Landscape Design Professional Linda Fraser

I started my career in landscaping in the mid 1980s. While working part time at a nursery, I got the plant fever and wanted to learn more.  So I enrolled in school at Edmonds Community College.  While attending school, I worked at Cottage Creek Nursery in Woodinville.  They specialized in perennials, so that has always been my first love.  During this time, I became a WSN (Washington Certified Nurseryman) I have a certificate showing the date of 1988.  When the program changed over to Certified Professional Horticulturist, I was grandfathered in.

I love attending the convention, and the meetings where you meet other fellow horticulturists and the ongoing educational seminars.

While working at the nursery, customers would come in asking for advise on their landscapes.  During that time I started Landscapes by Linda.  I never had a plan to do much more than some design and gardening.   You start out doing everything, design, maintenance, construction, but over the years, I narrowed it down to design/build.  In 1995, I changed the company name to LBL Landscape Group, and started doing more than just plantings.  We specialized in water feature, walls, patios and pathways.  Then in 2006, I downsized and have gone back to Landscapes by Linda.  Now I do what I love again which is helping homeowners create beautiful gardens they can spend time in.  I do the design or consultation and sub-contract the work.

“I started my career in landscaping in the mid 1980s. While working part time at a nursery, I got the plant fever and wanted to learn more…”

As far as being successful as a business, you need to pay attention to the numbers.  Know what your real costs are and how you will recover them.  Good employees are key, and that becomes the biggest challenge in business.