Terremoto’s David Godshall is hoping for immigration reform in the US. “Most of the landscape construction crews that we work with in Southern California are primarily Latino men, and their immigration status is varied. 

“We take issue with the fact that the immigration system in the United States is a bit of a mess, especially when there are law-abiding hard-working citizens who are literally building the foundations of our buildings in society but they’re being criminalized by our present administration.” 

He says that radical change to our immigration system and the way labor is valued in the US and especially in California is “long overdue”. 

“All we can do as an office is be present for our crews.” A ‘Land and Labor’ page on the company’s website shows signage for keeping job sites safe that Terremoto has developed in collaboration with other design groups. “Our job sites are mostly private property, so if the proper signage is up, then we can keep the crews that are building our gardens and landscapes safe—that’s of the utmost importance to us.”  

Godshall says he is “extremely proud of the landscape and gardening community” right now, though. “I’m proud that we seem to be responding to this present moment of climate change and political instability and a lot of other issues with a robustness that I feel other industries seem less well equipped to face. So, I’m positive in that regard. There’s movement in the right direction.”  

Find out more about how Terremoto has become a disruptor in the industry and the positive moves it’s making to be more environmentally conscious in the latest issue of Pro Landscaper USA.