping the beginnings of relationships that will last the life of your career or longer, so be mindful of them and start laying good foundations now.
“Networking” has been a buzzword for many years now, but it doesn’t mean simply following or friending people on social media (and then forgetting about them)—real-life connections don’t work that way. When there is a special event at work or an event at your school related to the trade—make an appearance! When the Master Gardeners or area garden clubs are hosting a talk, plant sale, or garden tour series—show up!
Smile and make small talk; let people know who you are and become a friendly, familiar face. You never know who may become a crucial project-winning partner or valuable client down the road. Likewise, you may be in a position to connect other people with projects, and they’ll remember you in kind. In business, that’s the name of the game!
You will greatly increase your chances of both “knowing the right people” and being “in the right place at the right time” if you get out and mingle!
I’ll end with the words of Marty Grunder, of Grunder Landscaping Company, who says it best: “When you do the right things, the right things will happen…be the person that can be counted on to always do a little bit more than what was asked of them; be the person that is always thoughtful…be the person that is always considerate.”
What Is A Professional Landscape Designer And How To Get Started
Frequently Asked Questions
Will it take me two years to get an Associate degree?
Not necessarily; see what colleges near you accept CLEP (many do)! Some nonprofits offer free, self-paced courses in core subjects and pay for the CLEP exam. Pass the exams and get the credits without semester-long classes. Save time and money!
How do I get proficient at those software programs without paying for classes?
YouTube has a lot of videos that explain how to use all the programs listed, step by step, for free. For Office classes, check with your public library. Many libraries regularly host free, in-person, or online workshops for Excel, Word, and more.
To learn more on how you can start your own landscaping business, check out my startup documents here.
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Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Landscape Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a landscape business owner at a job site, driving down the road or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Landscaping Business Boss: I want to help landscape business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.