What Motivates Mike

Your home is undoubtedly one of your most valuable assets. You want it to function well, look good. You want it to be something to be proud of.

Any landscape or garden project large enough to require a designer is itself a substantial investment. Hiring the right person for the job will be your first, most important decision, and trust is the key issue.

If you are contemplating hiring a professional landscape architect and garden designer, read on…..this is what makes Mike Lehmann, landscape architect and garden designer get up in the morning, and why I may be the right person to help you with your landscape or garden project.

First a couple definitions.

“profession”: an occupation requiring special education such as law, medicine, teaching or engineering.

“professional”: a person engaged in a profession; following an occupation as one’s profession or career; a person who earns a living from something that others do for pleasure.

I like that last one!

I am passionate about being a landscape architect, something I’ve been practicing as a professional for 40 years. In fact, I knew what I wanted to do for a living before I got out of high school.

When people ask me “what do you do for a living?” and I say “I’m a landscape architect”, they invariably respond “wow, you must really enjoy what you do”. My answer is always an emphatic “yes!”

Here’s why:

I combine a bunch of key skills and talents that together define me as a professional and as a person. I am passionate about being a landscape architect and about helping people. This is what gets me up in the morning.

I love helping people……helping them live greener, healthier, happier lives, in harmony with nature and our natural environment.

I love helping families, homeowners. While I’ve done a fair amount of commercial work over the years, I love working with homeowners and families. They say “home is where the heart is” and “your home is your castle”…..well, I love to help homeowners add heart, wealth and value to their home environment. That’s what excites me!

I love the earth, the environment, green living things, diversity, the aliveness, brilliance and creativity of nature and sharing this with others.

I love being a steward of the earth and nature. I care deeply about “mother earth” and what humanity is doing to it, both good and bad.

I love being a teacher. I love to share my love for nature, the environment, and mother earth with others. I think children and adolescents especially can benefit from an enhanced experience and exposure to nature and the natural environment.

I love being an artist. As a designer, I am constantly working with color, balance, relationship, rhythm, harmony, fitness and purpose…….of how things fit together.

I love being an engineer. A part of me is also precise, detail oriented and orderly. I cross the “t’s” and dot the “i’s”. I do my homework. I don’t cut corners. I understand you can get the big picture right and still screw it up with the details! Details are important.

I love to work. My professional work ethic can be summed up very simply……I work on a project, your project, till I am personally happy with it. Not satisfied, happy. When I do that, 98% of the time my clients are thrilled with the results. I treat every project as if it was my own home.

I love helping you, my clients. This is about you. I’ll respond to you professionally first by being a good listener. I’ll respond carefully, meticulously to what you say you want from me as your designer. I am also not afraid to suggest something you may not have thought of….something that will work to your advantage, or to further improve and enhance your home environment. I am likewise not afraid to let you know that your thought, idea or suggestion may not be in your best interest and why.

Other interest’s and love’s that help me serve you…

Geology and earth sciences. I have had a lifelong interest in things like soils and soil health, drainage, soil fertility, soil permeability, soil nutrients and micronutrients, organic mulches, best practices to prevent siltation and soil erosion, rain gardens and the like. This combination of passions, interests and knowledge allows me to assure you that your landscape masterplan will help to keep your home safe and dry and your garden healthy and vibrant.

Meteorology. I have had a lifelong interest in weather. Weather plays a very important roll in every garden: sun and shade, moisture, wind, and temperature all effect garden and plant health, hardiness and disease resistance.

Finally, I love being a gardener…

I am a lifelong gardener. My fondest early memories are of me and my grandfather preparing and planting our vegetable garden (his and mine) each spring. I vividly remember ordering my first mail order trees, at fifteen years old, then lovingly planting them in the backyard.

Currently, I am in the early stages of planning and planting my own five acre garden–a private botanical garden in Chatham County with several thousand plants, many rare, unusual and endangered in the wild. My plant collection itself is world class, collected over the last twenty five years. As your garden designer, rest assured that I am myself an experienced gardener with horticultural knowledge second to none.

If you are passionate about creating a garden that thrills and excites you, let’s talk. Allow me to put these skills, passions and experience to work for you.

I look forward to working with you.