AI for Landscape Architects

Prompts for Every Stage of a Landscape Project

1. The lessons

   1. Site Analysis & Planning: Use AI to turn site survey notes, constraints, and goals into a clear site analysis and planning direction.
   2. Concept & Design Development: Use AI to generate and refine design concepts, briefs, and layout alternatives based on project goals.
   3. Plant Selection & Schedules: Use AI to choose suitable plants, build planting schedules, and explain plant choices to clients.
   4. Client Communication & Proposals: Use AI to draft proposals, explain design ideas simply, and keep clients updated throughout the project.
   5. Cost Estimating & Budgets: Use AI to estimate quantities, build cost breakdowns, and compare budget scenarios for your projects.
   6. Environmental Impact & Sustainability: Use AI to understand regulations, write sustainability narratives, and assess water and energy strategies.
   7. Coordination With Engineers: Use AI to prepare for and follow up on coordination with civil, structural, and MEP engineers.
   8. Renderings & Visual Communication: Use AI to plan and describe renderings, and to write presentation scripts that sell your design.
   9. Site Visits & Installation Oversight: Use AI to prepare for site visits and document observations for installation oversight.
2. What the Course Covers

   Nine lessons follow the arc of a real project. You start with site analysis and planning, move through concept development, plant selection, and client proposals, then handle costs, sustainability, engineer coordination, renderings, and site visits.

   Each lesson gives you the prompt, a short explanation of why it works, and a sample answer so you know what to expect.

3. How the Lessons Connect

   The output of one lesson often becomes the input of the next. Your site analysis notes feed the concept brief. The concept brief feeds the planting schedule and the cost breakdown.

   Working in order builds a habit: ask, check, adjust, then move to the next stage with better material in hand.

4. Getting Good Answers

   Vague requests get vague answers. Tell the tool your region, your site conditions, your client type, and what you want to do with the result.

   Ask for reasons, not just lists. When a plant or a cost figure comes back, ask why it was chosen and what would change if the site were different.

5. Who This Is For

   This course is for landscape architects who write their own proposals, build their own schedules, and sit in their own client meetings. It suits people in small studios and in larger firms alike.

   You do not need any technical background. You need your own projects and a willingness to edit what the tool gives you.

6. Safety and Privacy on the Job

   Keep client names, addresses, and private project details out of public tools unless your firm has approved it. Use general descriptions instead.

   Check every plant, cost, and regulation against a trusted source. The tool helps you draft, but your professional judgment signs the work.

7. Your Next Step

   Open the first lesson and run the site analysis prompt on a project you have on your desk right now. See how close the draft gets and what you would change.

   From there, work through the lessons at your own pace. Most people finish one or two in a sitting and use them the same week.