But one thing they don't do is to spell Leyland Cypress without a "y".

I read the article a few days ago. It is pretty good.

Maybe you'd like to expand on the article here for those of us that aren't going to cut and paste, but might like to read what you think about the topic.

Why won't you cut and paste if the topic interests you?

"So if you hire a landscape architect to help you redo your scruffy yard, remember that, in the plan showing where to build the terrace and plant the Leland cypresses, the landscape architect has probably invested much more thought than the drawing may suggest." This is the last sentence creatrix refers to, I thought I would cut and paste it to avoid any kicks under the table and blank stares.
It is a good article and the final sentence says a lot that could equally apply to a designer who is not an architect. It also may help with some of the current questions here too, how much would you pay some guy to sit in your yard sketching? Somebody said to me "You want me to pay all that before you have even put a spade in the ground?" Which is kind of weird.

This reminds me of that old joke about the guy who is mad because the auto mechanic charged him $90 to fix his engine... by whacking it with a wrench. The mechanic told the guy he was charging him for knowing WHERE to whack the engine with the wrench.

I'll do you one better, Ink.... a landscape contractor I work with got a call from a potential client about landscaping her new (half-million dollar) home. The secretary asked if she wanted the designer (me) to come out to the site to look at the job (as opposed to the installer) and that there was a charge for my time. The woman replied with righteous indignation " I'm not going to pay someone to stand in front of my house and think!" Wish I'd have taken that call! Go figure!

I've posted this before but it mirrors yours too closely to not dredge up: I got an indignant "I'm not sure I'm willing to pay for information!" over the phone once.

I think the article was good, but as Ink implied, these things said about landscape architects are neither exclusively possesed only by landscape architects, nor do all landscape architects fit that exact description.

The article works well as a general understanding of the profession as it is supposed to be.

Looking at it again, I went down the paragraphs and found that each and every thing written out, with the exception of municipal park and boulevard (unless a town owned bike trail counts), I have directly dealt with in at least one project or another. I do work with a civil enginer and a land surveyor, so that forces some of it perhaps. It makes me wonder if there may be more validity to the article than I originally thought.

I have had to deal with native plants much more because I had to due to wetlands regulations. I have to say that it increased my awareness and interest in sustainability. This makes me wonder if a lot of these things in the article are on collision courses with what landscape architects do which might make these things more universal in the profession than even I realized. I definitely deal with zoning and wetland regulations on almost a daily basis. Again, I might have more of these things forced at me due to my particular work environment.

The article brushes one very important point. That is that the field is diverse. That not only means that it takes on lots of issues, but that some stay within certain niches at the exclusion of some of that other diversity. Not all landscape architects are going to fit the profile that you might put together from that article. The profession does, but individuals may not. Again, individuals outside of the LA profession may fit that profile, as Ink pointed out.

I guess that I learn something everyday on this messageboard.