How to become a landscape designer

Official title: Landscape designer

Also called: Garden designer, Landscape planner, Landscape Project Coordinator, Principal Landscape Designer, Ÿ Garden designer

Landscape designer designs and creates outdoor public areas, landmarks, structures, parks, gardens and private gardens to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes.

Main tasks

• Inspecting sites and consulting clients, management and other stakeholders to determine type, style and size of proposed buildings, parks, roads and other open spaces
• Compiling and analysing site and community data about geographical and ecological features, landforms, soils, vegetation, site hydrology, visual characteristics and human-made structures, to formulate land use and development recommendations, and for preparing environmental impact statements
• Preparing reports, site plans, working drawings, specifications and cost estimates for land development, showing location and details of proposals, including ground modelling, structures, vegetation and access
• Writing specifications and contract documents for use by builders and civil engineering contractors and calling tenders on behalf of clients
• Making necessary contacts to ensure feasibility of projects regarding style, cost, timing and compliance with regulations
• Identifying and finding best solutions for problems regarding function and quality of exterior environments and making necessary designs, drawings and plans
• Monitoring construction or rehabilitation work to ensure compliance with specifications and quality standards

Ways in

• University: Creative Arts & Design degrees, Offered by 4 universities in Singapore

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Landscape architect
• Building architect
• Fashion designer
• Product/Industrial designer
• Urban planner
• Land surveyor

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Questions people ask

How do I become a landscape designer?

Ways in include: Creative Arts & Design degrees.

Will AI change the work of a landscape designer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026