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What is Landscape Design?
Landscape design is an independent profession with art and a design tradition, practiced by landscape designers by combining culture and nature. In contemporary practice,This bridges the space between garden design and architecture, the same way we have in Pittsburgh landscaping.
this focuses on both, the integrated master land planning of a property and the specific garden design of plants including elements within it. The practical, horticultural, aesthetic, and environmental sustainability are also components. It is often divided into softscape design and hardscape design. this often collaborate with related disciplines such as architecture and geography, soils and civil engineering, landscape contracting, surveying, botany, and artisan specialties.
Design projects may involve two different professional roles: landscape architecture and design.
architecture focuses more on the city and regional parks, urban planning, civic and corporate landscapes, delegation to contractors after completing designs and large-scale interdisciplinary projects.
design typically involves horticultural finesse and expertise, artistic composition and artisanship and emphasis on detailed site involvement from conceptual stages through to end construction.
There can be significant overlap of skill and talent between the two roles, depending on the licensing, education and experience of the professional. Both architects and designers practice
Design factors include objective qualities such as: topography and orientation, site drainage and groundwater recharge; climate and microclimates, municipal and resource building codes; human and vehicular access and circulation; soils and irrigation, recreational amenities (i.e.: sports and water);native plant habitat botany when present; property safety and security; furnishings and lighting, construction detailing; and other measurable considerations.
Design factors also include subjective qualities such as: genius loci; client's needs and preferences; artistic composition from perspectives of both looking upon and observing from within; desirable plants and elements to retain on site, modify, or replace, and that may be available for borrowing of scenery ("shakkei") from beyond, spatial development and definition-using lines, sense of scale, and balance and symmetry; artistic focal points for enjoyment and plant palettes. There are innumerable other design considerations and factors brought to the complex process of designing a garden that is beautiful, better functioning, and that thrives over time.
Today's practice of online design allows professional remotely plan and design sites through manipulation of two-dimensional images without ever physically visiting the location. Due to the frequent lack of non-visual, supplementary data such as pH tests and soil assessments, this can be necessarily must focus on incorporating only plants which are tolerant across many diverse soil conditions.
Today many landscape designers have an involvement and interest with gardening, professionally and personally. Few integrate this scope with their design practice, informally or as licensed landscape contractors. Gardens are not static but dynamic after construction and planting are completed, and so in some ways are 'never done.' Involvement with landscape direction and management of ongoing garden direction, care and evolution depend on the professional's and client's needs and inclinations.
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