What is the difference between a landscape designer and a landscape architect?
A. There are many ways to answer this one. It’s kind of an apples-to-oranges thing. Anyone can call himself or herself a landscape designer, just as anyone can call himself or herself a graphic designer. There are “good” ones and “bad” ones. The market determines who is good by who stays in business (I’ve been in business since 1998). To be landscape architect, one needs to graduate from an accredited landscape architecture program (such as I did–at U.C. Berkeley) and pass the five-part licensing exam. The licensing process is set up to protect the public from health and safety problems that may arise from improper design. It’s to prevent things like failing walls and standing water situations. I have chosen to not seek licensing for a few reasons. Number one, the skills and knowledge necessary to be a good landscape designer are not addressed in the Landscape Architecture exam. There is very little testing of design concepts and principles, if any. Plants are called “plant material”
