Granite State Landscape Architects 

 Alive ^WeU 



]ohn Hart 



The forest is dynamic over all scales of time, and rather discontinuous in space, 

 grading into surrounding communities and existing as hut one component of the larger ecosystem. 

 The domain of the landscape architect may be described in similar terms. 



X^andscape architecture seems to be a profession 



/ that requires explanation. The common perception 

 0*^^ is that landscape architects plant trees and bushes. 

 ^^.^Like Monty Python's knights who say "Nyeh," cli- 

 ents often demand, "Bring me a shrubbery!" This view is 

 correct, as far as it goes, but it bypasses the forest for 

 the shrubs Most who work in the landscape and related 

 fields have had to deal with the public's constricted ap- 

 proach to the landscape world. 



The forest does have shrubbery It also has large 

 overstory trees, smaller understory trees, several layers 

 of shrubberies, a herbaceous and groundcover layer, an 

 organic mulch at the soil surface, and a sea of inter- 

 twined roots below Each plant layer may consist of 

 many different species. The soil is a complex living, 

 breathing ecosystem in itself. The forest is inhabited by 

 resident and transitory birds, mammals, insects, 

 arthropods, microorganisms. The forest is dynamic over 

 all scales of time, and rather discontinuous in space, 

 grading into surrounding communities and existing as 

 but one component of the larger ecosystem. Forest com- 

 position is forged in large part by the surrounding envi- 

 ronment: temperature regimes, moisture levels, sunlight, 

 slope, soil parent materials, hydrology, other plants and 

 communities, etc. The forest in turn alters its surround- 

 ings. And the forest at the end of the twentieth century 

 is very much determined by the human cultural land- 

 scape. 



The domain of the landscape architect may be de- 

 scribed in similar terms. Far beyond the bringing of 

 shrubberies, good landscape architecture reads the eco- 

 system and the site's role in it, reads and understands 

 the client, examines the soils, sculpts the terrain, calcu- 

 lates runoff, runs the governmental regulatory gauntlet, 

 engineers retaining walls, specifies deck loads, creates a 

 planting environment in tune with the landscape charac- 

 ter of the site and with the client's needs, works to en- 

 hance the given architecture, and accomplishes it all 

 with a strong foundation in art and design. And of 

 course, the project always comes in under budget LA's 

 may be found plying their trade in architectural and en- 

 gineering firms, in land development companies, in park 

 and recreation systems, in state and national forests, in 

 highway departments, in urban and regional planning of- 



fices, and in private practice. 



So the work is a bit broader and deeper than "fetch- 

 ing a shrubbery" A typical LA has spent several years 

 earning a degree in the field, several years in appren- 

 ticeship under a mentoring LA, and has passed a rigor- 

 ous exam covering all aspects of the field. As with archi- 

 tects and engineers, over forty states now have regula- 

 tory boards for landscape architects, to ensure at least a 

 basic level of competence and to provide for public 

 safety 



The need for such regulation can be a topic of heated 

 debate among LA's, landscape contractors, landscape 

 designers, and allied professionals Is an LA more quali- 

 fied than a twenty-year design/build contractor? How ex- 

 clusionary and monopolistic would regulation be? In 

 New Hampshire at present, the questions are moot. 

 There are no regulatory laws for landscape architects. A 

 proposed "title bill", specifying that only those who 

 have gone through training, apprenticeship, and exam 

 may call themselves Landscape Architects, has failed in 

 Concord twice in recent years In the absence of state 

 regulation, and under the motto "Live free or die," caveat 

 emptor is a dictum to be followed. Let the buyer beware, 

 whether with landscape architect, landscape designer, or 

 landscape contractor 



Landscape architects tend to be a quiet lot. Many in 

 the Green Industry are unaware of the state-wide profes- 

 sional organization, the Granite State Landscape Archi- 

 tects. The GSLA is allied with the Boston Society of 

 Landscape Architects, the oldest chapter in the country 



GSLA membership meetings are held more or less bi- 

 monthly Two summer meetings are coming up soon On 

 |une 15 at Proctor Academy in Andover, the GSLA will 

 hold a joint meeting with the New Hampshire Chapter of 

 the American Institute of Architects to display work and 

 discuss joint ventures. On |uly 15 the GSLA will host the 

 Boston Chapter (Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and 

 New Hampshire) at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth. For 

 more information on these meetings, or on the GSLA, 

 contact Bill Hoffman, GSLA Chair, at 735-5827, or )ohn 

 Hart, Vice-chair, 862-1091. 



]oftn Hart is an associate professor at Tke Thompson School of 

 Applied Science «( UNH in Durham. 



20 



The Plantsman 



