hate to say it but:
If you want your own business you are going to have to work the hours needed. That is just how it goes. Maybe in 5-6years it would be different, but you'd have to grow the business to accomodate that (delegating responsibility/ meeting with contractors, etc).

Why not approach an established landscape firm, and tell them your story. Part time, no responsibilites beyond your job duties, willing to be educated etc.

There are some drawbacks to this type of design work. I seem to generate as many planting plans as actual "designs", as the distinction seems to get lost - to a good many, the plants are the design. And there is never any guarantee your design will get implemented in a timely manner, if at all, and that it will adhere to the plan. This is definitely not the type of design practice for anyone with a strong ego and a need for ownership or control of the design. And the compensation for plan-only designs is not huge in the overall scheme of things.......it would be difficult, if not impossible, to rely on this is a sole means of income. You would need to turn over a great many designs (and work those 80 hours a week) to make a living wage. I do it on a part time basis to supplement income from a related occupation and still find myself putting in 20-30 hours a week just to keep up.

But it is possible and it does offer its own rewards. One of the biggest advantages is that this type of design work seems to foster a much more collaborative effort between the designer and the client, compared to those entirely professionally directed projects where the client sits back and waits for a fait acompli. Because the client(s) are very actively involved in the design process, plant selection and implementation, there is a high degree of ownership on their part, much more so than I see with my designs that are professionally installed. And once they have completed the design installation, their sense of accomplishment and satisfaction is extremely gratifying and a joy to behold.

Establishing a freelance design business is not the easiest thing to do. You still need all the skills and knowledge as does a designer associated with a design/build firm and experience in the installation of all the technical aspects of landscape design doesn't hurt, either. And developing a client base takes time, unless you have a regular source of referrals. You do need to form associations with reputable contractors who can do the installations of those designs not for DIY'ers as well as a good number of specialists to lend a hand in those areas the clients feel are beyond their skills and abilities - masons, carpenters, irrigation specialists, etc. And developing a portfolio is very tricky.......since you never know exactly how a design will turn out once the clients get done with it. Several of what I consider to be my best design projects have never made it to my portfolio, as the clients took some rather unfortunate liberties with plant selection that totally blew off the integrity and character of the design. It happens.

Working for homeowners who want a designer who is working for them is a much better place to go. But, you have to know that it means that the homeowner wants someone who they feel that they can trust is better qualified than the contractor. That means you have to have well established clout in the design field before you will make a client very comfortable that your knowledge over rules that of the contractor. It also means that the client will need help making sure that the contractor is doing the work the way it is intended to be done. Overseeing a contractor is a completely different skill set than designing and can also be very intimidating. Make sure that you are comfortable in telling a rough personality that he is not doing something right and he needs to change it at his expense because if you can't, the benefit of using a more trusted designer is completely lost to the homeowner.

If you want to make a living in the landscape design business, the one notion that you have to accept is that you can not make enough money while staying in the bubble of dealing only with clients and a plan. It simply is of little value unless the job has completion built into it.

Everyone wants to be a landscape designer. That makes us a dime a dozen. People who don't want to spend a lot are worried about an extra $50 added to the whole job if they use a slightly higher grade of mulch. Those folks don't want to spend a lot of money on a piece of paper. You can't produce the plan without investing a lot of hours in it.

Let's say $50,000 a year is making a living. That is just about $1,000 a week. Can you get design jobs that you can do in a week that will sell for $1,000? Can you get 50 design jobs in a year? Maybe you only need $25k a year. Can you get 10 design jobs that will pay $2,500 each? Twenty five at $1,000, or 50 @ $500? Who gets 50 inquiries a year for design work (design/builds do). Any way you look at it, it is not easy to sell enough plans to make a living.

The people who do have the money are the market that has to be tapped if you are to make a living without building the landscape. The problem for up and coming designers is that these people like to pay for sure things. They have BMWs, Benzs, and Lexus because they know what they will get for the money before they buy it. It is no different with landscape design. If they hear about you, see yor work at a friends house, and know that you have been successful at producing what they want, they'll pay for it. They might try to get you to reduce the price, but if they want you, they will eventually decide to pay. But, they not only have to like what you do and what you charge, but they have to like it more than every other person out there who is looking to do the work. All it takes is one person who has a better portfolio, or some other edge and you are out. That is a lot of people if you are working your way up. If you show up and I or anyone else shows up show up, only one of us is walking away with the job.

There is no practical reason why someone with the financial means will want to buy something unheard of on the lot when there is a Benz, a BMW, and a Lexus parked right next to it. It is just the way that it is.

You have to work to build a portfolio and reputation in the segment of the market that you want to continue to work in. You can work independently in the lower end of the market, but will not build a portfolio that will have the stuff that will get you into the high market. You can go to work for a design/build that is already in the market that you want to work in, but it will not pay a lot and you will have to work within their box. I highly recommend the latter. It will give you lots of experience, you can build a portfolio of built work in the right market, and you will learn a great deal along the way. You were prepared to pay for school. Why not get paid for school by using this method? It does take adopting a subordinate attitude, which is not easy for us designer types, or they won't want you around. This is the way for you to go because of your prior education and your age (got my degree at 35, so I know).

It is so much easier to leave a high profile high end design job with a portfolio, connections, and experience and stay in that market than it is to build up from designing for DIYers. And much quicker than a degree and interning in the back room of a big design firm for 2 years.

The other alternative is to get a pickup and design only what you are capable of building like most landscape designers. But, once you start, you don't move up the market very quickly that way.

High-end landscape design is not necessarily the goal of every landscape designer and there is a huge market out there for which high-end designs and the costs associated with them is simply not appropriate. But that does not mean that producing plan-only designs is limited to those of modest means. I've turned over enough $$ plans for multimillion dollar properties to dispell that myth. But these are not my bread and butter jobs and I'd hate for you to get the impression that you will land these plums without spending a lot of time and effort in the process.

The rest of Andrew's comments regarding income are right on. This is not the profession or the business tack to take if monetary considerations are paramount.

Why not supplement your starting income and work part time at your local nursery? Thy start hiring in February.

This all took about 5 years to build up, so it's not overnight and i'm not rich, but the consistency of income has greatly improved and I've fined-tuned what I do well so I can spend more time on it and still pay the bills.

You can do what you want to do, just start out slow and don't grow too quickly. Know what you do best and focus on that. be open to taking on some projects that maybe aren't your cup of tea in order to pay the bills so that you can do all the design work you really love.

BTW, I found some of my best consistent jobs on craigslist--not for everyone, but it worked for me!

2) Ally yourself with both a nursery and some local contractors. This worked very well for me.

My track was this:
-Finished LA program at UC Berkeley Ext.
-Worked at large independent nursery concurrently. (My advice: pick a high end, independent, horticulturally literate nursery - not HOME DEPOT - to learn from. Pick one that is ok with nursery people developing design relationships outside of work. Some are and some definitely are not.)
-Worked for a year as a designer at a Design/Build firm in a high end, new home market. Average install was over $150K up to $300K. Worked along side a Landscape Architect who I learned a ton from, mostly about designing for landscapes to be BUILT, also a distinct difference between amateurs and professionals! Using correct radii, measurements, materials, etc. Then I went out on my own and eventually hooked up with 2 busy and successful contractors who tried me out for a couple of small designs, liked my work and gave me more. When I left CA I could have hired someone to assist me as I was quite busy. I charged around $2500 per plan.

Please feel free to email me if you want to talk more about making your dream happen. I am all in favor of people pursuing their dreams because it CAN be done, it will be wonderful when you do it and you'll probably have to make a few compromises along the way, but it's worth it!!

Per some of the posts above, I would need a net annual income of about 45K to pay the bills - I haven't even gotten as far as figuring out how to determine what type of gross that actually means if I am self-employed. How do I go about learning this side of the business ? Do I need to talk to lawyers and/or accountants ? And does it sound even feasible to be able to earn that type of income the first year or so ? Or is that something to ramp up to ? I would certainly be planning on doing design, installation and maintenance of gardens, not just the design - I'm not averse to getting my hands dirty :-)

I could have made better money the first year if I had bid a little better and if I stopped working for friends and family who only wanted deals (and I felt obligated to make deals for them). I'm grateful for the experience and the portfolio that I made that first year, plus who better to practice on. It was a good learning curve and hopefully, you have some money saved. They say you won't make much money your first year and they were not kidding!