"One man's 'magic' is another man's engineering". (Robert A. Heinlein) Many landscape designers know their plants and paving and might creatively layout a patio, visualize a landform or know the soil, but how can one really sense the true “spirit” within the landscape? Thinking about this, I have been drawn to researching the myriad cryptic arts, ancient beliefs about plant systems and mysterious philosophies that can inform and open up our thinking about what landscape designers do. We have built a number of award winning garden exhibits for the NW Flower & Garden Show centered upon ideas such as these, from a display we called "Mirabilia" - built around the legend of King Arthur , but really rooted in medieval beliefs around plant materials, to a best of show garden titled "Portage to the Pacific", based upon the explorations of Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery and native American nature mythologies.

Our last effort , "La Palabra Pintada" was a collaboration with New York Times bestselling author Nick Bantock - author of the "Griffin & Sabine" series - and was built in part as an homage to the Alhambra. The fact is, history really interests me - and I think for many - the fascinating, magical underpinnings of our work, from hardscape layout and architectural geometries, to horticultural systems and selections - are based upon a bedrock of history and as a part of that - magic. While we can only just touch upon the subject here, there are varied and arcane ways of looking at the earth, each view fascinating, unique and inscrutable, instilled with a grain of truth and a basis in faith.

Years ago, I was placing large form boulders with a rock setter on a site. Before digging into the earth with the backhoe’s large articulating arm, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a metal wire, then slowly walked through the site holding both ends of an untwisted coat hanger, formed into a “Y” shape. “What are you doing”, I asked. “Dowsing”, he replied. “This will show us if there is water below grade”. “Uh-huh”, I snorted. “No really, he said. “I’ve been doing this for years. I keep the dowsing tool under my seat in my truck”. Sure enough, we dug later where he indicated - and I'll be damned if there wasn't an unexpectedly high water table right where he pointed. OK, so I consider myself a bit of a pragmatist. Not a lot of “woo-woo” at my end. But last night, I looked in wonder at the beautiful moon and thought again for the thousandth time, “how much do I really understand?” We take for granted the changing of the seasons and the moons pull upon the tides. We celebrate holidays rooted in ancient tradition that we really know little about - and use plants that ancient peoples thought had magical powers. Who am I to feign to understand? Given this, what if we were more open to the hidden knowledge from these ancient systems - that purport to help us sense the spirit within a place - or the comfort that a client may feel? What are some of these ancient systems?

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"Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.” (Albert Einstein) When I think of all of the software and process tools that I have used over the last few decades, like a lot of green industry folks - I have just cobbled it all together, experimenting with one online tool and then another until something sticks. The fact is - if you do this right, you will likely be using a few separate online resources - each responding to a different need that you have. With that in mind, my goal here is to talk a bit about at few specialty tools that are economical and easy to use. You may not of course use every link or software tool that we talk about - but if you can get insight into one or more packages discussed here - it might make managing your business easier and help move your business a few steps forward. If you have researched this type of thing, you know there are all-in-one platforms that purport to do all types of office processes from a single source. I don't know that I subscribe to this kind of methodology - because I have always found it wanting in one way or another. Not the least of which - is the fact that much of these all-in-one process software packages are extremely expensive….some going so far as to actually take a portion of your annual revenue as payment.

Do look closely at the long term cost when you look at this type of solution - because you can definitely assemble an easy and inexpensive set of tools that you can build to flex and grow with your company over time. To make things easy to follow - lets start by splitting your office systems into five easy parts: 1. Communication & CRM, 2. Planning & presentation, 3. Estimating & proposals, 4. Scheduling & Project management, 5. Billing & accounting. I know that some sales pundits in the green trades will tell you that price is the key factor in successfully marketing to high end residential accounts. I don't necessarily believe that that is true. I think establishing a good rapport with your client is the basic key to success. This might mean that you are responding and communicating quickly, but it also means that you're providing good information - in detail and with clarity. In my view this center's around automating processes that you do on a repeated basis. We will talk more about that in this and other episodes, but the purpose here is to just go over some basic tools that you can use easily and economically. This is of course not a panacea for every office - I am just going to go over a number of things that I'm aware of and that I've used in the past...

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They are like ghosts in the machine. Someone handed me a list recently of all of the staff we've hired over the last three+ decades. Its almost 400 people. I went through and highlighted the problematic pinheads that I wouldn't wish on anybody. There were quite a few. Then I followed up by highlighting the good people that were - and are - consistent, creative and caring. As you might expect, that's a much longer list. My feeling is that - in perspective, even the most dramatic problem will fade in your memory over time. People are people, with all their flaws and wonders and inconsistencies. I do think that if we can recognize the emotional needs and personal interests of those that we work with, we can build relationships that encourage dependability and a greater sense of responsibility. But landscape contractors have a helluva time finding and retaining good quality staff. It has the sense of a problem that will never go away. When green industry employers get together, we all share up to a certain point - what we are doing and what methods we find successful. Then again, sharing these ideas can have the flavor of "finding gold up in them thar hills" - that is - if we do find a solution that works, the last thing we want is to see our competitor in our secret hiring spot. At my firm, we hire a number of different types of workers, from Nursery techs to production workers, design talent and outdoor craftspeople. We ask a lot of them.

From administrative office staff to designers and of course our production people, our folks wear a lot of hats. Office staff are juggling all of the many accounts and administrative tasks - from HR functions to accounting and marketing and lead choreography. Our designers often serve in part as project managers - not only seeing people and prequalifying potential clients but also putting together estimates and plans - and implementing the project with our production staff….. And our production people are working outside in all kinds of weather, pushing rocks up the hill in the rain - as I say. It's not necessarily a pleasant job - but we look for folks that can see the craft inside it all… We hope to instill a sense of enthusiasm with our production staff and hope that they can see the beauty in what they are able to assemble and get a sense of accomplishment from the ability to create habitat and remedy some of the negative effects of development in creative endeavors with plants and rock and rock, light and wood and water. Entering my curmudgeonly years, I know it's almost a trope to say that "folks don't want to work very hard anymore". This may or may not be true. I expect back in the biblical times there was some old codger who yelled at his son for writing on papyrus - when he could have been hammering out his message on a stone tablet.

Such is the nature of progress. As in all things, moving forward can be a mixture of positive and negative. You gain something - you lose something. What we gain in automation - we perhaps give up in attention span.  All that noted, today's topic speaks to all of this and is about the labor force - or lack of it. So let's get started...

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No two designers will tell you the same thing. I talk to scores of potential clients annually ….and a question I'm often asked is "what does a plan cost?" The answer if course depends on a number of moving parts - and the way that you relay this information can be the decisive factor in whether your potential client chooses to work with you. The fact is - in the landscape design trades there is no real consistency in pricing. Perhaps there doesn't really need to be. I don't know, but I do think that there are certainly more methodical ways to market services than those I am currently seeing. When I say that, I mean to say that designers are often charging clients based upon fee systems that don't allow the client to perform any real designer rate comparison - compare deliverables or get a sense of what might be typical in the trade. Keep in mind that when I say "the trade", I mean the single-family residential landscape design and design-build market When you mix in the discrepancies between what a solo garden designer might offer, vs a design/ build company and/or a landscape architect, the clients entire ability to seek some kind of industry standard begins to unravel. 

This raises a number of important questions for our typical client, a single family homeowner wanting a residential landscape design completed. What should a client look for in a design package? How do design packages differ typically? What are some common mistakes that designers are making when pricing services? What are some of the pitfalls of offering project management as part of your landscape design effort? How can designers diversify their offerings and streamline design marketing? And - god forbid - How can designers maximize income when offering design services?

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Something will always go cattywampus. Hey, we are in construction. Even if you are just designing, you are in it. Maybe a bit deeper than you originally thought. You have very real responsibilities. You have legal liabilities that are tied to the execution of your drawings & proposals. Something will always go wrong. Despite all the negative connotations - and counterintuitive to what you might think, set that expectation with your client very early. I will actually tell clients well in advance "Something is definitely going to go wrong, so lets just anticipate that". This could be anything really - a snapped twig - or a Doug fir falling on the client's roof. So, we know that projects can go south. Its really important to bring an early awareness to this by understanding the dynamics of the site, access in and out, anticipated material staging, personnel assignments, subcontracting, permits, inspections - and all the other potential and avoidable issues that might cause delay or destruction.

One very particular concern I think is the nuance of the Client dynamic. Importantly, you will want to protect yourself clearly and contractually - by carefully describing what you are providing and conversely, what you wont do, as well as payment, dispute resolution and your warranty provisions. Be careful in your documents, being what I call "specifically vague". Being specifically vague means supplying comprehensive information, but also allowing for change, substitution and importantly - flexibility.

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Ever have to be two places at once? (What - only two?) I think that we can all agree that landscape design and outdoor construction work is really frenetic. We talked out it in our first episode. You've got not just the myriad plant materials of course, but also all of the nuances found when we work with wood and metal and stone and water, not to mention electricity and fire. Throw in a workforce that often may not speak your language and the necessity to satisfy the aesthetic desires of a client that may or may not know what they want - and a spouse that doesn't arrive on the scene until Act 3 - wanting a complete rewrite - and, well - you need an organized toolbox at the ready. How do we keep it all organized, when we have Clients to call, materials to order, plans to draw, estimates to complete and billing to do? Oh, and we have a spouse, kids and maybe a life to think about? I saw a cartoon in the New Yorker once. A cop is leaning on the drivers window of a car, writing a ticket. Inside, the driver has a laptop on the passenger seat, a cellphone in his hand, the radio blaring and notepad in his lap. He looks up and says, "I'm sorry officer - I didn't know I was driving!" Like a distracted driver, your work will pull you in all directions.

Me, I complain whether I have too much work - or not enough. It's kinda like the weather, I like whatever weather we're NOT having. But I do know which world I would rather live in. If you are successful, god forbid - folks are gonna call. The only thing worse than having too much business- is not having business. Having known the latter, I will take the former. With that in mind, lets spend a few minutes talking about how you choreograph your time. You want to be able to jiu-jitsu your work in order to be able to create a maximum impact with the least amount of effort.  To me, this is resolved by recognizing repeated tasks , simplifying and predicting next steps - and then automating this work, so that it is easily accessed and importantly - is quickly responsive - with a set beginning and a clear ending.

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It's stinking up the place. There's a fragrance in the air. Can you smell it? It's not daphne or lilac. It's kind of a poopy smell. Like sarcoccocca! (Is that a bad comparison? ) maybe that weird greenhouse plant we read about that blooms once every few years.

What I'm articulating badly is - designers have a real problem that stinks up our reputation. So today, let's address the elephant in the room, the bull in the china shop - or what I might call in my own subtle way "the turd on the table"... the fact that Designers have a helluva time with budgeting projects. Hey, let's give credit where credit is due. We do amazing things with hardscapes and plant materials. But the lack of a budget understanding leads to all kinds of embarrassment and acrimony, costs a lot of time in revision and recrimination - and underscores the divisions we see most often between designers and contractors. Budgets and pricing for our work meet at the nexus of product, personnel and production. 

Depending upon your viewpoint, you may see this issue from differing angles....

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Is Design/build the most difficult trade of all? As a landscape architect, a nurserymen and design/ build business owner, sometimes I feel like I have seen it all.

From a small nursery office to a large landscape architectural firm, from the inside track of an interiorscape company, to the retail aisles of a supplier, I have plied the trade - and from the fast paced world of a computer imaging company doing industry trade shows, to my own small sole proprietorship, I have been in various facets of the green industry for over 40 years. I'm now managing a design/build operation with about 50 people on staff - and this is either the nirvana of my sweet spot ...or Dante's third circle of hell - depending upon the time of week you might ask me.

But this work is like having kids - I think - the most horrible and wonderful thing that can happen to anyone lucky enough or stupid enough to get into it.  

So, why do we choose to work in this, the most difficult of trades - and what makes it so complex?

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