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Media Rooms: The Ultimate Getaway
Diane Dunaway owns MD Squared Landscape Architecture, a company that specializes in garden design and estate landscape planning. In this question and answer session, she defines her job and what motivates her to get up for work every morning.
What exactly do you do?
I design gardens for large and small-scale residences throughout Georgia. With my clients' input, I make sure they get the landscape and garden features they want.
What made you decide to become a landscape architect?
My art history professor at Sweet Briar College in Virginia (which Diane chose to attend because she liked the landscape) knew I liked landscapes and liked to draw, so she suggested I look into landscape art as a career. Before then I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, and the idea made perfect sense.
What did you do before you started MD Squared?
I interned with Franklin & Associates before becoming a designer and then project manager for them in 1990. I started MD Squared in 1995.
What are your credentials and industry affiliations?
I have a five-year degree from an accredited school and am board-certified, both requirements in Georgia. I am a member of the Georgia Chapter of the Atlanta Society of Landscape Architects, Metro Atlanta Lawn & Turf Association, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Young Buck’s and the Georgia Trust for Historical Preservation. I also present a garden show called Gardenalia in Atlanta twice a year and have taught landscape design at Griffin Tech for four years. My future plans include having my own garden show on television.
What motivates you?
My love of life, which is all about the discovery of people, visiting new places and experiencing new ideas. I have reverence for all life–human, flora and fauna. I am also motivated by what I can do for others.
Why would someone hire a landscape architect?
Landscape architects perform a wide variety of services, which may include land planning, land analysis and urban landscape design. Landscape architects develop concepts with the least negative impact to our green spaces.
What should a homeowner consider when hiring a landscape architect?
The most important thing is to check references and to physically go and see some of the landscapes they have created. Check out their professional affiliations, and call various clients to see if they were pleased.
Do you provide plans/blueprints for your clients?
Yes, we discuss ideas, and then I go back and measure the yard and provide a basemap. After their approval, I refine the idea and create a final master plan from which I develop blueprints.
What are things to consider when developing a landscape plan?
I ask clients to create a wish list of what they want. I suggest looking through magazines and compiling a scrapbook of settings they like. That way, the designer can see the exact colors and features the homeowners like. Some homeowners should realize that they might not be able to incorporate all of the garden and landscape features all at once. They may have to phase some of it in over a few years, but having a plan in place from the beginning is helpful.
Does the Atlanta landscape offer any special challenges/ opportunities?
With all of the growth and building in Atlanta, it is hard to keep good tree cover. There are new ordinances to preserve trees, so it is often a challenge to keep a healthy number of trees in a yard, for example, if a client also wants to include a tennis court.
What are the projects you are most proud of?
I am most proud of an interactive memorial garden for Camp Sunshine. It is a place for campers and family members to gather and remember lost loved ones. I also enjoyed the downtown revitalization work I did in Jackson, Ga., where we beautified the streetscape in the square by adding brick walkways and raised planters. We also have six other projects featured in Southern Living. I am proud of the work I did in my brother’s backyard in Griffin, which features a kitchen garden designed on a Greek axis with a circular focal point amidst rectangular flowerbeds.
What is the biggest compliment you have received from a client?
When a client likes my work enough to call me each time they move to design their new landscape, that is a huge compliment. I am then involved in the design of their starter home, their next home and their dream home.
What is the biggest challenge about your job?
Sometimes it takes three to four years for a new garden to grow and develop its ambience. When building a new house, the structure goes up right away, but with a garden, the homeowner has to have the patience to wait for it to grow.
What are the things you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy my clients most. I also enjoy the challenge of dovetailing my work to the wants and desires of each of them. It’s not about the money–large and small projects are all important to me. No two jobs are alike, which is part of the fun in this line of work. And I love Atlanta's variety of trees! It's like a city in a huge park.
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