Residential Landscape Architecture Services Reaching New Heights
Design/build firms and local chapters should capitalize on nearly unprecedented awareness through local garden shows.

Visitors peruse Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction’s landscape at the Washington, D.C. Home and Garden Show. Click image for more photos from the firm.    Courtesy of Surrounds Landscape Architecture.

A recent article by Washington Post garden writer Adrian Higgins illuminates what some residential landscape architects may have known for quite a while—that interest in residential landscape architectural services has reached nearly unprecedented levels. In his article, Higgins cites a study by three university researchers, which found that in 2004 consumers spent almost $40 billion on landscape services, the sector that provides design, construction, and maintenance to residential and commercial consumers, making it by far the largest sector of the $148 billion green industry.

Higgins further notes that the green industry has sustained an average growth rate of 6 percent since the late 1980s. Alan W. Hodges, an economist at the University of Florida and one of the authors of the economic impact study, notes that such growth has occurred in spurts in industries such as the technology sector, but it is rare for any industry to sustain this type of growth over such a long period of time.

"Exhibiting at garden shows is worthwhile, and proven to be a good investment over the years. We had 18 people fill out forms saying they were interested in our services at the booth and have already set up 8 appointments from those leads." --Howard Cohen, ASLA, Vice President and Landscape Architect for Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction.

Capitalizing on demand through show and tell
So how can residential landscape architects capitalize on the growing demand for their services? Obviously, there are traditional methods of marketing through advertising and word of mouth, but many landscape architects may be ignoring a golden opportunity to literally show off their skills to potential customers: the local home and garden show, a venue that can be particularly lucrative for design/build firms.

Representatives from ASLA national staff recently visited the Washington, D.C., Home and Garden Show to see what types of opportunities existed for residential landscape architects, and while much of the show floor was dedicated to the “home” portion of the show, the most eye-catching displays belonged to residential landscape architects and designers. Eight to ten landscape architects and designers had created residential landscapes at the front of the show floor, which included features such as hardscape patios, fountains and hot tubs, planted beds, and evergreen borders. The displays not only provided striking and beautiful “booth space” for the firms, but were naturally inviting to consumers wandering the show floor.

Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction, one of the landscape architecture firms at the Home and Garden Show, has been coming to the show for four years, according to firm Vice President and Landscape Architect Howard Cohen, ASLA, and has gotten clients from the show every year. Cohen says the business Surrounds picks up from the show definitely makes it worth participating.

"I've done these shows for a long time," Cohen says. "It's worthwhile, and proven to be a good investment over the years. We had 18 people fill out forms saying they were interested in our services at the booth and have already set up 8 appointments from those leads.”

But firms aren’t the only ones who can benefit from exhibiting at local home and garden shows. ASLA chapters can help their members by having a booth at shows, to demonstrate the value of hiring a professional landscape architect for residential work. Chapters may even be able to work with the organizations putting on the garden show to get free or discounted booth space, as show organizers are often looking for professional organizations to help promote and draw traffic to the event.

ASLA chapters that exhibit at home and garden shows should consider bringing members along to offer free 15- to 20-minute consultations to homeowners. Through advertising, the chapter can encourage homeowners to bring pictures of their current landscape to the booth, where members will sketch out possible design solutions for the homeowner. Chapter representatives can then provide the homeowners with a list of residential landscape architecture firms in their area so they can contact the firms later for further consultation.

Cohen agrees this would be a worthwhile strategy. “"There are often a lot of people who come through the show who would just love for someone to draw them a plan," he says.  

The important thing is to pique the homeowners’ interest in landscape architecture services, and drive home the importance of hiring a professional landscape architect for the work, rather than a landscape contractor.

Click here for a 2006 home and garden show calendar from Homeowner.net.