As a Professional Landscape Designer I get asked this question a lot. It’s as if people think that I must be on vacation if there is snow on the ground. I have to admit, this sounds pretty nice, a vacation somewhere warm and sand between my toes would be fun, but IF that were to happen it would only for about a week; there’s a lot to do in the winter.
First off there is a definition of landscape designer vs business owner, because as a owner there is a ton more I am and could be doing I’m sure ( and there are some fun updates instore!). As just the landscape designer I am updating my education: about plants, design, products, best practices, new trends, engineering aspects… my affiliated associations and vendors are a big source of education but there are also books, webinars and networking that I tend to put a stronger focus on this time of year. I do continue to learn all year round, but its easier to take new stuff in a little deeper, or with more curiosity this time of year. Next up would be learning new skills, this year we are looking into a newer design program that could offer more options for our design presentations. This has a benefit of more design concepts that can be fleshed out “on paper” before we even think about the shovels heading to the site. Plus being able to share a concept with more dimension has been requested by clients, so soon we will be able to offer ‘3d’ views of our plans.
Pavers that look like flagstone make up this patio
If that’s not enough we are also working on plans, the projects we horded away to play with over the winter are fun , more in depth projects sometimes. The off season allow those concepts to be worked on more for the bigger plans that need that. Or maybe it was just projects that came to us late in the season and we are waiting for spring to be ready.
The seasons may change out side and may be hard to visualize what the potential can be, but inside we can always be looking ahead.