Landscape Design

by Lauren Lautner

I am typically introduced to a project over the phone. I love to listen to clients’ descriptions of their property as I develop an image in my mind. I often sketch as they speak to me telling me what is working and what is not. I note the adjectives they use when describing their setting. “Hilly, shady, exposed, overgrown,” and always, “nothing will grow”.  Then the fun begins as I ask them what they want. [click to continue…]

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by Amanda Sloan and Dave Renzi

As they make the left turn into the Providence, RI doctor’s office parking lot, some patients might set their jaws and steel themselves. The screening procedure these Baby Boom Generation clients are about to undergo – while relatively comfortable, completely routine, and sometimes lifesaving – is one that makes many feel squeamish beforehand: the sign at the turn says “Gastroenterology Associates/West River Endoscopy.” [click to continue…]

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Laurel Garden Design: Notes from the 2012 Season – Horticulture

November 14, 2012

by Darcy Paige I’ve been designing, installing, and tending gardens for 16 years. About two-thirds of my time each season is spent in gardens, with my trusty, dusty team. Each season has its own quirks and personality; like cream rising to the top of the milk, rich images separate themselves out from the jumbled memory [...]

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Laurel Garden Design: Notes from the 2012 Season – Design

November 14, 2012

by Darcy Paige Design Notes As a gardener, I am afforded a lot of design input as I care for gardens: re-doing beds, planting annuals and bulbs, and festooning containers come to mind. The gardening season is busy, but alongside my horticultural duties, I also take on several design projects just to make sure that [...]

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Beautiful and Beneficial: Natural Swimming Ponds Offer Ecological Options

November 14, 2012

by Trevor Smith A low gurgle emerges from beneath the Mentha aquatica as clear water begins to make its way from the bog downstream between smooth boulders and over gravel. Liquid fingers catch the sun’s rays, bending them and throwing them in every direction. The blooms of iris, hemerocallis, and lobelia bob in the gentle [...]

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Habitat Essentials

September 14, 2012

by Ellen Sousa The following excerpt is reprinted from The Green Garden (Bunker Hill Publishing, 2011) with the permission of the author. Habitat gardening is just like planning and designing the interior of your home. You consider the everyday needs of those you invite into your space, furnish or rearrange the space accordingly, and stock [...]

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Edibles in the Landscape

June 15, 2012

A far cry from the lone tomato plant wedged in among geraniums in the backyard, edibles are now found front and center stage in many residential landscapes. Property owners are more aware of the beauty and delicious benefits of an edible landscape, and some are experimenting with the addition of a variety of edible trees, [...]

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The Patina of Found Materials

March 15, 2012

Text by Ben Crouch Photos by Kimberly Moa   The use of environmentally friendly materials is becoming widely accepted in all trades. Eco-friendly products are common on the shelves of every garden store. Most people have a favorable view of the branding. Yet, a more environmentally friendly approach to landscaping often involves skipping the shelf with [...]

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Conservation and Landscaping Professionals Working Together in Ecologically Sensitive Areas

January 16, 2012

by Theresa Sprague As the landscape paradigm continues to shift towards sustainable/regenerative design, ecological function, and land management vs. landscaping, it becomes clearer that collaboration between the conservation and landscape communities is essential. In my neck of the woods (Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod), where land within ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands, coastal banks, [...]

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Quantifying Sustainability: Santa Monica’s “Garden/Garden” Project

July 15, 2011

by Owen Dell Amid a sea of talk about the benefits of sustainable landscaping, there is precious little information to prove that it actually makes sense, environmentally or economically. Landscape professionals have long operated on a hunch that sustainable landscapes save water, reduce labor, minimize fossil fuel use, and offer other benefits over conventional turf-and-flowerbed [...]

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