When you want the interiors of your house designed, who are you likely to call? An interior designer right? But what if you wanted to get your gardens and parks done up?

I’m not talking about the square feet kind of gardens here, but those vast expanses that give meaning to word expanse? Would a mere gardener do or are you in need of someone more like a landscape designer?

Most people tend to confuse the landscape designer with an artist who does paintings of landscapes. This is common enough and when the words landscape designer are mentioned, most people would begin to think in this fashion. But we are talking about the horticultural variety of the landscape designer more than the cultural variety!

A landscape designer is a much in demand professional. Maybe it would not be a good idea to use the term professional here. For although what he does is, strictly speaking, his profession, a landscape designer is also a creative individual who indulges his knowledge of plants, shrubs and trees to create something that enthralls and inspires.

Ever wondered who maintains and comes up with the striking designs of all those manicured lawns you are likely to see at some of the larger estate houses? Well, the answer lies with a landscape designer.

Ever wondered who is behind all those shrub mazes and French gardens? The answer is again a landscape designer.

How does one become a landscape designer anyways? Well, you would be surprised to know that there is a course available for people who seek an entry into this profession. It is an expansion of what used to be known as ‘home science’ in an earlier time.

While the course covers the fundamentals of gardening and horticulture, it also deals with an element of aesthetics and a fair amount of history. Learning to become one is a fairly eclectic choice and the various modules of the course more than easily reflect this. It is not an easy task to learn to become a landscape designer. But with patience, dedication and skill, it surely is a lucrative vocation.

Most landscape designers, once they have achieved a degree of a reputation, or after they have been commissioned to create some of the more public landscapes, tend to attract fees in the very high range. It is but natural to expect this.

People who can afford to have that kind of land in the first place, would be millionaires themselves. And if they care enough to hire a professional landscape designer to beautify it, they will surely pay for the hard to get skill. So, this is a profession where you can literally make hay while the sun shines!

My husband loves outdoor fish ponds. I love the idea of a Japanese garden. When we decided to build our own pond in our backyard, we considered several options.

I suggested a Japanese garden and my husband was less than excited about it. I drew up a sketch of the oriental landscape with a pond full of Koi fish. He reluctantly agreed to the design and we got to work.

The first task was to dig a ditch for the pond for our Japanese garden. After we weeded the area and made a good sized ditch, we visited our local home and garden store and purchased a plastic pond mold. These are black in color and aid in protecting the fish from being subjected to the soil and cement materials that are often used.

We took our pond mold home and began to dig out the shape of the mold in our ditch. We completed the dig and inserted the pond mold. We were well on our way to having a fishpond with a Japanese garden theme. I began to gather the desired plants to give an oriental style.

I was able to find several types of reeds and short filler plants for the Japanese garden. I chose stones that were a brownish-orange in color for the landscaping project. We placed the flat rock around the rim of the pond and took care that we had them hang over the pond mold.

I decided to limit myself to one more plant and two statues. I chose a small Dojo house and an oriental statue that symbolizes tranquility. I found these online. I made sure to leave a lot of space between the various decorative elements.

After looking over our efforts I felt there was something missing. I needed a bonsai tree but I knew that one would never thrive in my climate. I found a fake bonsai tree that was remarkably realistic.

The bonsai tree was the perfect addition to the scene and it really tied everything together. We filled the pond with water and let it set up for a week. We finally added a few small Koi fish. The fish pond made an absolutely beautiful Japanese garden.