As a student of Horticulture, specifically Landscape Design, my eyes have been opened to the natural beauty that surrounds us everyday. Let me share with you some of that beauty and how as a Landscape Designer I strive to bring it a little closer to home.
I had the opportunity of attending the PLANET Student Career Days competition this spring at Cal Poly University in Pamona California. 61 Universities from around the nation came together to compete in different aspects of the landscape horticulture industry. I was able to compete in three competitions, Business Management, Irrigation Assembly, and Landscape Installation. My three man team ended up placing third in Landscape Installation which was a great accomplishment. Even more exciting was that we ended up taking first place as a school! The event was also an excellent opportunity for me to network with industry leaders throughout the nation.
Click images to view full screen Planting Pallets Planting pallets are miniature designs that can be used to add detail to a full scale design. The plants are put together specifically for the way that they compliment and contrast each other. After studying plantsman Dan Hinckley's planting concepts of Accentuation: boldness of leaf, Exclamation: vertical emphasis, Punctuation: unexpected color, and Repetition: of color, form, line, and texture, I put them to use in my own mini designs that can now be plugged into any design for quick detailed pockets of incredible plant material. I practiced this concept in the design below.
"Living Rivers" Planting Design "Living Rivers" is a design concept developed by garden designer Adrian Bloom. The idea is to inject excitement into the landscape by creating rivers or color, texture, and multi-season interest through the use of perennials, bulbs, grasses, and shrubs. The Geranium 'Rozanne' or Crane's Bill in the above design is the plant that I chose to represent my "living river".
Suzhou Garden Design This design I created after a study of the Suzhou Garden principles of design. Developed by the Chinese, these principles help to make the most of small spaces. The Chinese are masters of creating space within limited boundaries. Using these principles allowed me to include many areas of interest and function in this small backyard space. Planting pallets, and "Living Rivers" design concepts were also incorporated into this design.
During the summer of 2008 I fulfilled an internship with Merrill Quality Landscapes. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to practice the skills that I have been learning in class. I was able to help with several construction projects including an indoor solarium. I was also given the opportunity to do some designing. I completed several irrigation designs, as well as, a few landscape designs. I learned a lot from my experiences. Here are some pictures of some of the projects I helped construct.
During the Summer of 2007 I worked for Merrill Quality Landscapes and had the opportunity to work on the Landscape of the Rexburg Idaho Temple. It was a great learning opportunity for me, and was the basis of my construction experience. Here are some before and afters of the project.
In Landscape Construction Materials class I had the privilege of redesigning a part of the BYU-Idaho Horticultural Gardens. It was great to be a part of such a fun project, and to see the different ideas that other classmates came up with. For my design I decided to give the garden more of a Japanese garden feel adding a floating gazebo, and a Zen garden. Above is my final design hand rendered. The pictures and video below are from the 3-D Sketchup model that I built for this design. The model brings a whole new view point for the client helping them to really visualize what their finished landscape will look and feel like.
In computer operations class, I took what I had studied in Intro to Design and learned how to create my designs on a computer using the Dynascapes Design software. The software allows for much quicker designing and gives the added advantage of being able to change concepts and ideas as the design comes together. Below are a few of my first designs using Dynascapes.
The long full curves and circles in curvilinear form compostion help to give the design and the landscape a more natural feel, as well as, a better overall flow.
This design was my final for computer operations class. It was designed in Dynascapes and then hand rendered. The odd shape of the house made it perfect for a broken glass form composition.
Bachelor of Science in Horticulture with an emphasis in Design/Build. Business Management/Accounting cluster, Spanish Language cluster. Brigham Young University Idaho Graduate July 23, 2009
My Family
My wife Ashley, myself, and our sons Lucas and Wade
I just want to say thank you to all of the wonderful professors at BYU-Idaho who played such a huge role in my education. A special thanks to Byron John, Reese Nelson, Daniel Dewey, and Jerry Toll. I learned so many valuable things from all of you and I am so grateful for your knowledge that you passed along to me, and continue to pass along to students after me.
I have finally started my career. After graduation in July I started working for Huskie'z Landscaping in Riverton UT. I do bidding and estimating, and hope to take on more responsibilities as I become more versed in the company's operations.
