Landscape designer: features and essence of the profession

The profession of landscape design is the dream of many creative people. The ability to implement your own ideas, work for yourself and be in constant contact with nature are the main reasons for the popularity of this vacancy.

A landscape designer is an employee whose main responsibilities are the design and improvement of gardens, parks and adjoining territories. The description of this profession suggests that the task of a specialist includes not only creating an aesthetic picture, but also organizing comfortable places for rest and hiding unsightly areas of the landscape. Despite the fact that the landscape designer is not a gardener or botanist, his profession is still partially related to biology. He must understand how crops planted in the form of seedlings will change over time, take into account the rules for combining plants and the conditions for their maintenance. Besides, the resulting object should be in harmony with the surrounding nature, which means, again, it is important to understand how it changes throughout the year.

A landscape designer decorates a particular area, using plants, the existing natural landscape, buildings and a variety of outdoor accessories. Work on a project necessarily begins with creating a plan with thoughtful planting. In order for the site not to look neglected, the composition must be balanced, but at the same time, absolute symmetry still looks unnatural. Although many designers work as sole traders, you can find such a specialist in design studios, as well as in some construction companies.

The profession of a landscape designer is currently in great demand, and therefore it is not surprising that the number of its advantages is quite tangible. Due to the high demand, the specialist does not have any problems with employment. - You can find a job in a construction company, in an architecture studio, and in an organization dealing with design. Of course, you can work as an individual entrepreneur, attracting new customers through social networks and word of mouth. The job of a landscape designer pays well. Despite the fact that newcomers most often start with a salary equal to 25 thousand rubles, soon it may well rise to 60 thousand. And qualified specialists with a good portfolio earn from 300,000 rubles per order.

Of course, the big advantage is the opportunity to work for yourself, engaging in creative activities. In this case, the landscape designer can regulate not only the number of orders, but also his schedule. It is possible to hire assistants if necessary. The disadvantage of the profession can be called certain difficulties at the beginning of a career. A person who has just graduated from a university is forced to compete with already experienced specialists. However, with a strong desire, this minus can be processed into a plus: even while studying, earn extra money as an assistant or volunteer on certain projects, as well as form a portfolio, even if from unpaid orders.

A landscape designer's job involves many tasks. It all begins, of course, from negotiations with the customer and the identification of his desires. Further, the specialist must deal with the existing landscape, that is, to determine the size of the territory, the type of soil, the proximity of the location of groundwater, the presence of reservoirs, the specifics of the relief, the climate and other features. The next step is creating a garden project, and the design of all buildings on the site is also taken into account. After the development of the necessary communication systems, for example, drainage, begins direct landscaping of the site. At the end of the workflow, installation of lamps and decorative elements.

Basically, a landscape designer should be able to do everything - from creating a beautiful picture to bringing it to life in accordance with engineering requirements. As for communications, it is important to note that the specialist will have to develop a water supply system, sewerage and storm drainage, as well as include a drainage system and sedimentation tanks in the design project. If the customer expresses a desire to additionally create a reservoir on the site, the employee must cope with this. Of course, it is he who lays paths and paths, directs the planting of trees, flowers and shrubs, and also thinks over the irrigation system.

The main quality that a landscape designer should have is, of course, creative thinking. Without it, it is simply impossible to create a unique design project that will satisfy the customer, but at the same time take into account all the features of the existing site.In order to think creatively, of course, you need to develop imagination and instill in yourself a sense of beauty. However, for the implementation of large-scale ideas, one imagination will not be enough - a specialist will need qualities such as perseverance, hard work, patience and attention to detail. As in almost any job, communication skills are important for a landscape designer, since it is required to find a common language with any client.

As already mentioned above, knowledge of botany will also be useful, so that a beautiful picture of flowers and plants is also viable. Help a specialist possession of special programs for creating design projects, as well as the ability to draw. The profession of a landscape designer is ideal for purposeful people who do not stand in one place and are constantly developing. They must have a good memory in order not to miss a single aspect in the creation of a design project, to be good organizers. Also important the ability to clearly convey their ideas to builders and gardeners and manage their work throughout the entire period.

And, of course, such an important quality as stress tolerance... Working as a landscape designer involves quite frequent interaction with people and the influence of the human factor, for which you should always be prepared. With regard to a variety of knowledge and skills, the landscape designer must understand architecture and plants, understand the principles of landscape construction, navigate the cost and procedure of work, think figuratively, work in AutoCAD and Archicad programs, and also keep up with modern trends.

Modern landscape design is usually divided into 3 main areas.

• Engineering. The engineering direction includes architecture, construction and preliminary design. Knowledge in this area will allow the landscape designer to correctly design the lighting system and communications. By the way, it is he who will need to create stormwater systems that drain wastewater, as well as develop additional structures.
• Biological. The biological direction combines botany and plant growing. It is important for a specialist who decorates a personal plot to understand the combination of individual plants, as well as to know the peculiarities of their development and flowering. Some of the crops may even require special soil mixtures.
• Historical. Finally, there is also a historical direction, which includes the history of culture and philosophy. This information will allow you to harmoniously combine the buildings on the site with the landscape design, as well as to effectively emphasize the features of the landscape.

In principle, you can study to be a landscape designer at many institutes throughout Russia. Some educational institutions (for example, MASPK) even provide an opportunity to take professional retraining courses remotely. I must say that a future specialist can receive basic education in an adjacent direction, and then you have to sign up for specialized courses.

Initially, one should focus on such specialties as "Landscape architecture", "Ornamental gardening and phytodesign", "Meadow landscapes and lawns", "Garden and park and landscape construction" or "Landscape design" itself. As a rule, subjects such as mathematics, biology or geography, as well as Russian, have to be taken.

Of the educational institutions for applicants, the most often recommended are the Moscow State University of Forestry, the Interregional Academy of Industrial and Construction Complex, the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after V.I. K. A. Timiryazeva and St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design.

A landscape designer without experience is unlikely to earn more than 28 thousand rubles, and an assistant designer who combines study and practice will receive even less. In principle, in Russia, the level of wages is from 30 thousand to 120 thousand rubles. In Moscow, this figure is slightly higher - the income boundaries of landscape designers range from 40 thousand to 130 thousand rubles.