January 15, 2016
Paul Brydges wants to bring together professionals as LO’s new president
Paul Brydges is excited to begin his term as president of Landscape Ontario.
“I see my role for the next two years as an opportunity to bring members together and change our thinking of being members of the green industry to green professionals,” says Brydges.
When Brydges first came onto the board of directors, and realized he some day would be serving as president, he remembers writing the words ‘Drawn Together’ on a sticky note. “It’s the term in which my firm works, and I want to bring that philosophy to LO and our great members so we work as a team with great collaboration.”
He says that after watching LO’s most recent president, Dave Braun, put forth the challenge of growing our profession, “I realized mine would be Drawn Together.” His goal is to bring all the sector groups together.
Brydges feels that referring to the green ‘profession’ instead of green ‘industry,’ will help change public perception. “We need to make our profession more acceptable to parents, so they encourage their children, instead of discouraging them, to make this their vocation.”
Brydges says that it takes a vast array of specialists or sectors to create the projects that LO professionals work on throughout the year. “If we look into almost any project now being created, we see so many other professions and sectors.” He feels as an Association, there needs to be more communication among the sectors.
Brydges is the principal and senior landscape architect at Brydges Landscape Architecture in Guelph. He has also taken on the design of this year’s Landscape Ontario garden at Canada Blooms. All sectors under Landscape Ontario will be represented in the garden, with the name, Choose Your Path!
Brydges says that the garden will feature all the opportunities to a career in the green profession.
His own career in the profession began after graduating from the University of Guelph. With little work available in Ontario, he moved to Washington D.C., where he worked for a large landscape architect firm. “It was one of the largest landscape firms in Maryland, and I learned a great deal about the profession there,” says Brydges.
In 2004, he moved back to his hometown of Guelph to begin his own company, Brydges Landscape Architecture. Today he works with a team of trusted suppliers, contractors, architects and sub-trades to design and construct his landscapes. The company produces only hand-drawn plans. “There are no computers involved in the process,” says Brydges. “It’s integral in the design process and something that the company prides itself on. Clients have come to know and appreciate the artful hand drawn designs produced by the firm.”
Paul Brydges is looking forward to the start of his two-year term as LO president. “Other presidents have spoken about how much work there is to take on the office, and I realize that is true.” He goes on to say it’s a 10-year commitment.
“When a member first comes on to the provincial board, and they move through the various positions, it’s a process of about ten years, until one ends as immediate past president,” says Brydges. He joined the provincial board in 2011. He has also served as a member of the Landscape Design Sector Group, Communications Committee and has been involved in four Canada Blooms festivals.
Brydges and the new board members for 2016 will be introduced during Congress at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Jan. 13, at the International Plaza Hotel, 655 Dixon Road, Toronto.
“I’m looking forward to serving the next two years with a great group of LO members,” says Brydges.