Landscape architects design outdoor spaces such as parks, campuses, streets, and housing sites. The work blends art with drainage, grading, plants, codes, and construction know-how. In the US, you need a professional degree (a BLA or MLA, ideally from a program accredited by LAAB) and then a state license, which you earn by passing the LARE exam after supervised experience. This roadmap takes you from learning the basics, to landing a junior designer job with a strong portfolio, to becoming a licensed, trusted lead. Everything here uses free tools and free learning. Autodesk offers free educat
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Every stage from beginner to expert, with lessons, practice drills, projects, interview questions and free resources. Free with a Rolearch account.
Stage 1 of 3 · about 16 weeks
Understand how outdoor sites work and draw a simple, well-organized site design by hand and in CAD.
Site analysis and reading the land
Every good design starts with what is already there: slope, sun, wind, soil, water, views, and neighbors. If you skip this, you design something that floods, bakes, or ignores the people who will use it.
Graphic communication and drafting
Clients and contractors read drawings, not your thoughts. Clear line weights, scale, and north arrows show you are professional.
Plant knowledge and ecology
Plants are your main material. You must know which ones survive in a given climate and soil, and what they look like over the years, so your design still works at year ten.
Design principles and history
Scale, proportion, rhythm, hierarchy, and space-making are what separate a pretty picture from a place people want to use.
Then 2 more stages (about 96 weeks in all) with lessons, drills, projects, 6 interview questions with strong answers and free resources.