Dean Anesi is a Landscape Designer recently turned Landscape Architect via the Master of Landscape Architecture Program at UBC. In this conversation, Dean shares his background, career and his experience doing the MLA program after already establishing himself as an expert in the field.
Hi Dean, thanks so much for giving this interview, let’s start with some background on yourself.
Yes. My journey is a long one because I’m 65 years old. It started a long time ago. I was raised on a reserve on the southern border of Yellowstone Park in the United States. So, I’m from Wyoming, and my mother is Indigenous of the Shoshone Nation. On that reserve, there were Shoshone and Arapaho tribes at that time. In the United States, they still refer to them as a tribe, but they would actually say reservation vs. reserve however my language has changed since I’ve been at UBC. When I talk to my family that still lives there, they refer to themselves in terms that I’ve learned can be offensive in Canada.
My grandmother loved to go fishing and hunting was able to teach me much of what she knew. My mom was also one of her students and we learned all the plants for harvesting berries and we always followed the seasons for fishing, hunting and foraging.
That’s incredible, please continue.
My father was Italian, Hungarian and a little bit of German. And because my mother was only sixteen when I was born, I knew my great-grandparents. My great grandmother owned thousands of acres on the mountainside, and she would just grab her straw hat, take her basket and come back with mushrooms. Since the reserve wasn’t the area where they typically would have resided, they, as well as the other side of my family, were settling in a new area. So that’s where I started learning about plants.
I left there and went to school at the University of Utah, where I studied animal biology with a minor in botany. And after I graduated, I worked as a biologist doing research under my professors for a couple years, living in a tent. I spent time in the middle of deserts, counting rings on trees, looking at parasitic plants, and working with the behavior of ants. So, I was always able to study plants and that eventually got me a job as a greenhouse grower. I learned how to grow all of the things that weren’t Indigenous. In Salt Lake City I worked as a greenhouse grower and also as a designer for all of the state facilities in Utah. So, whatever we grew, we planted in all of those state facilities. And Utah is a very large state. That job gave me a great deal of exposure to learning and I just soaked it up and my bosses allowed me to work and study horticulture through another university while they paid for my horticulture studies. I shared my knowledge with the community, teaching children’s programming and gardening on Saturdays. On Fridays, I had a brown bag lunch series, teaching the community and anybody who had access to the internet, which was very new at the time.
I also had a crew with me, so I had to teach them too. I was a master gardener at that point, so I had to show them how to prune all the trees, shrubs and perennials. I gained credibility with those I was lecturing to so every Friday, the classes would get larger. Pretty soon I had people that were representatives of our government (even our governor) and they would send their family members, their spouses or they would come to my lectures themselves.
That was how it was at the beginning, and I have always loved plant knowledge. People could see the excitement I had and wanted to share in it, but they also knew that we had expertise and eventually there was no limit to what we could design, whether it be for a smaller garden that might run the range of $80,000 to $100,000 or anywhere up to $4.5 million.
Wow, your portfolio must be outstanding.
Haha, it’s actually kind of busy and if you’d have asked my classmates at the time, they would have said: “Oh, Dean, your portfolio is too full. It’s chocked too full. You’ve got to eliminate a lot.”
So how did you come to apply for the MLA program? It sounds like you could be teaching.
I wanted to apply for the program because some would say “well you’re just a designer.” And so, it was just to prove a point to myself that I had what it takes to still progress. I could never teach at the level that I wanted to at the universities or colleges without that Master’s degree.
But as you know, it’s not easy- it’s a lot of study, a lot of being there. And so, for someone like me who hadn’t been in school or done any type of paper writing for over 40 years, it was daunting.
As an older student, I can understand where you’re coming from. There is a fairly large age range in SALA but some students have gone straight from their Bachelors meaning the younger end of the spectrum is around 22-23 years old.
Well, you know, in my class there were several students- or rather, five that were over thirty and a couple that were over forty, and they’re still there. There are some fellow students that know exactly what you’re going through. But regarding the plant knowledge, when I arrived at UBC and BC in general (I was from high plains and desert areas) the number of plants that I had to learn was mind boggling. I just chose for it to be a goal to learn all the plants and constantly test myself. I still do that when I’m walking my dog, when my husband and I are out- we went to Butchart Gardens today and we’re both like: “What is that? Name that!” And it’s not so much that it’s a name game anymore, it’s like tuning into a language that nobody else knows.
For example, we were walking along the dahlias today and a couple from England were looking at the monkey puzzle tree. Then another group of four people were in front of the monkey puzzle tree and they’re like: “I don’t know what it is.” As they turned around, I said: “that is a monkey puzzle tree. The puzzle is that a monkey can only go up one direction but how do they get down?” I knew where it came from and why we don’t use it here in landscape architecture very often. It was fun! They were all pleased that they learned something.
I would be too if I was them! And thank you so much for sharing your amazing background. So how was your experience of the MLA program and how did you find year one vs. year two and year three while doing your grad project?
Year one was crazy in terms of a learning curve. When I was in school, there wasn’t a computer in my undergrad. The Apple computer was just coming out at the time, and it was kind of just- around. The school systems didn’t know how to even use it or to incorporate it into any form of pedagogy. When I arrived, I was good at answering emails but not really putting things in files, not organization, and definitely not any software programs- none at all. I was too busy and I had hired staff for that. If I needed somebody that did Photoshop, my assistant did that. I just didn’t have the time to learn because I brought in the work. I knew how to communicate with people. I knew how to get more out of a job than what was being asked for. Contractors would call me and say: “We just got this job; will you come and look at it?” All they could see was that some trees and shrubs were needed but the client also needed a sidewalk, a driveway, drainage- maybe a swimming pool, a tennis court, bocce ball… but many landscapers I was working with at the time didn’t feel comfortable offering that, but I did. I could take their project that started at $40,000 or $50,000 but I could see that the client was really asking for something more so when the dust settled it could be in the $120,000 range or upwards.
The contractors and landscapers saw the value in my knowledge of how to work with clients. Like if I saw water drainage issues, I would know how to fix that but what this program really did for me in that that first year was learning how to put things digitally. It did help a lot but being given all those powerful tools to use at once was a struggle. So, I always felt like even though I might have had more knowledge and experience than anybody in the program, I was at the bottom. It was very humbling having to constantly ask somebody: “how do you do this? How do I get rid of the background in a photo in Photoshop?” or: “I missed that part in Rhino because I was learning how to move a file”- I didn’t even know how to move files.
Oh, Rhino, don’t even get me started, but please go on.
During the first year in the summer, I was able to take 3D modelling and Revit and in the end was able to do well but I had initially let the professor know I was facing unique issues. I may have received a C or a D on the first assignment, but I said: “this is why.” I also said: “I am going to be asking every question and find out. I’m hiring a tutor and will be your best student at the end.” So, I would let them know I was struggling and that I was going to ask questions every class. And so, you must set yourself up in that way. I knew I was going to learn, and I wasn’t just going to sit on the work I’ve done for the last 37 years because I wanted to learn how it was done as an architect.
Do you have a particular method for approaching plants and beginning to understand plants? For example, when you’re coming into a new landscape what’s the first thing you do?
When I come into a new landscape I first look at what the environment is- sun, shade, all of that determines what you have, and of course, the soil- and then you meet a client. You usually have an idea of what plants you can work with immediately.
I also like working with shapes. For example: if I look at a house and I can see down the corner of a house, I shouldn’t be able to- I should be drawing my eye to the front door. We control how people see the environment. They will never know it, but we’re controlling it and so I will put in a shrub that is a particular shape. That’s why I see it as a shape because it’s a form that makes it so one can’t see down the side of the house- that line of sight brings them to the front door. By knowing how to manipulate shapes and knowing how they’re going to be seen it is the fun part. We can plant the same plant three or four times with the same color or texture, and the human eye connects the dots. We can take a person right to the front door and they won’t even know how they got there. There is, of course, a pathway but we can also lead them with color or fragrance. I find things that are tactile to be very fun so, for me, approaching a brand-new landscape is more about shapes and how I want to see it. Another example is: if there’s trees, do I have space under the canopy and what shape do I put there?
I love to color-block and to design in big block statements. I was told one time when I was designing gardens with annuals that a space of about four by two meters would be the smallest area that you’d fill in with color, and then you’d put another color and another color. Those are large spaces and people would look and be drawn to their favorite color but if you mixed them like confetti they would bypass the space in a minute. I learned right away that nobody’s favorite color is confetti and when you’re planting it’s the same way. If you get too many plants with similar heights, sizes and shapes we call those weeds because that’s how it’s perceived. So, we really want a texture block or color block. It keeps things a little simpler and is an educated, more methodical choice than just putting lots of things in the same area.
Thanks for sharing that very practical knowledge. It can take a lot of practice to resist the urge to design like that. You mentioned being overwhelmed by the sheer number of plants on the West Coast landscape and I’m wondering if you can speak more about how working with the local plants here has changed how you approach landscape design?
I was wondering that my whole third year, and asking: how do I see it differently? I would go out into nature on hikes here and look at plants in the wild and I had to know what they were so I would learn about them. I know that we all want to plant Indigenous plants in landscapes but what I found through one of my projects and especially in the review (I thought it was one of my best reviews but it was actually rather negative which is the most valuable kind) was that we have created a class plant learning taxonomy that doesn’t help me much as a landscape architect because I have to reteach all the people on my staff on how to use native plants in a manmade world. And I thought: okay, so now I’m studying all these Indigenous plants, but what do we do to them in order to make them grow and work inside a designed scenario? So that took on a whole life in itself. How do I keep the roots happy? The temperature? Are the deer going to eat them all if I put them all in a certain area in the city? We just had to look at things differently and it really helped me to understand native plants.
Also, the most effective way to learn plants is to find out their best story. We remember things better if they have a story. So that was my job to find out those untold stories and use them as teaching methodologies along with the plant, how it might have been intended for medicinal use, for food, or for clothing. Right now, I’m working on Salal. I really like it because I was a florist and that’s how I put myself through school as an undergrad (and I’m still working in floral) but we always use Salal to put our floral arrangements to make them sturdier. But right now, I love hiking in the forest, and I love eating the berries. They’re tasty! The texture is a little off-putting, but I don’t mind that. In my research, I found that I wasn’t the only one- even the Indigenous people would eat them, but most would say that they weren’t their favorite (blackberries, thimbleberries or salmon berries were more well-loved). They are actually better if you mix them all together and make them into a great big patty or loaf, which a lot of the Salish nations did because there’s a chemical in the berries themselves that preserve all the other berries and make them last longer as a dried element.
Fascinating!
It’s always those kinds of fun things I think about. But I think Salal is actually a $60 million industry for Canada as an export. So maybe that’s a different story that might help you remember Salal differently when you see it.
That fact is certainly hard to forget.
So those are the kind of stories that I like to bring to the forefront. Mnemonics help a lot and they can be funny too! For example, we were working with Arbutus menziesii and where I was from, they always had a National Pirate Day where you would say: “arrr” and I thought that’s perfect for remembering Arbutus. If you say it with a pirate voice, you’re going to remember it better- Arrrrr-butus. Having fun really helps memory!
So, is this idea of fun and Mnemonics tied into your grad project, and can you talk more about that?
Yes, my grad project started my first year. I didn’t know it was starting in my first year, but I loved trees and shrubs. It was exciting, spending three hours in the forest. Rain or shine (as you know) it got cold sometimes, and it was difficult learning all those plants and such so I became the TA the next year and I thought, what could I do to help the students remember the plant names more easily? And so instead of just collecting samples, we took all those samples together and I hijacked one of those display boards and I pinned all our trees and shrubs samples on there. I then labeled them so that you could sit in front of the board and couldn’t read the labels. You could guess and then turn the label over to see if you were getting better and I had office hours where people could ask questions, and we would go on mini tours and cover what was covered the week before. I started having fun with it and then I thought, well, what if there was a better way to teach plant taxonomy for botany, for landscape architecture students, and for continuing ed people who wanted to know more about their community? That’s when I came to create a new form of pedagogy that does all the aforementioned- it’s a better storyline.
So, for my grad project I created a new course curriculum. I’m working on it, still modifying it but I would like to teach it here at the University of Victoria and there’s a possible opportunity to teach for continuing ed and then maybe when I work out the bugs, bringing it back to UBC.
What an interesting way to make it all come full circle, and this is also a great lead in for my final questions. Can you speak more about what you’re doing now and where you see yourself going forward with all this knowledge and experience?
Everybody asks me that. They always say: “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I’ve had a really good design career, and it was a seven-day-a-week job, but I was working for myself. So, it kept me busy, but I loved it, and I still love design. With that, I probably don’t want to work as hard as I had never had a summer off so I’ve kind of been taking the summer off although my idea of this is I’m working at a nursery. I love going there. I find it pure joy. People come in and they ask me questions about native plants or ask you why this plant works or how my landscape design would work. I feel very confident in the answers that I give, and after school, I know that if I don’t know the right answer, I’ll always know how to find one for them.
I’m sure your clients are perpetually delighted.
My boss always says he likes the fact that I can sell but I can do a lot more. I also want to work teaching as well. I have always worked for very wealthy people, making them more comfortable in their lives but now I’d like to give plant knowledge to communities that need it or that might not have the resources to access that kind of knowledge. It could be a community park or cemetery and now, I have been asked to redesign hospital gardens. So, remember your first year you were doing healing gardens? I actually get to do one in real life.
You clearly have so much to share but I will keep it to one more question. Do you have any final parting advice to students or emerging landscape architects that you would consider invaluable or what was the best piece of advice that you have gotten throughout your career?
It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, you always need to give it your best. It doesn’t matter if you have a high-paying job in landscape architecture or your own firm. You could easily be doing the same amount of good if you’re working for a tree nursery or if you’re working for the community city planning. They all need that expertise and all of us are going to go somewhere different. I would say a lot of us are going to go into smaller communities where that knowledge is even more needed than in large cities. I think it’s going to take us all to different places. So don’t be discouraged if that big corporate city job doesn’t come your way. It might be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Thank you so much for your time and wisdom, what a privilege to chat with you Dean!
Thanks, bye-bye.
Below you will find the link to Dean’s Youtube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@Rooted_Knowledge