7/25/16

INSIGHTS
INTO THE
LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECT

OUR PANEL OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Carrie Woleben-Meade is a licensed landscape architect and is currently Director of Design at
Mariani. Meade received certifications from the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration
Boards (CLARB) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). When creating a design,
she focuses on the clients’ design aesthetic and personal style to create a space they never could
have imagined—but feels right to them. Meade holds a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture
from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola
University Chicago.

Steve Gierke is a Senior Associate landscape architect with the award-winning firm, Hoerr Schaudt.
His purpose is to connect the people with the land in an inspiring way by synthesizing client’s needs
with the essence of a site or region and its surrounding architecture. Steve is the horticulture
expert at the firm and is LEED certified. Steve often travels abroad searching out parks and gardens.
He loves to learn about local plant culture and is curious about new plant varieties. He got his
degree in landscape architecture from the University of Illinois.

Jay Womack, with over 20 years of experience, has a professional background that reflects his
lifelong affinity for the natural areas of the Midwest. His design process is based on an
understanding that every site contains a unique and ever-changing part of the global system.
Therefore, every design solution requires innovation that is achieved through the partnership of
environmental and economic growth. Jay is also an Adjunct Professor at the Illinois Institute of
Technology where he teaches two courses in the landscape architecture department; both focus on
the integration of ecology into design.

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HYPOTHESES

HYPOTHESIS ONE: TRUE OR FALSE?

SOME LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS AND LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS ARE VERY LOYAL TO SPECIFIC
PALETTES OF PLANTS AND IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET THEM TO CHANGE

TRUE
Our panel often sees other landscape architects use the same plants from design-to-design. They
attribute this to several things:

v They are gun-shy (had a bad experience with a new plant and stick to what they know will work).
v They lack time and resources to research new plants.

“Yes. I think that “I think it’s true and consider that a negative for
when you look at designers. I think sometimes they get into a comfort
books of one level that they don’t want to go out of, and I think
landscape they worry too much about the bottom line don’t
architect’s work you want to spend a lot of time doing research on plants
can definitely see a on behalf of their clients, and I think they just get
palette”. stuck in a rut, and I don’t think that is a good thing.”

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HYPOTHESIS TWO: TRUE OR FALSE?

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ARE NOT PLANT KNOWLEDGEABLE AND ARE NOT OPEN-MINDED
TO NEW PLANTS

TRUE
According to our panel, only 2 of 10 landscape architects in a firm are plant knowledgeable and are the
‘go-to’ experts in the firm. The others primarily focus on design and rely on their internal plant experts
for research, recommendations, and information.
According to a study among 63 landscape architects in the southeast, 71% believe that new graduates of
the landscape architecture programs lack sufficient knowledge about plants.

We have an office of 40 very talented landscape architects. But, the number of people involved in
the planting design shrinks down significantly to four or five. Partly it’s because it’s those
peoples’ passion but partly because the other people just aren’t interested in it or some people
are more into the hardscape element or the green roof element or master planning. I found that
to be true in school and as an undergrad as well. There was a significant amount of students
that didn’t really enjoy the plant classes and didn’t really care about that, which is strange to
me. You go into landscape architecture and you are not driven by plants? But, I think that’s
pretty true. If you look at other larger reputable landscape architect firms, there is usually a core
group of people that do the majority of plant research for the entire office.

HYPOTHESIS THREE: TRUE OR FALSE?

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS DON’T SPEND AS MUCH TIME RESEARCHING PLANTS AS MUCH AS

OTHER PRODUCTS THAT GO INTO DESIGNS SUCH AS HARDSCAPE ITEMS

TRUE
Similar to the previous hypothesis, each landscape architect or designer in the firm has unique areas of
focus. The plant designers, or plant experts do the research on plants, while others focus on the design
element. As such, marketing initiatives should be directed to the plant designers/experts within the firm.

Yes, so you might have someone who is really strong with the construction technical
part with the grading and the engineering components of what a landscape architect
does and maybe that same person isn’t as strong in the planting aspect, and maybe
someone else in that office is really strong in the planting. Every company has people
with different strengths and weaknesses.

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HOW TO OVERCOME
THESE CHALLENGES?

BRIDGE THE GAP

Outside of trade events, there is very little interaction between landscape architects and
growers. However, our panel expressed a need for a closer relationship. Opportunities
exist for growers to be a source of education and serve as a trusted source of information.

EDUCATION PLANT INFORMATION DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS

• Performance Data
• Growing Conditions • Establish Relationships
• Lunch and Learns
• Care Information • Be Their Go-To for
• CE Credits
• Imagery of Actual Plant at Information
• Grower Website
Various Growing Stages • Trusted Resource
• Color(s)

“I think the growers could be more of a resource if they were more available to give us advice
on various plants, but right now we don’t get that much interaction. I think especially if this
is a grower that is selling directly to trade, they should have relationships, strong
relationships with whoever is specifying their products. It just makes sense to us, and make
the time to talk to the end users of their products.”

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IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Landscape Architect’s Recommendations to Growers, according to a University Study

Provide regular, frequent plant availability 32%

Develop new plant varieties for specific needs 21%

Supply plants that meet specified sizes 20%

Recommend plant varieties for specific conditions 12%

This study also confirmed
that the landscape industry
Provide pictures of plants 9%
(growers, landscape
contractors, and landscape
Make presentations to Landscape Architects 5%
architects) can mutually
benefit from a closer
working relationship.
Common Complaints from Landscape Architects Regarding Installed Plant Material:
v Plants Below Specified Size (44%)
v Plants Below Specified Quality (24%)

Source: Survey by the Department of Agriculture at the University of Georgia among Landscape Architects

MARKETING TO THE
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

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SEGMENTING THE INDUSTRY

Landscape architects do not segment themselves by designation (architect/designer) or by the type of
landscape (commercial/residential/municipal) they design. In fact, our panel admitted that the only
difference between a landscape architect and a landscape designer/garden designer is the license. Also,
most do not choose to limit their designation. For example, a landscape architect may work mostly in
residential, but they still have the ability and willingness to do commercial designs as well. Our panel
recommends that growers market equally to all designations and segments, and not differentiate
because they all specify plants.

“You don’t need a license to Landscape

specify plant material.” Architect Residential

ALL
Landscape
Designer SPECIFY Commercial

Garden
PLANTS
Designer Municipal

MARKETING MATERIALS

Landscape architects are visually-motivated. Therefore, colorful imagery in catalogs and other
materials is important. Also to depict the plant at various growth stages, along with some sort of scale.
Performance is important, so be sure to include data on performance metrics.

“One example is the Endless Summer

hydrangea, which is a good
20 FEET hydrangea. Their marketing shows
big blue beautiful blooms that our
5 FEET clients in Illinois love, but with our
soils unless you are constantly treating
them with acid, are not blue. They are
more like a kinky purple, and it is not
the same. It is that kind of thing. We
are looking for a proven plant.”

“I think the growers should invest time and money into photography to show
what their product actually looks like. I just got a bunch of nursery catalogs
today and they are just like Word documents or Excel spreadsheets, and
while I understand the information, I don’t know how their plants look
compared to another nursery. I would be more apt to specify a nursery
when I know what their material looks like, or, I know that if I call them they
will send me a picture with somebody standing next to it for scale.”

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TRENDS

TRENDS

Native Plant
Tropical Plants
Material

Colored
Succulents
Foliage

Less Annuals
Sophisticated
More
Containers
Perennials

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PLANT SPECS FROM MUNICIPALITIES

Native Plant
Material

List of trees
(cultivars)
specified by the
city or state

Requirements for
non-invasive plants