PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPE DESIGN: Lessons in CAD

About a decade ago, landscape designer Jim Olson felt swamped and looked to increase his productivity. “My designs were taking too long for the amount of volume we had at the time,” says the president of Olson Landscaping, Northbrook, Ill.

Convinced there was a faster way, Olson sought a computer-aided design (CAD) program to alleviate the lengthy design and revision processes.
 
Sound familiar? In today’s world of ever-rising business costs and clients needing instant gratification, efficiency is the name of the game. Many designers are switching to landscape design software programs that allow them to make revisions without re-drawing an entire design and create plant lists with the click of a mouse.
 
But some designers are hesitant to make the switch. It can be intimidating for professionals to change their ways, especially those who don’t consider themselves to be technologically savvy, says David Sloan, sales and marketing director for Drafix Software, manufacturers of PRO Landscape design software, Kansas City, Mo. “It’s the fear of something new and not being comfortable with what they’re doing” that holds some designers back, he says.
 
Another reason is some designers fear the software will stifle their creativity. “Drawing is something landscape designers and architects enjoy doing – being at the drafting table and having the design process as a tactile thing with paper and pencil,” says Anne Behner, sales manager for Akron, Ohio-based Visual Impact Imaging, makers of Earthscapes Landscape Design Software.
 
The amount of time they’ll have to invest to learn a new program is a concern, too. “For myself, one of the holdbacks was the learning curve and the ability to do my work while making the transition,” says Susan Schlenger, owner of Susan Schlenger Landscape Design in Troy, Va. After doing drawings by hand for about five years, Schlenger made the decision to “move ahead with the times” five years ago. “After some research, I felt I could offer my clients the same kind of detail in the drawings, but the technology would make it a lot easier to make changes and save versions,” she says.
 
Schlenger and other designers who use CAD recommend that designers considering digital drafting should simply figure out what works best for them. “What is best for an individual company is what is effective and efficient – just like with construction tools and methods,” says Andrew Garulay, owner of  Yarmouth Port Design Group Landscape Architects in Yarmouth Port, Mass. “You would not bring a track excavator to plant annuals and you would not bring a trowel to build a pond. It works the same with design tools and design staff.”

SAVING TIME. Whatever direction a designer chooses, he or she can’t ignore the efficiencies CAD programs create. “I’m much quicker now,” Olson says. “I can produce a plan much faster and it’s easier to make changes.”
 
Schlenger touts the fact that she can offer clients several different options without redrawing the entire plan by hand.
 
Garulay points out the amount of time a designer can save by obtaining preexisting CAD files from surveyors and architects and using them as starting points for landscape plans. Especially on new construction, there’s generally a CAD file in existence, says Garulay, who’s a site planner for a civil engineering office by day and runs a residential landscape design firm on the side. “If a client has a landscape designer that wants a CAD file to start the landscape plan, as a professional courtesy, [architects and surveyors] will generally give it to the designer,” Garulay says. “Often it will include major trees, topography and it will have significant features on the site located. If you can get that file, that’s all the more accurate your plan’s going to be.”
 
Dave Petrosky, a registered landscape architect with L. Robert Kimball & Associates, Ebensburg, Pa., says these time-saving elements allow designers to see returns on their software investments within the first several hours they employ the programs. And Petrosky would know – to make his own job easier he developed EZ-Plant, a landscape-oriented AutoCAD add-on, in the 1990s. Most CAD programs are able to create plant lists in a matter of seconds, Petrosky points out. “Some people bill themselves out for $100 or more per hour and if you have to add up all the plants on a project by hand – that’s a lot of time,” he says. “You can save hours by just hitting one command.”
 
Using CAD files adds a marketing benefit, too, Garulay says. “If you have the ability to work with CAD and you’re able to help an engineer with the permitting process, you’re getting on the job so early – before anybody’s even planning to talk with a landscape designer,” he says. One way to help developers with permitting would be to assist them with the restoration plantings or wetland mitigation they’re so often required to conduct during development. The easier a landscape designer makes life for an architect, engineer or surveyor, the more likely these professionals will drive future work in their direction. “Obviously, everyone involved wants to streamline the permitting process, so having a hand-drawing designer or landscape architect in the permitting phase can be more of a burden than benefit,” he says.

SHOPPING AROUND. Luckily for designers, there is a large selection of programs out there to choose from. But all of the choices may create confusion. Generally, design software programs serve a number of functions and may or may not include site planning, estimate/proposal generation, digital imaging and/or 3D modeling.
 
To narrow their choices, designers should ask themselves for what functions they need the software. “Once you’ve explored different software companies, you should make a list of what’s important to you,” Schlenger says. “For example, some do cost estimating. I don’t need that, but someone who’s involved in design/build may.”
 
Both manufacturers and designers who use CAD encourage others to take advantage of the free trials most companies offer. Trade shows, too, are always good places to demo products.
 
Of course price is always a consideration – and there are generally three levels of programs on the market. There are the lower-end products ($100 or less from retail electronics stores), which are more suitable for hobbyists and homeowners. The mid-tier products designed for professional users cost about $1,000 to $2,500 and generally feature at least three of the four functions mentioned above. They also typically incorporate landscape-specific content, like plant photos and symbols. The high-end products like AutoCAD can cost $3,000 and up, are typically targeted for engineers/architects and may not include landscape-specific content unless you purchase add-on modules.

SUPPORT SYSTEM. Software manufacturers offer varied levels of training and support, which should be an important part in the decision-making process – especially for less-than-confident computer users.
 
Some type of training is typically included with the software purchase, usually in the form of Web-based tutorials. Olson says the tutorials are enough training for designers who are computer literate, though he recommends reviewing them several times to ensure they’re retaining the detailed information. Community colleges also offer classes, usually based on AutoCAD, and software companies provide on-site, instructor-led training for several hundred dollars.
 
Complimentary telephone and e-mail support is usually part of the software purchase package, at least for the first year. Some manufacturers extend the offer through the life of the product; others require annual fees. “Particularly when you first get started support is important – I was calling them all the time,” Schlenger says.
 
While many manufacturers say users can learn their programs in a few days, designers say it takes longer than that to feel really comfortable with a new program. It took Schlenger about five months until she was confident with the program she selected. “And it probably took a good year to get to know everything I could do,” she adds. “Some people pick up things more slowly, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to be as good in the long run. So don’t expect to be up and running in a week’s time.”
 
The challenge for many designers is translating the artistic ability they have on paper to the computer screen. It can be done, but it takes patience and persistence, designers say. “It takes a while to understand drawing on a computer is no different than by hand,” Garulay says. One major mistake he sees landscape designers make in CAD is the lack of line weights – something that’s second nature when drawing with markers and pens. “When people start to use CAD they don’t intuitively assign line weights,” he points out. Another tip for getting comfortable while designing on screen is to do things consistently in terms colors and graphics. “Use the same symbol for the same plant every time until you get things like that down,” Garulay says. “If you do things consistently, the more familiarity you can build into your drawing and the more comfortable you are in it.”