We were first, but…

APLD International has a group blogging experiment going on for the month of November.  You can follow along and comment on Designers on Design if you’d like to join in the conversation.  There are 9 or 10 APLD member contributors from four countries all talking landscape design.

APLD Twitter List

UPDATE: November 13, 2009

Twitter has now incorporated a list service of its own and we are using that list as our primary list.  Here’s the link Twitter List of APLD Members it is updated often.  You can use the list if you Tweet to easily follow other members and join in on the conversations there.

 

Here’s a list of international APLD members who use Twitter.  If you Tweet and aren’t on the list, simply tweet @apld.  Your membership will be verified and you’ll be added.  Join the conversation on line…the list is growing daily!

If you Tweet about APLD related topics, be sure to use the #apld hashtag so it’s searchable.  What’s a hashtag?  It’s a way to make each tweet with that tag show up in one group so you can follow the conversation with ease.

Photography Workshop Photos

Eight APLDNJ landscape designers met on October 2nd at Atlock Farm for a garden photography workshop with Rich Pomerantz.   Below are the photos sent when when each designer was asked to submit of their favorite image from the workshop.  Some photographed plants, some gardens, some chickens and still others architecture.   Each viewpoint is distinctly different.  We are landscape and garden designers after all…hope you enjoy the view!

Jane Derickson

Andrea Grillo

Laurel Von Gerichten

Susan Cohan, APLD

Jock Lewendon, APLD

Rich Pomerantz--our intrepid instructor gives us the boot!

Barbara Miller

APLD debuts new Facebook Fan Page

Join the conversation over on Facebook–APLD has a cool new fan page. The fan page has unique content, discussions and a place to post photos.  You don’t have to be a member of Facebook to join…but if you aren’t and want to be, read this for a full explanation of Facebook and how it works.

Association of Professional Landscape Designers

Promote Your Page Too

APLDNJ in Portland, Oregon

The APLDNJ chapter was well represented at the APLD Annual International Design Conference in Portland, Oregon from July 13-19th.  The 2010 conference will be held in Dallas, Texas at the end of September.

Many APLD members cite the annual conference as the best benefit of membership.  Several of us got together (after a few glasses of wine and too much desert) to tell you why we go.  NJ Chapter members:  James and HaeSun Robyn, Helen Grundman, Susan Olinger, Jock Lewendon, Susan Cohan with a guest spot from APLD president elect Patricia St. John (CA) are on the video.  Missing members who were in Portland but not filmed–Ruth Bowers and Whitney Freeman-Kemp (who is defecting to her home state of Connecticut’s new chapter).  Enjoy–we did!

Fall Garden Photography Workshop at Atlock Farm

Hi NJ APLD friends! Rich Pomerantz here, guest-blogging for you.

On October 1 I will be conducting a workshop for the NJ APLD members at Atlock Farm in Somerset.  (OK, so the photo above is from my home territory in New England….) This will be a wonderful time to capture the late season splendor of Ken Selody’s wonderful nursery with hands-on instruction by me addressing issues from the mundane (camera functions and digital file management) to the artistic (composition, best ways to use available light and how to “see” the garden).  I’ve taught hundreds of people how to improve their garden photography at NYBG, MassHort and at flower shows and garden clubs throughout the northeast. Perhaps you met me at last year’s national APLD conference in New York where I was the official photographer.  Or maybe you have seen my photos in Horticulture, Garden Design, Perennials or another garden or shelter magazine, or maybe in one of my books, or my website, www.richpomerantz.com.

In any event, this workshop is bound to leave you wanting more face time with your camera!   We’ll start early at 7am to catch the good light and beat the traffic, break for lunch where we’ll review the morning’s work and go over some basic principles (if needed), then finish the day shooting through the afternoon. Officially we’ll end at 4pm, but if the light’s still good……

For more information and to sign up, go to the NJ APLD chapter’s online portal by clicking here:

http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://apldnj.org

I’ll see you there!

Designer’s Toolbox: Don’t Miss Out Next Time!

Who:  APLDNJ Members

What:  Unusual Trees and Shrubs for Landscape Designs

When:  June 10th (yes it’s in the past)

Where:  Plant Detectives Chester, NJ

Why:  Continuing Education makes you a better designer!

The North Jersey members who attended the Plant Detectives Nursery tour and lecture in Chester on Wednesday evening, June 10 were treated to  a great evening and informational event.

Nursery owner, Art Laster, not only hosted the event but also  invited guest speakers Chris Rubino, from APLD’s national sponsor Monrovia, and John Mohr from Iseli Nursery to present some of their uncommon plants for APLDNJ designers to consider using in future landscape designs.  Art spoke about under-used plants and provided dinner and beverages for all.

John Mohr and APLDNJ Members at Plant Detectives Nursery

Joe Broyles, chapter member and representative of APLDNJ’s Gold sponsor, Plant Health Care, also said a few words about PHC products.

The APLDNJ landscape designers in attendance recieved three plants (pictured below) from Monrovia and a CD Catalog from Iseli.

SEA OF GOLD^® JUNIPER
Juniperus x pfitzeriana ‘MonSan’ P.P.# 17622

MINI PENNY^™ HYDRANGEA
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Mini Penny’ P.P.# 15744

MIDNIGHT DUCHESS^® HYDRANGEA
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘HYMMADII’ P.P. 18282

Special thanks to APLDNJ member,Barbara Dannenfelser, for organizing this event, and of course to Art Laster and staff for their generous hospitality.

Designer’s Toolbox: Web Presence and You

Landscape designers as a whole have not embraced Web 2.0.  This next current wave of interactive web media seems to take too much time or requires geeky internet savvy.  Not true.  Designers say ‘Well I set up a Facebook and did nothing with it…’ or ‘I don’t have the time to figure all of that out’…or  ‘I don’t even have a website’.   To continue to be in business and  ignore the power of the internet to network with like minded professionals as well as a tool to engage potential clients is to ignore the future.

A website is a mandatory tool in this day and age.  ‘Google’ is a verb.  If you can’t be ‘googled’ with a link to your information, you are putting your design business at a disadvantage.  If you don’t already have a website, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.  There are free, user friendly tools to build a website such as Homestead that you can use yourself.

A blog  can be a substitute for a website if you want to update and can be hosted for free at sites like the one that hosts this one…WordPress or Blogger.  Blogs allow you to post photos, link to other sites and comment on your work–they also allow people to comment on what they see.

With all of the hoopla about Social Media and Web 2.0 tools, how can do you make it work for you and your design business in the real world?  Just start.  Pick one Web 2.0 tool and use it.  Don’t just set it up and park it.   We’ve already talked about Facebook, LinkedIn, Land8lounge, Twitter,  and some others.

If a  Landscapedia portfolio isn’t your thing, you can share photos of your work or build a digital portfolio with sites like Flickr or Picasa.  If you already have a PowerPoint portfolio, upload and share it on SlideShare.

There are tools such as Ping.fm that will allow you to post in one place and have that post update in some of your other social media pages as well.  There are also tools such as Tumblr that allow you to display all of your on-line presence in one place.

Whatever you choose to do, do something, to continue to ignore the power of online connections is like ignoring the changing of the seasons.

Designer’s Toolbox: Digitize Your Portfolio–Socially!

Contributed by Michael Franklin, associate member of APLD and creator of Landscapedia

The buzz about social networking is creating a greater need for landscape designers to get their portfolios online.  Because of my work with Landscapedia.info, I spend a fair amount of time talking with designers about their digital portfolios. I spend almost as much time convincing some that hiring a web designer and adding a website to their business cards is just the first step in leveraging their digital portfolio to help grow their design businesses.

A portfolio project by Chris Heiler an APLD member on Landscapedia

Many landscape design professionals expect to post their work on their new websites and have their phone start ringing with clients.  They get frustrated when they’ve spent time and money to create an online presence only to be disappointed by the slow pace of returns.  Stories of internet millionaires from the 1990’s still permeate the conventional thinking – as long as you are online, people will knock down your door.  That was then, this is now, and things evolve quickly online.  Landscape designers need to embrace the power of the web and use it to their advantage. The internet today provides consumers with an overwhelming amount of information in seconds on any subject, including landscape design.  It is easy for a designer to get lost in that sea of information, regardless of what consultants promise in terms of search engine rankings.

What can you do now?  In order to get your work and business noticed, you have to be willing to go that extra distance.  You have to put your portfolio in as many places as you can, using it as a teaser to drive potential clients back to your website.  Think of it as free, interactive advertising.  You wouldn’t just advertise once in one publication, would you?

Landscapedia's Portfolio Directory

That’s the beauty of portfolio websites, such as Landscapedia.info and others.  They give you another on-line portal to get your work noticed.  It’s a terrible waste to go through the effort and expense of creating a digital portfolio to use it only once, on your own site, when you can reuse it or parts of it to drive traffic to your business.  The trick is to find the right websites to display your work.  Not every site is going to work for every designer and some sites are pay-for-play, throwing landscape designers in with graphic artists, interior designers, architects, etc.

Here’s how to make your decision:

• A good digital portfolio site will give you a direct link back to your website without making consumers join or go through a series of steps.
• Before joining a portfolio site, browse the current portfolios to see how easily (or not) a consumer finds their way back to your website.
• Explore how the website reaches out to consumers to drive traffic to your portfolio. If they aren’t reaching out to consumers, then your portfolio may sit in obscurity. For example, Landscapedia has partnered with botanical gardens across the US to build mobile tour guides. This helps raise visibility of our designers among consumers interested in good design.
• Find out if they have versions for mobile devices, such as iPhone. Landscapedia has a significant number of visitors on mobile devices, and this area is the next big growth trend on the web.
• Ask your colleagues if they have experience with specific sites they can recommend.

If you don’t have a website yet, a portfolio site is a great place for you to experiment with your digital portfolio.  Most give you a handy, easy-to-remember address (http://my.landscapedia/msfxDesigns) to send out to clients and colleagues. You can play with image sizes and formats in a safe environment before taking the plunge with your own branded site.

The key to a successful move to digital portfolios really lies in finding key websites that you can use to generate attention for your work.  If you are sitting back waiting on people to find you, then you are missing out on countless opportunities to reach out and grab attention for your business.  With so many designers competing for clients in any economy, a good business person will utilize every opportunity to introduce themselves to potential clients-a digital portfolio is one of those tools.

Designer’s Toolbox: Pleasant Run Nursery Tour

Contributed by Pleasant Run Nursery

Event details:  APLD New Jersey Chapter

In our over-scheduled world, it is often difficult to carve out time to explore different plant options for landscape design challenges.  Nurseries that specialize in new and exciting introductions can help you keep up-to-date and innovative in your plant choices.  They also have hands-on experience with the actual growing conditions which plants require for long term success in the landscape.

At Pleasant Run, we make it our mission to find and grow the most exciting new selections of both perennial and woody plants, and to re-acquaint our customers with heirloom, tried-and-true plant options.  We work hard to test a large range of perennials and woodies in our display gardens, so we know first hand what does well in New Jersey.  We also focus increasingly on finding solutions to problems in the landscape resulting from specific conditions, such as deer predation, dry shade, salt exposure or waterlogged soils.

We are looking forward to hosting our APLDNJ friends at our nursery on April 29^th.

Just to whet your appetites, the following is a very abbreviated list of some perennials specifically for deer resistance:

• Agastache x ‘Purple Haze’
• Anemone x ‘Honorine Jobert’
• Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’ and Perovskia atrip. ‘Little Spire’
• Baptisia x ‘Carolina Moonlight’
• Blechnum spicant
• Carex oshim. ‘Evergold’
• Caryopteris x clan. ‘Grand Bleu’
• Cimicifuga ram. ‘Atropurpurea’
• Eupatorium dub. ‘Little Joe’
• Geranium x ‘Rozanne’
• Hakonechloa mac. ‘All Gold’
• Heuchera vill. ‘Autumn Bride’
• Hibiscus mos. ‘Kopper King’
• Iris ensata ‘Variegata’
• Muhlenbergia capillaris
• Panicum virg. ‘Shenandoah’
• Sisyrinchium angust. ‘Lucerne’
• Solidago rug. ‘Fireworks’