Brandon Rowbury

PLANET Student Career Days 2009

2009-04-20T19:39:00.002-06:00

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.

Advanced Design

2009-02-23T20:05:00.011-07:00

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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.

Suzhou Garden Model

Internship with Merrill Quality Landscapes

2009-01-08T11:26:00.008-07:00

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.

Summer 2007 Rexburg Temple

2009-01-07T21:37:00.006-07:00

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.

The Spirit Garden

2008-12-22T10:12:00.011-07:00

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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.

Landscape Computer Operations

2008-12-22T10:05:00.005-07:00

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.

Broken Glass Form Composition

2008-12-22T10:00:00.003-07:00

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The uneven random lines give this patio a "broken glass" look. This form composition brings a natural feel to the landscape.

Curvilinear Form Composition

2008-12-22T09:51:00.003-07:00

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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.

Computer Operations Final Design

2008-12-22T09:26:00.004-07:00

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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.