Career Advice

16 years ago

Last year I realized that I *really* want a career in landscape design/gardening/horticulture. I have no experience in the field, other than growing up with a huge yard and my mom's massive vegetable garden -- and my growing collection of house plants.

I hope to go to school for a Landscape Horticulture associate's degree this fall, but financial and familial obligations might get in the way (I have an 8-month-old and a load of old school debt that's in default).

Is it realistic to start work in the landscape design field -- at a nursery, whatever -- without going to school? Where do I start?

I eventually want to work with people to install local vegetation and/or edible gardens rather than high-maintenance lawns and invasive species.

At the moment, I live in Chicago, but at the end of this summer we'll be moving to the Lake Winnebago area of Wisconsin. Any advice, suggestions or warnings would be greatly greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

Lisa

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Comments (4)

laag
16 years ago
"I eventually want to work with people to install local vegetation and/or edible gardens rather than high-maintenance lawns and invasive species."

The biggest obstacle is that there is almost no one paying for such a service. A Doctoral degree will not change that.
Embothrium
16 years ago
Yes: You need to learn more about the field and how it operates first, before deciding what to do yourself.
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marcinde
16 years ago
Lisa,

Is your goal to be an employee, or the Big Boss running your own company? The end goal makes a big difference. I enjoy designing edible and native plantings, but it is one TINY piece of the pie for me. I also design hardscapes, additions, swimming pools, decks, homebuilder streetscapes, and anything else that pays. I stay busy because I'm a generalist. I know a guy who is very, very good at doing edible gardens. That's pretty much all he does. As such, he is not very busy. If he's willing to do other tasks, I may consider trying to bring him on board.

As for an associate's degree... meh. Do a ton of research about the program. Who are your instructors? What professional opportunities are available to you? If you were to come to me as a potential hire with field experience and an associate's degree, you would have my interest. Without the experience, if you were up against another applicant who had the experience, they'd be the stronger candidate. To my mind, a two-year degree tells me that you have an interest in the subject area. A two-year degree and some time on the job tells me you're serious about doing it.
jakkom
16 years ago
I don't know about your area, I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area. My gardener, whom I hire to do some stuff that's too big for me to handle on my own, says his business has pretty much s**cked for the last three years, because of the RE slump. He likes to do what you're talking about doing but there's very little demand for it. He too is a generalist, doing just about everything (he's done tree trimming, a dry concrete patio and French drains for us). Most of his edible landscape installing has been done on his own 40-acre farm way up north in the Shasta County area.