Despite a housing slowdown, a majority of landscape architecture firms report stable or improving work logs, according to a third quarter American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) survey. More than three out of four firms reported steady or increased billable hours compared to the previous quarter, and four in 10 firms were planning to hire additional staff.

“The demand for landscape architecture services remains strong in the traditional markets, while it continues to grow in emerging areas, particularly for sustainable design services,” said ASLA CEO Nancy Somerville. “With only 30,000 landscape architects in the U.S. and the projected growth in demand for landscape architecture services, there are significant opportunities for young people considering entering the profession.” ASLA is working with the ACE Mentorprogram and other organizations to introduce the profession to prospective students, and will celebrate National Landscape Architecture Month in April 2008 around the theme “Discover Careers in Landscape Architecture.”

Nearly 44 percent of respondents described their billable hours as either “well above” or “slightly above” average. Thirty-three percent said that billable hours were “average,” while 24 percent said hours were either “slightly below” (20 percent) or “well below” average (4 percent).

Inquiries were more evenly distributed: 6 percent reported well above average inquiries, 30 percent reported slightly above, 30 percent reported average, and 35 percent reported their inquiries were down in the third quarter. Forty-one percent of firms surveyed also said they are hiring new employees in the fourth quarter. ASLA e-mailed a brief questionnaire to the key firm contacts across the country, and received responses from 251 independent landscape architecture firms. The survey will be repeated in early 2008.