Best Landscape Architects

A landscape architect designs the outdoor environment of a home — the gardens and planting, the pools, terraces, pergolas and outdoor kitchens, and the grading, drainage and hardscape that make a site both beautiful and sound. It is a distinct, licensed design discipline, separate from the building architect (who designs the house), the interior designer (who furnishes it), and the maintenance contractor (who tends the lawn): landscape architects shape the land itself, often guiding a project from concept through planting plans and construction oversight, and coordinating with the architect, builder and pool and lighting specialists so the indoors and outdoors resolve as one.

Because the landscape is among the features that most shape how a home feels and what it is worth — and because a mature, well-designed garden cannot be replicated quickly — getting the design right pays dividends for years. Choosing the right landscape architect is about genuine landscape-design specialization, a portfolio of completed gardens in a style you respond to, command of the local plant palette and climate, and a firm that handles the full arc from design through construction oversight. Local knowledge matters enormously, since climate, soils, water and building rules shape what will thrive and what is allowed. Browse by city below to find landscape architects who work in your area and the kind of outdoor environment you have in mind.