Licenses

[greenguy04]

Ok I was reading the postings to this topic and am very curious. First of all, I am totally new to this field. I am in the Marine Corps and have decided that when I retire I am going to run my own Landscape Design Company. But, being in the military, I can't sustain long term customers quite yet. I deploy, and get transferred. So I am just doing small jobs for people now, and mainly concetrating on the maintenance side of the house. You know, get my feet wet and gain some valuable experience.
My question is this; Do all of you guys have the proper licenses for your states? And if so, how do you go about getting them. The ASLA website talks of the LARE test. In the info it talks of formal training and experience. How does someone, who is not fortunate to live in a state with a university with a landscape program, go about getting formally educated?
Also, how many of you out there have degrees? I would love to obtain a four year degree but I live in southern South Carolina with no degree programs in my area.
Just curious.

[Lombardi]

Licensing requirements will vary greatly from state to state. The subject of college degrees has been brought up a lot in the past.
Yes, I have a degree, but in Criminal Justice. Even though my degree has nothing to do with landscaping, the 15 years I spent in that field helped me to learn many skills required to run your own business. Good luck.

[mdvaden]

I don't think you need 4 years of college to design, if your get a lot of experience.

If you go to school for 5 years, or 4 years with no in field experience, how good could you really be?

I think about 1 to 2 years of college would be a very wise move - at least 1.

At least dabble in some kind of work just to see the consequences or benefits of the good and bad in landscapes.

You don't need a degree to design in most states.

Oregon requires no license for being a landscape designer. But does for a landscape architect. The difference is that a designers plan must be conceptual and not contain construction details and specifications - it can show where a deck would be, but not much more than maybe suggesting cedar.

Oregon Landsape Contractors need a license, and can design at the level of a landscape architect here as long as they don't call themselves architects - the exception is public works plans. But a landscaper could do a hand drawn or CAD design for an entire resort if they would like too.