What a landscape architect really does
You read a piece of land, design how people and water move through it, and win over the clients and neighbors who have to live with it.
FieldScience and engineering
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for landscape architects, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Meeting and emailing with clients, civil engineers, and architects about the site
- Analyzing survey data, drainage, soils, sun, and existing trees
- Drawing site plans and planting plans in CAD, then making colored graphics in Photoshop or Illustrator
- Choosing plants and materials that suit the climate and need little water
- Preparing cost estimates and specifications
- Visiting sites to inspect installed work, and sometimes presenting to the public
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Despite the outdoor image, most time is indoors at a computer. Indoors, environmentally controlled: 85% every day; Spend time sitting: 55% more than half the time (O*NET Work Context)
- Working with clients and other designers is the single most important task, more than drawing. Task rank 1, importance 96: Confer with clients, engineers, or architects on landscape projects (O*NET Tasks)
- Weekly deadlines are normal. Time pressure: 60% once a week or more but not every day (O*NET Work Context)
- Long weeks are common. Duration of typical work week: 65% more than 40 hours (O*NET Work Context)
- You will deal with difficult people fairly often, especially on public projects. Dealing with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous people: 20% once a week or more, 25% once a month or more (O*NET Work Context)
How people get into it
Most landscape architects have an accredited bachelor's degree in landscape architecture (85% of O*NET respondents say a bachelor's is required), sometimes a master's for career changers. Graduates work as landscape designers under a licensed landscape architect for a few years and then pass the LARE exam for a state license.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial does not include drafting in AutoCAD or rendering in Photoshop, and it cannot show walking a site in summer heat, reading soil by hand, or seeing plants grow into a design over years. Grading and drainage design is simplified. You act as a landscape designer under a licensed landscape architect, which is the usual role before licensure.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
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Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 17-1012.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.