learning plants by painting

This week I decided to use water colour after trialing using it to paint a tree. I am definitely going to keep practicing watercolour over next semester as I am very happy with the results especially how natural looking it is. 

Landscape Architecture is Misunderstood: How can we change this?

Landscape Architecture is a profession that combines art and science to plan, design and manage the natural and built environment to address multiple global issues including, sustainability and mitigating and adapting climate change. However, despite its contribution to fighting these global issues currently most people are largely unfamiliar with the profession. This leads it to be mischaracterized and misunderstood. 

One of the key problems is that most people are just not familiar with the term ‘landscape architecture’, so are confused about the name of the discipline. This can lead people to assume it is a fancy term for gardeners or landscapers. Unfortunately this isn’t just the public but also government legislators and professionals in adjacent industries. This adds to another common misunderstanding that Landscape Architects are all plant experts like horticulturalists, perhaps due to the profession being very diverse, with a broad range of skillsets, creating confusion. And, in general, the profession is just not well known compared to other design fields such as architecture. 

This lack of awareness of the profession has several negative consequences. A current problem is that across the profession there is a major workforce issue, especially in the UK. This could be put down to a lack of young people growing up saying they want to be a landscape architect that other careers have. Declining enrolments in landscape architecture courses prove this, with many people only learning about the career when already in higher education or switching to it from another career. So, whilst job numbers in other industries at the forefront of fighting climate change rise this has not been seen in the overall landscape industry. Consequently, landscape often has a low profile so can struggle for resources against other more recognized disciplines leading to potential lost income. Not only this but the landscape itself suffers with landscape architects being brought into the design process to late leading to projects that are less likely to be sustainable, aesthetically appealing, and usable. 

How can we change this? 

To stop the problem of landscape architecture being misunderstood there is one key thing that needs to happen to prevent the negative consequences. This is simply to increase the public awareness and visibility of the profession. The Frameworks Institute report that “once people understand the value of the profession, they are much more likely to consider it as a career option, and project funders and local decision-makers are more likely to consult with landscape architects”. For more prospective undergraduate to consider it as an option there needs to be greater promotion of the career from a young age. Many of the professional institutions have tried this over the years by attending career days and making careers advisors aware of the profession. Public campaigns such as the Landscape Institute’s ‘#Chooselandscape’, have also had some success. Greater effort could also be made to better utilize social media platforms which would be able to gain attention from a wide audience, especially young people. 

Whilst these are just a few ways to improve the public awareness and understanding of Landscape Architecture, they would mean more people choosing the profession as a career, more investment in the industry and better designed projects. However, to achieve this national professional institutes need to lead the way in promoting the industry alongside professionals and educational institutions to make the biggest impact possible. 

References 

Bereuter, K. (2025) ‘Elitism in the Profession’, Landscape Architect & Specifier News, 10 July. Available at: https://landscapearchitect.com/landscape-articles/elitism-in-the-profession?utm (Accessed: 9 November 2025). Conklin, L., Gibbons, C., L’Hôte, E. & Volmert, A. (2021) Putting People at the Center: Reframing Landscape Architecture for Maximum Impact: A FrameWorks Strategic Brief. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute. Available at: https://www.asla.org/uploadedFiles/CMS/Practice/Frameworks/Report.pdf (Accessed: 9 November 2025). edla (2025) In response to the skills shortage report, we ask, does LI need a rebrand?. Available at: https://edla.co.uk/in-response-to-the-skills-shortage-report-we-ask-does-li-need-a-rebrand/#:~:text=We%20know%20that%20too%20many,the%20short%20and%20long%20term.(Accessed: 17 November 2025). FrameWorks Institute. (2019) What is Landscape Architecture? Mapping the Gaps Between Expert and Public Understandings of Landscape Architecture. FrameWorks Institute. Available at: https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/app/uploads/2020/06/FRAJ7032-Landscape-Architecture-Map-the-Gaps-190719-1.pdf (Accessed: 17 November 2025). Gibson, S. (2023) Why have I never heard of a landscape architect? Mood Landscape. Available at: https://moodlandscape.co.uk/why-have-i-never-heard-of-a-landscape-architect/ (Accessed: 17 November 2025). Gkoltsiou, A. and Forczek-Brataniec, U. (2024) “The Role of Landscape Architecture Profession Recognition in the Context of Facing Contemporary Challenges,” Sustainability, 16(13), p. 5362. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135362. Holmes, D. (2023) ‘Review of 2023 landscape architecture trends’, World Landscape Architecture. 20 December. Available at: https://worldlandscapearchitect.com/review-of-2023-landscape-architecture-trends/?v=7885444af42e (Accessed: 17 November 2025). Holmes, D. (2025) ‘What is Landscape Architecture?’, World Landscape Architecture. Available at: https://worldlandscapearchitect.com/what-is-landscape-architecture/?v=7885444af42e (Accessed: 9 November 2025). IFLA Europe. (no date) About Landscape Architecture Profession. Available at: https://iflaeurope.eu/index.php/site/general/landscape-architecture-profession (Accessed: 9 November 2025). Landscape Institute. (2023) Joint Board & Council Strategy Session – 22 November 2023. London: Landscape Institute. Available at: https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Strategy-Session-22Nov2023-pack.pdf (Accessed: 17 November 2025).

Continuing Learning Plants by Drawing

This time I used oil pastels again as I particularly like there soft look especially compared to more chalky pastels.

Watercolour First Practise

It has been a long time since I used watercolour to paint anything so I have decided to start practicing using them again. To help with this I watched a short video on painting a simple tree first. So far I have done 2 and I am already seeing improvement.

Hand rendering

I have hand rendered some of my shrub drawings using colouring pencils, pen, and soft pastels.

Continuing Learning Plants by Drawing

To combine learning plants and drawing in my sketchbook I drew 3 more plants. This time I wanted to focuses on the colour of the plants flower so I drew the plant in pen and then added colour using pencil. The flower is not super detailed but tries to represent the overall colour and shape visible from a distance. 

Swale Sections

In my sustainable technology module, we have being doing lots of work of Sustainable Urban Drainage and I have been using lots of swales in my designs so I have drawn some examples of these.

Tree & Shrub Plan Outlines

I have tried to explore different ways to draw trees and shrubs in plan view. They are all simple drawings that can be drawn quickly onto plans. For the shrubs I drew a collection of random circles in pencil and then drew the outline in pen. 

Soft Pastels

I have continued using soft pastels. Today I used them for drawing quick cross sections. Firstly I tried drawing a meadow then a path. 

Figure Map

To create this I first downloaded a map of digimap which only had the building layer on. I used tools in photoshop to convert all the buildings to white to give a clean map that only showed buildings. I then used this to creat an idea of a front cover for my group survey project for which I am the editor.

North Place Logo

Our main project for the design module in semester 1 was a group survey project. My role for this is editor. For this I needed to create templates on InDesign for everyone else to use as well as a front cover. I started sketching ideas for this and came up with a logo that had a north arrow to represent the name of the survey location, North Place.

Learning Plants

Plant knowledge is something I need to keep working on throughout my course. I thought one way I could do this was every week looks at random plants in a book or a website and then draw them in my sketchbook. Every week I am going to do atleast three and try and use a different medium every time. This week I used oil pastels.

Pen sketches

My first sketch is of the lake in the gardens of a contemporary house called The Old Zoo in brockhall village. I the structure in pencil first then went over in pen and added detail. 

Next I drew an idea I had for a small fountain in an archway that acts as a focal point at the end of a path. 

I am going to try colour rendering these using watercolour.

Contextual Colour Project

Over progress week we were given the task of exploring a method of filtering out infomation, to simplify what we see. To do this we used photoshop by crystallising out images. This splits the image into random cells of only the 1 most dominant colour in the area.

One Line Drawings

Yesterday in my Design Projects Workshop we were challenged by our lecturer, Jamie, to attempt 2 quick sketches with about 5 minutes for each. the first challenge was to draw a selection of objects in front of us. We had to draw these objects using a one line technique meaning we could not take our pens of the paper. The aim of this exercise was to improve our ability to sketch quickly and more confidently.

After this we were then challenged to draw a portrait of the person sat oppisite. To make the challenge fairer for those who are not very good at portraits we had to draw using our non dominant hand and also using the one hand technique. Whilst I did struggle with this drawing more, having to concentrate more because I was using my left hand instead of my right helped me draw better than I thought I would.

Easy Trees

I have been practising easy techniques to draw trees in my sketchbook. I have found the best way to draw them is to be quick and confident with the lines I draw. Using a pen definitely helps with this. I have used black and blue pens and I think blue is better as it makes adding darker areas easier.

Hedge Laying

Something that is becoming rare to see in the countryside is hedge laying, as hedges are now no longer the main thing to stop cattle escaping but wire fences instead. 

However, in the future I would like to include layed hedges in my designs as I think they are a very strong and more natural barrier than a metal Fence or wall. So I looked through the bookshelf at home and found a book on hedgelaying. I found a drawing I liked about laying a hedge and thought I would try and do my own simple version. 

Sketching Sandford Park

I recently went on a walk around Sandford Park in Cheltenham, whilst there, I did some sketches of some of the landscaped spaces I liked. First, I sketched a water feature that I immediately saw when entering from the high street. I chose this as I thought it was an interesting focal point that drew me into the park when entering through the gateway. I used a fineliner pen for this sketch because it is one of my favourite mediums for drawing due to the clear lines and not being able to rub it out.

After this, I did another sketch, but instead focused on a planted space surrounding a fountain, which I particularly enjoyed for the variety of colour, despite it now being autumn. As I can't show colour using the fineliner pen, when I got back, I went over the sketch using soft pastels to show the colours.

Starting my second year sketch book

As it's the start of second year on my course, I have started a new sketchbook which I will be sharing on here. To continue practicing my drawing skills I thought it would be a good idea to do some quick 1 minute sketches with Sharpie. This would force me to not worry about rubbing out mistakes and to hopefully be able to draw better in less time in the future.

Firstly I drew, Ribblehead Viaduct which I visited over the summer. And a view out of a small cave in Silverdale. I think the drawing of Ribblehead turned out well, showing the overall shape of the area however I am not happy with the Silverdale drawing because it is not very clear

. I think to improve quick sketches in the future I will use biro instead as it is less thick.

Next, I drew some gardens I work at. This includes the Old Zoo, a striking modern garden with a large maze and Storrs Hall, a large hotel overlooking lake Windermere. For the small amount of time I spent on these I think the shape of the landscape is clear but I need to work better on getting the proportions better.

A small waterfall

Just one quick sketch I have done is of a small waterfall. I decided to practise quick lower case annotations which I want to use foe my construction detail annotations for submission.

Devon Hedge Bank

During a lecture from Sarah she told us about the importance that hedge banks had in Devon. As I have never heard of them before I though it would be a good thing to take note of in my construction drawings book.

I drew a standard hedge bank at a scale of one to twenty. 

Below is a new example of a Devon Hedge Bank:

Metal Fence Construction Drawings

Whilst back at my home I had a look around my garden to see if there was anything interesting to use in my construction drawings notebook.

After look around I thought a metal Fence would be a good thing to draw. The fence was made by a local blacksmith and is inspired by a reclaimed gate that my dad found in a customer's garden near Lytham Hall and we think it may be one of the old estate gates for the Hall. 

I drew the fence to scale, measuring it with a tape measure however I did change some parts to improve the design. A part I like alot was the Lancashire Rose in the center of the cross.

Paving - plan and section

After drawing some paving bond patterns I then decided to do a section, to show the materials beneath the paving. I used Landscape Detailing volume 2 by Michael Littlewood to help sketch this. 

First I drew the plan view of basic stack bond layed concrete pavers. After drawing this I could then extrude the lines of the grid id created upwards to project an accurate section view of Pedestrian paving.

I found using a red pencil to make construction lines really helped as they are very faint and can be rubbed out after. 

Plan View Paving Bonds

To remind myself of some of the bonds I learnt towards the begging of uni I decided to practise drawing scale examples of paving bonds. The patterns I drew all use 200x100x50mm concrete blocks.

This is one of the trickiest drawings I've done to scale, mainly due to the repetitive and sometimes complex brick patterns. The best way I found to draw them quickly was to mark every 10mm on each edge of a square and then create a grid in pencil which I could then draw the bond pattern over in pen. 

Construction Drawings for Tree Planting

Whilst in the library I noticed a book on Tree Detailing by Michael Littlewood. Looking throught it I found lots of construction drawings and detailing for tree planting. As tree planting is something I have done alot of over the years working for my Dad's landscaping and planting company I thought this would good to practise drawings on. Also, I think they would be useful in the future to ensure contractors put tree ties on the correct way and neatly. First I drew a scale drawing of a single stake for an advanced heavy standard tree. I was able to fit all the important infomation on, however, I drew it to high so I could not represent the full height of the tree on my page so next time I need to make sure to measure the maximum dimensions onto the page first so I can ensure the drawing fits.

fter this I decided to draw how a tree should be tied to a single post using a rubber tree strap with buckle and a rubber spacer.

A walk around Nottingham Hill

Waking up to seeing a bright blue sky out my window I thought I had to get out and go for a walk, to make the most of the nice weather. Also, i thought this would be a good oppurtunity to find some fences, gates, and walls that I would be able to sketch in my notebook later on. Looking at my map I found a small circular route around the common land and woodlands of Nottingham hill on the edge of the cotswolds. Whilst on the walk I passed through multiple gates on the footpath which I thought would be a good feature to use to practise my construction drawings. However, as I did not take measurements of the fence I could not draw it to scale instead just sketching what i saw.

After passing through 2 muddy woodlands I came to a farm track surrounded on either side by dry stone walls, made out of Cotswold Stone. I thought this would be another good feature to sketch. When I got back to my room I looked for cross section drawing of drystone walls which helped me to complete mine and add annotations for the differant parts of the walls and stones used.

Project F Site Visit

Today instead of a lecture we visited to Gloucester to look at the two options for our site for project F. 

First we looked at a small community built garden located at St Michael's square. It featured a small lawn with seating and some mature trees. 

Next week visited the second site, which was Kimbrose Triangle. This is a shared space featuring a large sculpture and the main link between Gloucester city centre and its docklands. 

Out of the two sites I chose Kimbrose Triangle as I though it would be more interesting to try and redesign as it features lots of existing functions that need to be retained as well as lots of opportunities for improvement.

Old School House Final Design

I continued with the idea of using an octagon shape in the courtyard as it was a way I was able to fit the existing doors with a formal and symmetrical layout. I could also add design features inspired by gothic architecture. Some examples of this is a gothic font, and a flower pattern in the paving, made using arches commonly found on gothic windows.

To better visualize the space I made a sketch up model