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By Tim Miner, founder of Next Drop Design. I build websites for builders, architects, interior designers and landscape architects across the country.
In a luxury custom home, much of what people remember is outside: the pool that runs to the view, the outdoor kitchen under the ramada, the patios that step down the slope, the native saguaros that were saved and replanted. That's the landscape architect's work, and on most landscape architects' websites it's hard to find.
Almost every new client arrives through someone else. An architect brings you onto the house, or a builder recommends you to the owner, and the mix varies from project to project. The only clients you generate yourself are the ones who come back.
So your website has three readers. The homeowner checks whether you're right for their property. The architect or builder decides whether you're still the name they give. The past client wants something to send the friend who asked who designed their pool.
Residential work is a large share of the profession, and much of it is high end. In an ASLA survey of more than 4,000 members, 81% said they are hired by single-family homeowners, mostly owners of custom or luxury homes spending $250,000 to $500,000 on outdoor work. 10% of residential clients spend more than that, and some projects run past $1 million.
Those budgets go to outdoor living. In the same survey, 91% of residential projects included outdoor kitchens, 96% had a fireplace or other fire feature, and 97% included a water feature such as a pool. The planting matters, especially native species chosen to belong to the site. But clients, partners and editors notice the pool, the kitchen and the patios first.
These clients rarely find a landscape architect on their own. They're already building, and the architect or builder on the job brings you in. Practitioner guidance consistently says to involve a landscape architect early, ideally working with the architect from the preliminary concept. That only happens when the architect or builder thinks of you first.
The situation. An architect or builder recommends you, and the homeowner looks you up before the first meeting. They want to see outdoor living on properties like theirs: their terrain, their scale, their kind of view.
Where it breaks. Picture a family building on five sloping acres with a view to the west. They want a pool, a sport court for the kids, and an outdoor kitchen. Your site shows thirty exterior photos in one gallery, with no way to find hillside sites, no indication of what each project included, and nothing about how the yard stepped down the slope or why the pool faces the sunset. The builder said you were the right call, but the site doesn't show it.
What we build.
The situation. Architects and builders recommend the landscape architects they trust, and they keep revisiting that choice. Your site is one of the places they see how you present the work you did together.
Where it breaks. You've completed six homes with the same builder. Your project pages name neither the builder nor the architect, and your posts tag nobody. Meanwhile, the builder's photography of those homes features your pools and patios in nearly every exterior shot. The partnership shows up in their work and is missing from yours.
What we build.
When a partner sees their firm named, linked and praised on your site, the relationship is public. That gives them a reason to return it: to credit you on their own site, share your posts, and call you first on the next house.
The situation. Repeat clients are the one channel you generate yourself, and they're also referral sources. A homeowner who hosts friends around your pool is the person most likely to be asked who designed it.
Where it breaks. The friend searches your name and finds a gallery that doesn't include the pool deck they stood on. There's nothing for your past client to send.
What we build.
The situation. Many luxury communities require outdoor plans to pass a design review board. A landscape architect who knows those requirements saves the homeowner, architect and builder time. CF Design states on its site that it works with many subdivisions and communities in the North Valley and tailors each set of plans to that community's Design Review requirements.
Where it breaks. You've completed a dozen projects in one community, but the site never names it. The homeowner who just bought there searches the community's name plus "landscape architect" and finds someone else.
What we build.
The 2026 Benchmark scored 154 luxury residential firms across 15 states on five capabilities. For landscape architects, they matter in this order:
99% of firms had invested in professional photography, and 2% were on a platform built to make it perform. A pool at sunset is often the image that ends up in a magazine. The site is what turns it into a call.
Content does something for landscape architects that it does for no other discipline: it reaches the homeowner through the partner, before your name comes up.
Content works on your current site, and many firms start there and redesign later. See Content Creation
CF Design, Scottsdale. Dave Creech has designed residences, site plans and landscapes in the Valley since 1998. We built CF Design's site in stages, which is how most firms grow into it:
"For the first time in 25 years, we have clients and prospective clients alike commenting on the website. More often than ever before, images from our website and portfolio are making their way into prospective clients' inspiration folders." — Dave Creech, Owner, CF Design
"Tim and I worked on a content library based around my specific niche, and I was always impressed at how well he seemed to thread topics together based on minimal guidance from me." — Dave Creech, Owner, CF Design
Start with the portfolio and team credits. We build the site that serves all three readers.
Start with content.
Most sites take six to eight weeks from discovery to launch. See what every build includes
Mostly through architects and builders, in a mix that varies by project. The one channel a landscape architect generates directly is repeat clients, who also become referral sources. A website should serve the homeowner, the referring partner and the past client.
Project pages that lead with the outdoor living spaces (pools, outdoor kitchens, fire features, patios and native plantings), explain the site's challenges and solutions, and credit the builder, architect, interior designer and photographer. It should also include a portfolio clients can filter by site type, style, location and community; awards and features placed on the projects they recognize; and page titles and structured data set up for a search on your firm's name.
Yes, on every project page, article and social post. Credits confirm the relationship a referred client was told about, and they give partners a reason to share your work and keep recommending you.
Yes. A resource article on when to involve a landscape architect gives architects and builders something to send their clients at the start of a project, which is when your involvement adds the most.
Our builds are $4,000 for Presence, $8,000 for Portfolio, and from $12,000 for Studio. Content Creation starts at $2,000 with no contract.
Yes. Content works on your current site. CF Design added its resource library more than two years after its site launched, and its project portfolio after that.
Let's talk about your projects, your partners, and the content that will help your next referral decide to call.
No pressure. Just an honest conversation about what will work best for your business.
Ready to get started? Let's discuss the marketing needs of your business.
+1 (702) 321-0790
A 30 minute Digital Strategy Session is the perfect way to start. No cost. No obligation.
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