Seminar Dates: November 5, 2026 9:30 AM
Seminar Cost: $30.00 Register Now
Seminar Description:
A beautiful design means nothing if it can't be maintained. This candid panel brings together a landscape architect, a landscape maintenance professional, and the latest research for an honest conversation about what happens when design and maintenance align — and when they don't. Panelists will explore real-world successes and cautionary tales from various landscape projects, with a focus on designing within realistic maintenance budgets, identifying chronic pain points in the field, and building the cross-disciplinary communication habits that lead to spaces that truly last. Attendees will leave with practical tools for bridging the design-to-maintenance gap on their next project.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify common landscape design decisions that create downstream maintenance challenges as well as early collaboration methods between designers and maintenance professionals that can prevent them.
2. Evaluate how client maintenance budgets should inform design choices from the onset, including plant selection, hardscape, irrigation, and long-term material durability.
3. Apply practical strategies for fostering ongoing dialogue between Landscape Architects and maintenance crews to improve project outcomes, reduce costly corrections, and build more sustainable, maintainable spaces.
Scott Rice, PLA, CASp, ASLA, BIA - RHA Community Works, ASLA SoCal Past President
Mr. Scott Rice is Managing Partner and Principal Landscape Architect at RHA Community Works (RHA+CW). Prior to the recent merger with RHA Landscape Architects Planners Inc, Scott served as President and Managing Principal of Community Works Design Group (CWDG), where managed over 100 park projects.
He is a full member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP), and a Certified Access Specialist (CASp). Rooted in 20+ years of experience in the development of public spaces as a Licensed Landscape Architect, Scott refined his focus toward creating universally accessible environments. Most notably, he has provided accessibility evaluation services for more than 500 city-owned properties for the City of Los Angeles, spanning more than a dozen departments. Scott has also served as the City Landscape Architect for the City of Highland, California since 2005, as a Contract Park Planner for Jurupa Community Services District (JCSD) since 2003, and Consultant Park Planner/ Plan Checker for Jurupa Area Recreation and Park District (JARPD) since 2015. Specialized areas of involvement include Skate Parks, Dog Parks, and Accessible Play.
Brenna Castro Carlson, PLA, Atlas Lab
Brenna Castro Carlson is a Senior Associate and Landscape Architect at Atlas Lab. Brenna’s work focuses on sustainable, resilient design that is grounded in the principles of urban ecology and fueled by curiosity about the plants and ecosystems of California. She is committed to a design approach that is both optimistic and pragmatic, and which reflects the desires and vision of the community. A licensed Landscape Architect, Brenna brings experience with planting design, conceptual design, master planning, construction documentation, construction administration, and community outreach. She holds a Master in Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley – College of Environmental Design and a Bachelor of Science in Landscape of Architecture from UC Davis with highest honors and a Minor in Plant Biology. She received the LAF Deb Mitchell Research Grant for her project entitled "Keeping Up: Maintenance and Management of Ecologically Vibrant Landscapes" along with her research partner Haven Kiers. While at UCB, she received the ASLA Student Honor Award for Ground Up Journal Issue 08 and the ‘Excellence in Landscape Design Award’ for an innovative design and research project that proposed changes to the spatial structure urban landscapes to significantly improve their connectivity to regional ecologies. In addition to professional practice, she teaches at UC Davis – Department of Human Ecology.
Haven Kiers, PhD, UC Davis
Haven Kiers is an associate professor of landscape architecture at UC Davis. She received a BA from Brown University and an MLA from UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on urban/suburban landscape projects and their design effectiveness at both the practical (construction and maintenance) and psychological (aesthetic and therapeutic) levels. Through studies that investigate the intersection of reconciliation ecology and aesthetics, her work examines the environmental benefits, technological progress, and level of cultural acceptance of sustainable design. She explores the idea that ecological concepts such as xeriscaping and biodiversity can also be viewed as amenities – concepts that aesthetically enhance the landscape while simultaneously promoting sustainability and engaging the community. Her research explores three often contradictory aspects of landscape design: (1) the potential to change long-engrained conceptions of what sustainable design looks like, (2) the creation of aesthetically pleasing, drought tolerant habitats for plants and wildlife, and (3) the maintenance required to keep urban landscapes engaging and ecologically productive.
