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As with most other occupations, some landscape designers enter the field right out of school, while others switch to it later on after long stints in another career. Beth Flokstra started later. Flokstra, owner of Garden Genesis, spent the first half of her professional life in the health care field. But at age 42 she decided to return to school and enrolled at N.C. A&T, where she received a degree in horticulture and landscape design.

The landscape design field comprises of a variety of jobs, from groundskeepers and arborists to the landscape architects who focus on "the preservation, planning, design, construction, management and research of natural and developed land areas," according to the Natural Resources and Environmental Design department on A&T's Web site.

All have their own unique focus. Flokstra works on what she calls "the softer side of landscaping." A North Carolina Certified Plant Professional, she focuses on plant material and custom color schemes. During her consultation with a client, she likes to see the colors used inside the home to get an idea of the person's taste. Flokstra then sketches the layout of the property and draws a bubble diagram for paths and planting beds.

Landscape design can be done any time during the year, but for obvious reasons, work surges in spring. "When the daffodils bloom, it's on," she says.

That means during this warm season you can find skilled technicians out there building landscapes and gardens from scratch, one brick at a time.

"Landscape is around the hardscape," says Shane Abernathy, vice president of PDC Hardscapes, a business his brother started 10 years ago that has since grown to 35 full-time employees.

Abernathy says 30 to 40 percent of their business involves designing directly with homeowners; the remainder involves working with builders and landscape architects, who look at a project with a bird's-eye view.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), landscape architects not only have to take into consideration the landscape's site, they also must have the knowledge and skill to work under local, state and federal regulations, as well as work closely with other professionals such as real estate developers.

The BLS predicts the need for landscape architects will increase by 16 percent through 2016. Entry-level jobs require a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture, and 49 states currently require architects to meet licensing requirements.

Tim Hanauer, president of Earth Graphics, usually employs designers with backgrounds in landscape architecture, but it is not a requirement to work for him.

"In most states (including North Carolina) one does not need to be a registered landscape architect to practice landscape design in a residential setting," Hanauer says. "Most landscape architects in this state are involved with commercial, governmental, industrial, multifamily site and neighborhood planning. Few get involved in the typical residential world that most of us live in." However, one thing Hanauer does look for in a potential employee is creativity and a talent "to develop unique and creative landscape concepts, communicate those ideas in a scaled plan and create a (digital) 3-D rendering so that others can understand the 2-D plan."

This talent brings to life the key idea behind Earth Graphics: taking the entire landscape design process on location and completing it in one day. Hanauer drives his mobile design office to the client's location, discusses what the client wants, draws up and presents the plans on paper, then uses digital imagery to show the customer what the plan will look like when fully developed.

It's those enterprising skills — and not just having a green thumb — that separate the professionals from the rest.

"Being a good landscaper doesn't guarantee that one will naturally become a good landscape designer or architect," any more than being a good carpenter guarantees one will become a good architect, Hanauer says. "Cognitively speaking, someone first must be able to think out of the right side of his or her brain. Right-brainers are over in the corner thinking up the next cool way to arrange common things in a new and beautiful way, to call out all of us from our insane and mundane lives."

However, the left side of Hanauer's brain has helped him extend his business into a franchising opportunity. The company is now operating in several locations in North and South Carolina via independently owned businesses under the Earth Graphics name.

"Most right-brained people don't make good business people," he says. "We've tried to make it easy by developing a business format franchise which brings the fundamentals of good business together with the free spirit of the creative landscape designer or architect."