“I want to have a terrace garden but I’m not sure how to maintain it”
A good deal of people today are choosing to enjoy outdoor spaces where they live, work, and spend their leisure time. However, not everyone has the time and ability to take good care of these spaces. Maybe you have a garden, pool, or patio space that you’re unable to manage, and you want help from a professional. Yes, there are people trained to bring those outdoor spaces to life!
Landscape artists are creative visionaries who have the right expertise and an eye for design. They know where to place flowers, shrubs, and trees, and create the best form and function for outdoor spaces. Some landscape artists work at professional landscape firms or garden centres, while others work for themselves. If you are creative with an eye for detail, are committed to the environment and nature, enjoy working with people, and love plants, landscape design may be the ideal career for you.
So, let’s take a deep dive into the field to get a clearer picture of the profession, job opportunities, and benefits that you can enjoy while working as a landscape artist.
Who is a landscape artist?
Landscape artists or landscape design artists create attractive, functional outdoor spaces for homeowners, businesses, schools, and other organizations. They are responsible for designing and maintaining areas of land by tending to the grasses, plants, flowers, and other grounds. The primary goal of landscape design artists is to maintain the aesthetics of a property. These properties can vary from school complexes to businesses or private residences. Many landscape designers have their own businesses and work independently, while others work for large firms or as consultants at nurseries.
Landscape artists create outdoor spaces that are more than just a mere collection of decorative plants. They use their years of expertise to combine premium designs with their creative vision and provide customers with modern, contemporary, and traditional green spaces.
Educational requirements to become a landscape artist
Unlike landscape architects, landscape designers do not require any specific training. Their main goal is to make a beautiful and aesthetic landscape in a private or residential setting for their clients. A landscape designer needs to plan the softscapes such as the plants along with the hardscapes such as pools, lighting, and walls, depending on what the client’s requirements are. Most landscape artists acquire skills through on the job training; however, you may benefit from earning a degree, diploma, or certification in areas like horticulture, design, or artisanship.
Certificate programs in the field entail basic landscaping techniques, landscape construction techniques, gardening management etc. Diploma courses offer additional subjects in computer literacy, small business management, soils and fertilizers etc. A degree level is more extensive with subjects like applied plant science, pest management, arboriculture, soil science, geology etc.
Key skills required to become a landscape artist
To work as a landscape artist, you will need an understanding of art, including colour theory, texture, balance, proportion etc. If you have a strong background in horticulture, then you will be able to understand which plants will thrive in which place. You will also need to be creative and unafraid of working with your hands and collecting research. In addition to this, you will need a few other skills like:
- Strong research skills
- Understanding the costs of materials and labour
- Knowledge of different ecological conditions and their effects
- Raw talent for sketching and drawing
- Ability to use computer programs for drawing
- A green thumb
- Lateral and spatial thinking
- Ability to negotiate
- Strong client management abilities
Responsibilities of a landscape artist
A landscape designer’s job description encompasses someone who enjoys and understands the merging of art and science to display beauty that showcases buildings and technology with nature. The roles and responsibilities of a landscape designer span across planning, designing, and overseeing the creation and development of external land areas such as gardens and recreational areas, as well as residential, industrial, and commercial sites. It is crucial for landscape designers to make environmentally conscious decisions while using their artistic capabilities and skills on an assigned project.
To give you a sense at the roles and responsibilities that comes with the job of a landscape artist, we have put together this list:
- Set meetings with clients to understand the project requirements and draft blueprints accordingly
- Inspect pieces of land or properties for beautification
- Review plans, proposals, and other documents
- Estimate projects costs
- Keep records of everything, including proposals, budgets, and other necessary documents
- Make 3-D models with craft materials
- Review drawings for accuracy
- Discuss client preferences and see if it is within budget
- Discuss the overall aesthetic and design
- Manage and coordinate with various project stakeholders
Scope: Landscape artist job opportunities & salary
Landscape artists can work for various institutions like shopping malls, schools, offices, and apartment complexes. As a nursery worker, you can also apply your skills by working for private homeowners who are seeking professional help to make their homes more attractive. Golf courses, indoor gardens, and greenhouses also require the services of a landscape artist.
Landscape artist jobs in India
In India, a career in landscape art or design is a profession that is crucial to the development and design of projects that respect the environment. There is a wide range of landscaping opportunities available in India. Numerous roles are accessible year-round at various architectural firms, consultancies, and governmental institutions. Several public and government organizations, including the central and state public works department, city development authorities, department of railways, housing and urban development corporations, national institute of urban affairs and housing, public works departments, and state housing boards, provide employment opportunities in landscape design. The list of landscape artist jobs in India does not end here! Skilled landscape design artists are in high demand within top notch infrastructure, construction, and real estate companies. These multinational corporations have realized the significance of beautifying and developing every piece of land they own, and it sits high on their list of priorities.
Salary range
The salary range for a landscape designer depends on the years of experience a professional has. A landscape designer can expect to make an average of between ₹ 6.5 lakhs and ₹ 11.4 lakhs per year. This varies based on the institution from which they qualify, the talent and calibre of the candidate, and their capacity to put forth focused efforts and innovative ideas in their projects.
Some benefits of being a landscape artist
Professional landscape artists and landscape design artists enjoy numerous perks. You must be wondering: What kind of perks? Here are the top 5 benefits that you can expect from a career in landscape design.
For starters, you can pursue a career you love
Being a landscape artist requires a lot of creative thinking. While working in this field will provide you with numerous material advantages, like your salary and health benefits package, you will also experience personal fulfilment when projects are completed well and your clients are happy. It may even surprise you at times how much satisfaction you feel after creating something so lovely.
You get to access a wide range of projects
The work of landscape design artists entails not just creating landscapes for lawns and backyards, but for golf courses, big-gated communities, and more. Due to the variety in the work, and its creative nature, it does not become routine or boring.
Provides creative freedom
In some professions, it is not possible to have complete creative freedom. However, being a landscape artist comes with complete creative control over your various projects, within the confines of the client’s vision. As long as it is within the client’s budget, you have an opportunity to use your imagination to the fullest and create new design ideas.
You work with natural elements in design
In contrast to other design disciplines, landscape artists use plants as a material, and the possible combinations are unlimited. Along with aesthetics, the environmental impact plays a role in material selection. Designing imaginative and environmentally friendly solutions with live plants is the specialty of landscape design artists.
Engaging the community
People-centred design is produced by landscape design artists to enhance the experience of the community. In order to ascertain what the community genuinely wants and needs, landscape artists frequently participate in public surveys and town hall meetings. These interactions allow you to engage with the community to understand how they enjoy outdoor spaces, which influence your designs. Being able to gather broad input ahead of creating your design like this is a rather unique perk of this job, and quite an exciting opportunity for those who want to really listen to their community and make a difference.
All things considered, being a landscape design professional is an unconventional yet creative career path. With the real estate and infrastructure sector witnessing a positive growth trajectory in India, the demand for landscape artists or designers is certainly here to stay. If you possess the qualities like being imaginative, creative, and having an eye for detail, you must consider this as a profession.
We hope you were able to gain a clearer understanding of landscape design as a profession. For more information on such unconventional and offbeat career choices, follow our blogs. To get personalized expert guidance from our trained career coaches, reach out to LaunchMyCareer.
