Entry Level Landscape/Garden Design 2020 and beyond

Learn to become a landscape designer and start or freelance a landscape design business, using essential software (free or paid), and market and grow your client base.

Learn the SketchUp platform for landscape design, including offline 20:17 version, templates and units, and core tools like select, line, freehand, push/pull, offset, labeling and materials and measurements.

Master shortcuts for selection, navigation, and drawing in SketchUp; import and scale a house plan by converting pdfs to jpgs, creating a group, and using the tape measure for scale.

Learn to create boundaries and save landscape design projects, draft house plans with materials, save versioned files, and explore a tropical theme with plant selection and labeling.

Learn to select plan styles and draw scaled landscape plans aligned with a client’s wishlist. Create plant symbols and clones, and use collage ideas to develop layouts.

Master mass planting and hard landscapes by building planting beds, creating plan b layouts, and arranging durable features like brick walls, seating, and fire pits using symbols and duplication techniques.

Master edging and planting basics for landscape design, using flagstones and blackstones, spacing 10 cm between modules, creating raised planter boxes, and labeling plants for a cohesive finish.

Learn practical labeling techniques for landscape design using text labels in SketchUp, marking plants, pavers, and edging with precise sizes, quantities, and area calculations to finalize your plan.

Apply final finishing touches to your entry level landscape design by coloring faces, outlining components, and saving a black-and-white version for print to ensure clean, professional shading and 3-d effects.

Start as a freelance landscape designer by building a portfolio and showcasing your work on multiple freelance networks to attract clients.

Market your entry-level landscape business by building a social media presence and growing an email list with value offers, using Mailchimp for outreach and landing pages.