The deflated markets of the 80s created an opportunity to take a break from my profession. For six years, I traveled the world as a cruise director. Yet, in a sense, this was not a break from my profession at all, for these travels exposed me to new aesthetic influences, deepened my love of nature’s creativity, and opened up areas of art, culture and philosophy that have informed and inspired my design work ever since.

Returning to my native Pittsburgh in 1991 with a renewed passion for landscape design, I founded Landscape Architectural Services. From the start, LAS has pursued three ideals:

• to provide uniquely personal service and guidance
• to engage clients in a dynamically creative and collaborative process
• to create outdoor spaces that are not only practical and aesthetically appealing, but also transforming

Over the years, we’ve enjoyed many distinctive, successful collaborations with residential clients, and participated in prominent commercial and public projects as well, including designing the Magic Penny Memory Garden at the Carnegie Library in Homestead. Our services, ranging from hourly consultations to full-scale project management, include:

• re-sculpting topography into useable outdoor “rooms”
• developing landscape features and color schemes to evoke a memory or emotion
• placement and installation of fountains, boulders, sculptures, walking paths and other unique elements
• expert plant selection and guidance, including correct spacing, compatibility and proper pruning techniques
• solving drainage problems
• and much more!