Professional Foundation
Exposure to music as a young child sparked awareness of spatial intervals, specifically the vertical aspect of pitch and the horizontal movement of rhythm. Music also introduced principles of composition and revealed the surprising power of certain intervals to elicit human emotion.
A framework for visualizing curved form developed during my high school years spent bicycling through the canyons and body surfing the beaches of southern California. This time in the surf, with eye levels inches off the water surface, has enhanced an ability to consider land form.
The beach also taught continuity. One afternoon, long shadows of the setting sun brought a sharp focus to the edges of damp sand eroding in the outflowing tide. Their shapes perfectly matching the faces of the sandstone cliffs beyond the highway showed the importance of repeating forms at different scales within a composition…and revealed how the echoing forms can bring a sense of calm to a space.
My experiences of the ocean – feeling the ebb and flow of the surf and the vertical pulse within the wave, seeing the movement of light in the maturing swell and observing the many reactions of fluid form against a static mass, have formed rich spatial images that are the foundation of my garden design.
Mike Mohr, RLA ASLA
BSLA University of Wisconsin – Madison 1977
Registered Landscape Architect #252 – Wisconsin 1996 – Inactive
Registered Landscape Architect #496 – Colorado 2008 – Active
Contributing interests – Classical guitar, bonsai culture
Early Practice
One year each as primary Landscape Architect for two design build firms, the first in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
1979 Established Haltli & Mohr, a design build landscape firm in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin serving ten years as both administrative partner, 
developing our marketing plan / art and our spread sheet costing / invoice system. As design principle – I enjoyed working in the field constructing many bridges, decks and play environments. Introduced concrete flat-work, exploring both integral color and exposed aggregate finishes. Developed fountains and water effects, outdoor lighting and site graphics services.
1989 Established Mohr Associates, Inc., a design build company focused on gardens for high end residential clients in the Geneva Lakes resort area and known for;
An appropriate scale and elegant line
Use of grade to create light and shadow
Placing large stone to simulate natural outcrops ( to 10′ )
A natural planting style that blends with the surrounding
We also added large structures – pergolas, a two story screened gazebo and negative edge pools to our practice. The first ergonomic spa was developed and constructed. 
Our concrete flat-work evolved thickened vertical edges ( to 30″ ) that carried across and cascaded down slopes punctuated with emergent large stones.
Served as charter member on the City of Lake Geneva Tree Board which lead to a position with the city consulting on planning, reviewing development proposals for council and advising on athletic field and green space improvements for the city’s expanding park system.
1999 Moved to Aspen, Colorado seeking a challenging environment for professional growth and the release from construction company management responsibilities, I accepted a design position with a local design build firm.
2001 Mohr Associates, Inc. reformed in Aspen, Colorado to provide site design and construction support for the Aspen – Telluride communities, that is less encumbered by company product line and more responsive to client program and site opportunity.
Some projects were large. One development, a family renovation of a historic 248 acre working ranch on Woody Creek, involved six individual residences, several common buildings and five ponds. Mohr Associates, Inc. contributed on:
Permit processes
Road layout and engineering
Firefighting issues
Utility corridor plans
Water management / pond development
Residence / common building site design
Bridge site design
Solar array development
Custom spas #2 and #3 were developed and constructed. 
New materials; fused glass, ornamental and structural steel were incorporated into our product line. Mohr Associates, Inc. also served as architectural color consultant on some recent projects.
Currents Interests
Perception
Architectural – site modeling
Adapting house design for anthropogenic climate disruptions in the American Southwest
Developing a stone outcrop design plug-in for Revit