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“Ask a Landscape Architect” is the title of a December 1, 2016 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Field article inviting Professional Practice Network members to submit questions for a planned 2017 survey. It was not a standing public advice column or a homeowner hiring guide. If you arrived here looking for questions to ask before engaging a landscape architect, the distinction matters: the original page explains a member-survey project, while the checklist below translates its subject into practical project decisions without treating the ASLA invitation as a consumer service.
What does “Ask a Landscape Architect” refer to?
ASLA’s “Ask a Landscape Architect” is a Field article dated December 1, 2016. Its editor asked ASLA Professional Practice Network (PPN) members to suggest questions for a survey planned for early 2017. The invitation’s central wording was: “So, if you had a chance to ask a fellow landscape architect anything, what would it be?”
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The article asked members to send questions in the comments or by email. It referred to earlier topic areas such as favorite spaces, career paths and work issues, creativity, and practice questions. It therefore functions as a call for survey input, not as an article containing a complete set of answers from practicing landscape architects.
The page said survey responses and later summaries were intended to follow. The source material available for this article does not verify that those anticipated summaries were published, so it is safer not to assume that a definitive 2017 answer set exists.
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Is ASLA’s page a public homeowner advice service?
No. The intended respondents were ASLA PPN members, and the page’s action was to submit questions for research and editorial planning. A homeowner can still use the title as a useful prompt, but should not expect the page itself to match a site consultation, referral service, or project-specific answer.
For a residential project, “ask a landscape architect” usually means asking a prospective professional to explain the work they will perform, the documents they will deliver, the decisions that remain with the homeowner, and how design connects to permitting and construction. Those questions should be answered in a conversation and then reflected in a written agreement.
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What does a landscape architect actually do?
A landscape architect may analyze a site, develop concepts, prepare drawings and technical specifications, coordinate other consultants, assist with contractor bidding, and observe or oversee installation. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s homeowner guidance describes landscape architects as professionals who can prepare designs and technical documents and manage or observe installation. The exact package differs by practitioner, project size, location, and contract.
Think of the work as a series of possible services rather than a guaranteed bundle:
- Site analysis: documenting grades, drainage, soil, vegetation, access, utilities, views, constraints, and intended uses.
- Concept design: testing layouts, circulation, outdoor rooms, planting ideas, materials, and priorities against the budget.
- Design development: resolving dimensions, materials, grading, planting, lighting, drainage, and details sufficiently for pricing or approvals.
- Construction documents: drawings, schedules, and specifications that tell a contractor what to build and how components relate.
- Consultant coordination: working with civil, structural, lighting, irrigation, arboricultural, or other specialists when the project needs them.
- Bidding support: assembling bid information, answering contractor questions, and helping compare proposals.
- Construction-phase services: site visits, submittal or shop-drawing review, progress observations, payment recommendations, or completion checks, if included.
Design and installation are different responsibilities. A landscape architect may design a terrace, planting scheme, grading plan, or drainage solution, while a landscape contractor supplies labor and installs the work. Construction observation is also different from taking responsibility for means, methods, sequencing, or worker safety. Ask the professional to state these boundaries plainly.
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What should I ask before hiring a landscape architect?
Start with questions that expose fit and scope. A polished portfolio alone does not show whether a firm has handled your site constraints, approval process, or construction complexity.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute- Have you handled projects with similar site conditions, scale, and intended use? Describe slope, drainage, soil, mature trees, coastal exposure, accessibility needs, pools, retaining walls, or other unusual conditions. Ask what the professional personally handled and what was delegated.
- What will each design phase produce? Request a plain-language list of drawings, specifications, schedules, renderings, planting plans, material samples, and digital files. Clarify whether the documents are conceptual, suitable for permit submission, or detailed enough for construction pricing.
- What is included in the fee, and what is an additional service? Ask about surveys, soil testing, engineering, consultant coordination, permit revisions, travel, visualization, bidding, construction visits, and as-built documentation. “Design” can mean very different deliverables.
- How many revisions are included? Establish when you approve a concept, what counts as a revision, and how a change after approval is charged. A written milestone-and-approval process reduces disputes.
- What is the schedule? Ask for expected dates for site work, concepts, design development, permit documents, bidding, and construction support. Identify dependencies such as a survey, geotechnical report, client decisions, seasonal planting windows, or authority review.
- Who checks permits and coordinates specialist consultants? Ask which applications the professional prepares, who signs or submits them, and which fees are paid directly by you. Local rules determine whether a particular element needs a permit and who is authorized to submit it.
- Will you help compare contractor bids? Clarify whether the service includes issuing documents to bidders, answering questions, preparing addenda, checking that bids cover the same work, and explaining exclusions.
- What will you do during construction? Ask how often site visits occur, whether visits are scheduled or on request, what reports you receive, and whether the professional can review substitutions or incomplete work. Confirm that site observation is not the same as continuous supervision.
- How are approvals, scope changes, and pauses handled? Ask who can authorize a change, how it is priced, what happens if the project is delayed, and whether either party can terminate the agreement.
These prompts reflect homeowner hiring guidance from Whyte Gardens and broader practice guidance. They are questions to negotiate, not universal contract terms; local law and the project’s technical requirements control.
How should I compare landscape-architecture proposals and fees?
Compare like with like before comparing totals. The lowest number may omit surveying, engineering, permit work, revisions, bidding, or construction-phase services that another proposal includes.
Build a side-by-side scope sheet with these fields:
- Existing-condition information the professional will obtain or rely on.
- Design phases and the decision or approval required at each phase.
- Specific drawings, specifications, schedules, renderings, and file formats.
- Number of meetings and revisions.
- Consultants included, excluded, or billed separately.
- Permit research, application preparation, authority responses, and resubmissions.
- Bid-period assistance and the number of contractors or bid rounds covered.
- Construction visits, reports, payment or completion reviews, and treatment of defects.
- Fee basis, reimbursable expenses, billing intervals, deposits, and additional-service rates.
- Target schedule, client decision deadlines, and conditions that can extend it.
Fees may be hourly, a fixed amount for a defined phase, a percentage related to construction cost, or a combination. Published consumer articles such as Houzz’s fee overview provide general context, but pricing varies substantially by geography, scope, site complexity, and the level of construction involvement. Do not treat a rate quoted for another project as a current standard price.
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Who handles permits and other consultants?
Responsibility must be explicit. A landscape architect may identify approvals, prepare portions of an application, coordinate drawings, or respond to authority comments, but the exact duty depends on local rules and the professional’s qualifications. Some work—such as structural, electrical, or stormwater engineering—may require a separate licensed consultant.
Ask for a responsibility matrix listing the homeowner, landscape architect, contractor, surveyor, engineer, architect, and authority. For each task, mark who provides information, who prepares documents, who signs, who submits, who pays fees, and who answers review comments. Also ask whether the landscape architect’s fee includes coordination meetings and revisions caused by another consultant.
What happens once construction starts?
Construction support can range from occasional observations to a substantial administration role. The contract should say which one you are buying.
- Periodic observation: the professional visits at agreed milestones and reports visible progress or concerns. This is not continuous supervision.
- Submittal and substitution review: the professional checks proposed materials, plants, fixtures, or details against the design intent, subject to the agreement’s limits.
- Payment or progress review: the professional may review a contractor’s application for payment and report observations, if that service is included.
- Completion and punch-list work: a final visit can identify incomplete or visibly defective items, with follow-up terms stated in advance.
The contractor remains responsible for construction means, methods, sequencing, site safety, and labor management unless a different legally valid arrangement applies. Ask how urgent field decisions are communicated, who can approve a substitution, and what happens when concealed conditions—such as unstable soil or undocumented utilities—change the work.
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What belongs in the written agreement?
Put the scope in writing before design work begins. An ASLA contract-session outline identifies scope, supplemental services, terms, schedule, and dispute resolution as matters that need clear agreement. That 2010 material is broad process context, not legal advice or a current contract template.
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A practical agreement should identify:
- The property, project description, assumptions, and exclusions.
- Each phase, deliverable, meeting, revision allowance, and approval point.
- Base services and a defined process for authorizing supplemental services.
- Fee calculations, invoices, reimbursable expenses, taxes, and payment timing.
- Schedule, client information deadlines, pauses, delays, and extensions.
- Consultant and contractor interfaces, permit responsibilities, and construction-phase duties.
- Ownership and permitted use of drawings and digital files.
- Insurance, termination, suspension, dispute-resolution procedure, and applicable law, reviewed with a local attorney when appropriate.
Keep written records of approvals and changes. A short email confirming “approved for the next phase” can prevent a later disagreement about whether a redesign was requested.
How should I compare contractor estimates for the designed work?
First confirm that every contractor priced the same drawings, specifications, quantities, allowances, alternates, site access assumptions, schedule, taxes, and restoration requirements. A lower total can simply reflect missing work or a different quality allowance.
The CMHC’s older contractor-hiring guide discusses fixed-price, unit-price, and cost-plus arrangements. A fixed price can be easier to compare when the scope is well defined. Unit prices apply a rate to measured quantities, which is useful when quantities are uncertain. Cost-plus reimburses costs with a fee or markup and can leave the final amount open-ended, so require records, approval thresholds, and a clear definition of allowable costs.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How can a professional use the original ASLA invitation?
If you are an ASLA PPN member, the article is best read as an invitation to shape professional discussion. Questions about career paths, creativity, favorite spaces, work issues, and practice can be submitted through the channel the article identifies, but the page does not promise an immediate personal answer.
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Useful questions are specific enough to produce comparable responses: “Which skills helped you move from production to project management?” is more actionable than “How do I succeed?” A respondent can also state the setting—public agency, private practice, academic work, or multidisciplinary firm—because advice may not transfer across contexts.
What mistakes should I avoid when asking a landscape architect?
- Assuming the title defines the service: ask for deliverables and exclusions instead of relying on labels such as “full design.”
- Choosing on fee alone: compare scope, documentation quality, schedule, and construction support.
- Leaving permits vague: identify the authority, preparer, signer, submitter, and fee payer for each approval.
- Confusing observation with supervision: define site-visit frequency and the limits of the professional’s responsibility.
- Approving a concept without a budget check: ask when quantities and cost feedback will be tested and who revises the design if bids exceed the budget.
- Letting changes happen verbally: record the requested change, its cost, its schedule effect, and the approval.
- Comparing non-equivalent bids: normalize allowances, alternates, quantities, taxes, exclusions, and site conditions first.
For practitioner discovery, ASLA’s original page links to its FirmFinder resource. Treat any directory as a starting point: review relevant project experience and discuss the actual scope, fee, and responsibilities directly with the firms you contact.
Bottom line: what should “ask a landscape architect” mean for your project?
The ASLA article is a 2016 member-survey invitation, not a public Q&A or a universal homeowner guide. For a real project, the most valuable questions are practical: what will be delivered, what it costs, when it will happen, who handles permits and consultants, how bids will be compared, and what role the professional will play during construction. Get those answers—and the process for changes—in a written agreement before work begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a landscape architect install the landscape work?
Usually, design and installation are separate services. A landscape architect may design the work and observe construction, while a landscape contractor supplies labor and installs it; confirm the parties’ responsibilities in the agreement.
Should I hire the professional who gives the lowest design fee?
Not without normalizing scope. Check whether each proposal includes the same survey information, drawings, revisions, consultant coordination, permit support, bidding help, and construction visits before comparing totals.
Can one landscape architect obtain every permit for my project?
Not necessarily. Local rules may require separate licensed professionals or limit who can sign and submit particular documents, so ask for a task-by-task permit responsibility list.
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What if hidden site conditions change the design after construction begins?
Ask in advance how concealed conditions, substitutions, redesigns, and emergency decisions are documented and priced. Require written authorization for scope or fee changes rather than relying on informal site conversations.
