Communicating ideas with end-users is one of the main purposes of any design field. When it comes to involving citizens in landscape architecture, lay people struggle reading and interpreting visual elements, e. g. sketches, maps, layout plans, renders. By providing a sense of scale and immersion, virtual reality (VR) might help filling the lack of tools for landscape architects and lay people to communicate at the same level. This paper focuses on experiential and technical issues that may compromise user experience (UX) in mobile VR. In order to assess UX issues, we conducted an on-site study in a square in Oslo. The study involved a group of participants randomly selected at the site. They were exposed to VR panoramas of a hypothetical landscape design developed for that same square. By employing general quality indicators, this paper analyses UX qualities that came out of the on-site experience. Moreover, it discusses the appropriateness of taking mobile VR to the site, and the user experience complications linked to it. The results show that first time users are most likely to be delighted about VR, even though the first experience might be linked to several comfort and interpretability issues. VR appears to be more effective at communicating the design proposal, and providing a better understanding on the relation between real landscape and the hypothetical design.