Landscape Designer Career & Pay: How to Start Garden Design with Dean Riddle
5/4/202622 min
Landscape Designer Career
Landscape design is one of those careers that blends creativity with real earning potential - and you don’t need a degree to get started. In this episode, we talk with landscape designer and gardener Dean Riddle about what it actually takes to build a career in landscaping, what garden designers really do, and how much you can make.
We also talk about the realities of gardening in the Northeast- especially in places like New York and New Jersey - including short growing seasons, winter downtime, deer pressure, and how climate change is already changing what grows and when.
If you’re looking into landscaping careers, garden design jobs, or how to start a landscaping business without a degree, this episode gives you a clear, real-world look at what goes into the work and the potential earnings.
To hear more about good paying careers. You can build without a degree, head to HowMuchCanIMake.info We have over 80 episodes with a growing library of articles with real data and insights on different jobs. You can listen to people in those roles talk about what the day to day is really like, how they got in, and how much they make.
Dean's Gardens Pictures:
https://www.shelterupstate.com/journal/makingasplash
How Much Can I Make? Is nominated for 2026 Women in Podcasting Award!
Want us to cover a specific job? Shoot us an email!
Music credit: Kate Pierson & Monica Nation
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDean Riddle· Guest0:00
[gentle music] I've watched the weather change tremendously, I really have. There was not a freezing, there wasn't a frost, there wasn't a killing frost, a hard frost the entire month of May. That's a change.
Merav Ozeri· Host0:14
Oh.
Dean Riddle· Guest0:15
That is very much a change.
Merav Ozeri· Host0:16
Hi, welcome back to How Much Can I Make? I'm excited to have you. I'm your host, Merav Ozeri. Today, I'm talking with Dean Riddle, a highly accomplished landscape designer and gardener, whose work has made significant mark in the garden world. His designs have been featured in major publications, including The New York Times, Garden Illustrated, showing both his creative vision and deep expertise. And his, his gardens are fabulous. I had the chance to see a few of them over the years, and they're really special. We get into what it takes to build a career in landscape design, how he approaches work, how he works with clients, short seasons, and global warming. Very interesting. So let's turn to Dean. Dean, I'm really glad to have you on, and let's dive right in. And tell us, how do you approach a garden design project?
Dean Riddle· Guest1:09
This really starts with the client and the place, the house. And a lot of people are clueless about what they want, but it's always nice if someone has a starting point. The first thing I do when I meet a client is I'm getting, like, some feel for the chemistry between us.
Merav Ozeri· Host1:23
Right.
Dean Riddle· Guest1:23
And I'm s- looking around, the house, the setting, obviously, what the light situation is, and that kind of thing, and I start