Southern Environmental LLC Modernizing landscape design through CAD technology

Mike Turner is no novice to the landscape industry. He’s been in the business of making properties unique and beautiful for 25 years. For much of that time, he owned Heart of Georgia Landscaping. A recent advancement in technology, however, has become in such high demand, that it has transitioned him from landscaping to the art of landscape design.

“It’s been an evolution where one thing just kind of naturally led to another,” Turner explained. “The demand for the designs is such that I can just do that full time while working from home, which of course, with COVID, works out really nicely.”

As popular as this method has become, Turner pointed out that locally, there is a lack of designers that are familiar with the game-changing technology. If he could find one, Turner is ready to show him or her the ropes.

“I am desperately looking for somebody—a young person that’s interested—that I might be able to give some work to and mentor, but there’s just a lack of us around here for whatever reason,” he emphasized.

With the springtime, typically comes new landscaping in both residential and commercial areas. Eye-catching layouts are often seen on school campuses, at the entrance of subdivisions and even on the property of government buildings. It’s probably a rarity that admirers will even consider the fact that before the scenery became reality, it was first a concept in the mind of a person who gave it a lot of thought and consideration as a part of the development process.

“Typically, and hopefully, that was the case,” Turner said. “There are a few examples where there may not have been a true designer involved. It may have been done on the fly or scratched out on a piece of paper.”

If Turner’s name sounds familiar to faithful Houston Home Journal readers, it may be because for a long time, he wrote a weekly article about landscaping concepts that appeared in the paper.

“There’s a lot that goes into landscape,” he insisted. “But when you see a designed landscape, typically, you think, wow, that’s beautiful or that’s really pretty. You don’t know why you like it so much. It just appeals to you. But there is a lot that goes into a well-designed landscape, and that’s where the designer comes in.”

Turner mentioned that there are some things about the craft and about good designing that will probably never change, even with the changing of times. That goes for whether you’re talking about exterior or interior design. There are certain principles and rules and laws that designers go by that are eternal. But one thing that has changed in a big way in recent years is the progression of technology.

“The technology has made it fresh and new for the designer. It’s really exciting because for forever, we really had to rely on the customer’s ability to visualize,” Turner said. “For instance, I’m showing a client or a potential client a two-dimensional plan from a bird’s eye view. We call that a line drawing, but all while I’m showing them what I’ve put together, I can only hope that they can see what I see,” he explained. “I’m hoping they can see that it’s going to be nice under this patio, and over here, how nice this sitting area is going to be. But that way of doing things was sometimes difficult. I really had to get good at trying to transfer that image that I was trying to describe into that client’s head.”

But now, with the new 3D technology, Turner said that old way of doing things is becoming a thing of the past.

“With this,” he described, “I don’t need you to visualize anything. I’ll put you in your landscape. I’ll fly you around it. I can show you any hour of the day or evening including the progression, that in 30 seconds, will take you from how your landscape will look in noon and how it’s going to look at night. And as it goes to night, you can actually see your lights come on. You can see the low voltage lighting appear in your landscape. This program leaves absolutely nothing to question. This technology has really made it fresh and new for the client, the designer, everybody.”

Viewers of some of the popular home design and redesign shows on HGTV such as “Fixer Upper” or “Property Brothers” are probably familiar with how the 3D computerized program brings an interior or exterior layout to life.

“It’s the same thing. It’s a CAD program,” Turner expressed. “There are times when the images are photo realistic. We can actually put a dog in there and people sitting by the pool. We can have the water shimmering or the leaves blowing in the trees as you move around. It’s extremely life-like.”

CAD, Turner broke down, stands for “computer aided design” and it is a method that many engineers and architects are also using. He mentioned that the process has the ability to go even further, explaining, “The next step is virtual reality. The software I have is set up for it. You now can put on a VR headset, and I can virtually put you on your back porch, let’s say, at 7:00 in the evening, and show you spring, summer, winter and fall. It’s quite remarkable, really, and it’s a lot of fun.”

The length of time that it takes to pull a CAD design together is highly variable based on how detailed the clients wants their landscape to be. Even so, Turner gauged that 25 to 30 hours per design was a safe estimate.

“Of course, details of a property’s layout can add more time to create the contour,” he pointed out, “plus there are always exceptions with commercial properties and parks, but it’s pretty easy to do the average residential design in that time frame.”

As the landscape designer, Turner is often the behind-the scenes person. His work is always seen in the finished product, but his name and face are rarely known throughout the process.

“There are some exceptions. I have a few direct customers,” he disclosed, “but the majority of my business is received from area landscapers, so there are confidentiality contracts involved.” Turner went on to explain, “Let’s just say that a company called ABC Landscape exists. Well, instead of taking on the expenses of the payroll it would take to have a design department, ABC Landscape simply contacts me, and I perform that service for them. A ton of business is done in and comes out of my office, but contractually, the design is sold to the ABC Landscape. When I finish it, I put their name on the landscape design, and nobody really knows that I did it because the landscape company legally owns it and can advertise it as their own.”

While that may seem one-sided to some, Turner assured that, “It works out quite well for them and for me.”

Southern Environmental, LLC is the name of Turner’s design company and although it’s located right outside of Perry near the Haynesville area, Turner proclaims, “I’m a Perry guy. I bleed maroon and gold. Our mailing address is Hawkinsville, and it drives me crazy. I’m like… no, I’m not a Hawkinsville guy, I’m a Perry guy!” he concluded with a laugh.

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