Bill Standish, 28 /EMPLOYER: Jayson Home & Garden in Chicago. /SALARY RANGE: $35,000 to $50,000
Why did you get into this field?
I’ve always enjoyed working outdoors and working with plants. This seemed like a natural fit for me. I enjoy most everything about my job. Even though I work long days, I have a great time.
What does a landscape architect do?
I work with homeowners who want to landscape the outside of their homes or who want to design a plan for their interior plants. A lot of the time, I work with people who’ve just bought a house or who have just built a house, and they’ll have a completely blank palette for me. A lot of people come to me with no ideas, while others come to me after having done a lot of research.
The first thing I do when developing a landscape plan is to try and get a feel for the style of house I’ll be working on. Are there any functional issues I have to consider? When I’m working on an outdoor plan, I’ll create sketches of where I want each plant to go. When I’m working on placing plants in the interior of a house, I usually won’t draw any sketches. We go over the plans with the owners. Sometimes the plan is fine, sometimes the owners will want to make changes.
What’s your educational background?
I went to Mississippi State University, where I received a bachelor’s degree for landscape architecture. That was a five-year program. I’m one of the few people out there qualified as a landscape architect. Most of my competitors are interior designers or landscape designers. But I wouldn’t say you need a landscaping degree to enter my field.
How long do projects take?
That depends on the individual project. Some projects, usually the ones dealing with interior plants, take a few hours. Others I work on for days or weeks. The longest project I’ve worked on this year took me two-and-a-half weeks to complete.
How many clients do you work with at a time?
I usually work with 15 to 20 clients at a time. I’ll work on each job until it’s done, as far as installing the plants and creating the landscaping goes. But while I’m working on someone’s job, I’m always drawing up plans for other jobs coming up. I work all over the city. I don’t go into the suburbs, though. A lot of my work is done in the downtown area, Lincoln Park, Bucktown and the Gold Coast. We seem to get a lot of clients in those areas.
What’s a typical day like?
I’m usually in the shop at 5:30 a.m. or 6 a.m. I’ll draw sketches and plans until about 7 a.m. I like sketching when it’s the nice and peaceful part of the day. Then I’ll order materials and talk to customers. Next, I’ll head to a job site where I’ll work until 6 or 7 at night. We have a small crew, just me and an assistant. From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. I’ ll go out on appointments with potential customers. It’s a very long day, especially during the summer.
What do you do during the winter?
During the winter, I move to indoor projects. From October to Christmas it turns into an inside decorating business. It doesn’t slow down at all.
What’s the best part about the job?
I love being around plants and flowers all the time. I grew up in Central Illinois. Most of my family was in the farming industry, so working with plants has always been a part of me.
What is the most challenging part about the job?
That’s hard to say. I really enjoy doing this job. It’s not something that I dislike at all. If I’m working on a challenging plan, it’s almost that much more enjoyable for me. Sometimes it gets hard when clients change the plans after we’ve begun installation. But that’s part of the job. Sometimes, things change, or clients change their minds.
What attributes do you need to succeed in this position?
You need physical endurance first of all; the days are long. You need the ability to work with changes on a constant basis. You have to work around things. You need a flexible mentality. And finally, you have to be artistic.
Where will you go from here?
I’d move up to more of an administrative position. I would spend my time solely on drawing and designing instead of working so much on installation. Of course, I’d miss working on the installation end of it. It’s nice being outside. And when you draw something up, you rarely find that someone else puts it together exactly as you’d want it.
What advice would you give to people interested in this field?
Like I said, you must be able to handle the physical part of it. But you also must love working outside and working with plants. That’s what attracted me to this field. You don’t need a college degree in landscape architecture to work in this field. But you do need that degree to be qualified as a landscape architect. You also must be willing to get a lot of your salary from commission. A lot our salary is commission. That’s why we work these long days.
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