2014 Server Contest Entries

Thank you to everyone who entered. It was such a joy to read all of the amazing entries!

The winner, chosen at random, is Darran Scott.

See his entry as well as all of our other entries below:  

 

 

 

Note: Contest entries have been edited for grammar, punctuation, and clarity.

 

 

Jim Morgan

Land Resource Design Group

 

What joy! We recently presented our first concepts to a client with tools created from Land F/X and the SketchUp plugin, and they were very pleased.  We created a conceptual plant palette using your extensive library of plants and symbols and exported it all to SketchUp.  See attached.

 

 

Ariana Muca

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

 

I am a student at SUNY-ESF. I have attended both LABash and ASLA. In both areas, I met representatives from Land F/X. They were incredibly nice and personable. They showed my what the product was all about and how it could really help the landscape architecture profession grow. I was only able to use their product at the events, and have not had a chance to since. I am currently doing an internship and have talked adamantly about the software and hope to see the firm use it soon!   

 

 

Joseph Cogswell

Kimley Horn

 

Land F/X is not just a static tool in our tool box but is its own dynamic tool box with its own set of tools we use daily for nearly all of our CAD design needs. The plethora of tools, automated calculations, and ease of use has not only saved us valuable time in the design but has saved our budget in tight last-minute predicaments.  

The most valuable example of using Land F/X on our projects has been for 4-mile-long bus rapid transit corridor roadway project we are working in the midst of with more than 10,000 plants, more than two dozen irrigation points of connection, tens of thousands of square feet of hardscape and crossing through multiple varying maintenance districts, which are all managed with Land F/X.  Our team depends on Land F/X, and it helps us resolve laborious changes, make updates & revisions, and produce important data tables with ease.

The value of Land F/X is not just in the software but in the excellent customer support, passion, and quality of response in addressing our needs. Jeremiah Farmer and his team have responded promptly, diligently, and thoroughly, solving all of our concerns as well as questions with ways to overcome the hurdles and obstacles of our design as it dynamically moves forward.  

The best example of customer service I can recall was in 2012, when we called with an “Is there any way to do this?” type of question.  The following day, Land F/X provided an update incorporating the solution to every copy of the software.  Logging on first thing in the morning with the problem resolved convinced me of the unmatched customer service Land F/X provides.

We thank your team for providing such a great program and quality customer service.

 

 

 

Kevin Hobbs

Minkay Services

 

For years, I had been looking at Land F/X as a way to streamline the production of planting and irrigation plans, but had always been apprehensive regarding the time it would take to learn. I decided to download the trial and jump into the deep end on a small irrigation design project.  All I can say is, “What an awesome program!” Total time spent learning and actually doing the project was less than if I had done it the old way.

 

 

Bill Curtis

Sprinkler Consultant

 

I designed a sprinkler system in the Caribbean that had a consortium of three five-star hotels. When I invoiced the landscape architect, he asked me, “Why did the design take you so long?” I was insulted by his remark, because he told me another designer was twice as fast as I was. I knew he wasn’t telling the truth because I’d been using AutoCAD for more than 20 years by then. But I took to heart his comments and began looking at third-party design software to increase my speed. I looked at Eagle Point, tried Rain CAD and some other package, and found them all lacking. I then looked at Land F/X. I downloaded the free trial version and did one design – a redo of an apartment complex. The landscape architect made some serious revisions, so I had to do the design over. I completed the redesign in less than 30% of the time it had taken me to do the job the first time with AutoCAD. I was impressed with Land F/X because the job was done so fast and so perfectly.

Two years before I bought Land F/X, I had badly injured my back at work and hadn’t worked for two years. My savings account was nearly empty at the time. I bought Land F/X and had to take every last cent out of my savings to buy the software. This was a big gamble for me, but I thought Land F/X would be worth the investment. 

It has been six years now since I bought Land F/X, and the software has paid for itself hundreds of times over. Subsequently, I’ve gotten compliments directly from Rain Bird and other manufacturers and from lots of landscape architects and contractors that my designs are some of the best they’ve ever seen – not to mention they always work. Land F/X is the best stress reducer there is. When a landscape architect demands the work be done yesterday, I can give it to him the day before yesterday with Land F/X! I completely depend on the error-checking features in Land F/X, because one mistake (e.g., missing a “pipe-hop”, or not having all the heads attached to a zone) can cost the client a lot of money. Land F/X is worth its weight in gold; if you don’t use it, try it and you’ll never regret it.

 

 

Ginevra Anuszkiewicz,

PlaceMaker Design Studio

 

Our company uses Land F/X for all of our construction drawings.  It is such a time saver (i.e., money saver), which means we are able to deliver drawings more quickly to our clients. The benefits to using Land F/X for irrigation drawings are obvious, but we have also learned that using it for plantings plans reduces drawing preparation time substantially.  Recently, we needed to prepare as-built drawings quickly for a client. We had already prepared the construction drawings using Land F/X, so we were able to make the required adjustments quickly and provide a short turnaround on the as-builts.

 

 

Trey Rudolph

Gresham, Smith and Partners

 

It took me about five years to convince our firm to see the value in the Land F/X software. They finally decided to purchase a few seats in the last quarter of 2013, and the software was immediately put to the test. One of our largest clients was in the process of getting two large retail developments approved through the same municipality on parallel timelines.  The client’s scheduling demands, along with the long review and approval process, cut our design window to half of what it would normally be for a single project. All while training ourselves on the software, we were able to complete both projects effectively within the narrowed window.  Our client was happy, our project managers were thrilled, and we were exhausted.  I know there is no way we would have been successful without the incorporation of the Land F/X software.

 

 

Jacob Lott

ValleyCrest

 

Here is my story…

There once was a boy who went to school to learn about irrigation and plants. He was surrounded by people who used pens and pencils and calculators and rulers and trace paper and erasers and markers and drafting tables. This boy thought to himself, “Rob,” (that’s what he called himself) “there has to be a better and faster way of designing an irrigation system and planting plan.” So he went searching, and on his journey he found the promised land – Land F/X, that is!

Once he’d downloaded the software, he was able to watch and learn from the best, in the form of webinars and online tutorials.  The time he saved in class amazed all those around him – so much so that he created a following that called him “guru.”  

Once he’d learned all he could about plants and irrigation, he moved to a sunny place called California where he could continue to practice his art of design.  While it took a little convincing to purchase, he showed the benefit of using the program. The savings in time and effort are incredible and wouldn’t be possible without Land F/X! 

Thanks, Land F/X for being there for the lost souls!

 

 

Rob Hoogeveen

Certified Irrigation Designs

 

I just completed the first phase of a huge 800-home site development. There is no way I could have ever done this design with my old design program. Land F/X made it extremely easy and is, by far, the best investment I have made in 25 years in the irrigation business. One option, which I don't think currently exists, would have been really helpful:

You can pick a tree and hit “select similar” to move one type of tree to a separate layer. It would be really helpful if you could add a bubbler to all those trees at the same time, or add a decoder to all electric valves using the same option.

Thanks again for a great program and fantastic support.

 

 

Weston McBee

Cal Poly Pomona

 

Hello all at Land F/X. Your product has been an integral part of my education this year. I am a junior-level student in landscape architecture at Cal Poly Pomona. I have been using your product in my construction classes, and it has saved me many sleepless nights – mostly due to the tutorials and the expanse of options in both vegetation and site elements. It has made things so easy, and I am unclear why it isn't promoted by the/any university. Moreover, your program was instrumental in my winning (top three anyway: winners announced June 12, but all three get scholarships) of a design competition that involved a rejuvenation of the landscape at the Mojave Water Agency in the Apple Valley. Thank you so much for producing a helpful, user-friendly design product.

 

Murat Özben

PEGASU Design, Turkey

 

I first met with Land F/X on the Internet. I studied the program a little. I contacted the Land F/X office, and they helped me install a trial version. The program was easy and straightforward. I am using another program now, but I am excited to begin working in Land F/X. I expect to start shortly.

 

 

 

Keith Oliver

Insites Design

 

Land F/X helps us deal with incredible creeping scopes, and get through the dawns, days, and nights of living deadlines. With the power to morph from concept to project, 2D to 3D, and basic black-and-white to glorious Technicolor, Land F/X has helped us slash our old multi-platform production inefficiencies on a regular basis. A recent campus building renovation that started with no landscape and wound up with two phases of landscape drawings in quick succession is just one example.

 

 

Amanda Buckson

Terra Associates 

 

I was skeptical when I first started looking into Land F/X. I thought it would be just another subpar software that made a lot of promises and would have a ton of quirks. Boy was I wrong!  The program is an amazing efficiency booster. I am a one-man shop, and Land F/X makes it so much easier for me to juggle all the roles of project manager, landscape architect, licensed irrigator, and CAD production.  

Before I had Land F/X, I had just completed a very complicated retail development. I had to go back and make several changes ,and I completely redid all the production in Land F/X just to take advantage of all the automated quantity takeoffs. LOVE LOVE LOVE Land F/X. Oh, and tech support is quick to respond and can be very helpful.

 

 

Carl Kuhns

Alpha Landscapes

 

About seven years ago, I joined Sun City Landscapes (now Alpha Landscapes LLC). Land F/X was already in place and in daily, minute-by-minute use. I was apprehensive at first, having my own plant library and being so comfortable – set in my ways – I hesitated to change. (Old dog/new tricks syndrome?) Well, after a couple of days of clicking the correct icon and having project takeoffs completed and added to the plan, I was convinced. It went down for a couple days due to system upgrades, and I was lost – doing it the “old” way was hell.

Land F/X has considerably more capability than we utilize, but, at present, what we do use saves a lot of time and eliminates error.

 

 

Andrew Kilinski

Planters Landscape Architecture

 

It’s been about a year since I started using Land F/X. I’ve been a landscape architect for 13 years. I’ve done probably 300 planting plans. Let’s say I spent 40 hours on each plan, on average. That means over the years I’ve spent approximately 12,000 hours drafting, labeling, printing out, reviewing, redlining, revising, and typing plant lists in Excel. Approximately 99% of the time, there would still be errors in the plan, quantities, plant list, etc., resulting in some sort of cleanup after I thought I was done.

When I do a planting plan now in Land F/X, it takes me half the time it used to take (maybe less than that), and the best part is how easy and painless it is to place plants from a template, label, check for errors, and then generate a plant list. I can of course estimate costs with the click of a button too. So those 12,000 hours I spent could’ve been at least cut in half, which means I unknowingly wasted 250 days of my life painfully drafting subpar planting plans – days I could’ve spent not working. 

I will never produce another planting plan without this software. Don’t even get me started on the time I could’ve saved putting together construction document packages – I’ll save that for the next contest. 

 

 

Kyle Sasaki

Ki Concepts 

 

I use Land F/X for all my projects, but I thought it would be easier to do things manually for one project. It was a new phase of a 10-year-old project that another landscape architect had worked on, and we could not get CAD files for it. It was a relatively simple modification to the existing irrigation and planting plans; at least that is what I thought going into it. Doing the irrigation layout, pipe sizing, creating schedules for irrigation, and planting “the old way” manually made me appreciate the efficiency of Land F/X. I will never go back!