Urban Landscaping

Greening the Greenway

November 14, 2012

in Urban Landscaping

by Stu Shilaber

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is Boston’s only organically maintained public park and one of a handful of organically maintained urban parks in the United States.

The Harbor Fog Section of the Wharf District Parks features artwork and a misting fountain.

The Greenway was built atop the main north/south tunnel of the Central Artery by the State of Massachusetts, which replaced a 1950s era elevated highway in a project known as the Big Dig. Its 15 acres of parks, spread along 1.5 miles of downtown Boston, were designed by different firms with extensive input from neighborhoods, the city and the state. [click to continue…]

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Site Considerations When Reclaiming Previously Developed Land

March 15, 2012

in Restoration,Urban Landscaping

by Anja Ryan

Throughout New England’s cities and towns there are many uncovered opportunities to reclaim previously developed land. Forgotten over the years, old railroad beds, burned-out mill foundations, and vacant lots have become overgrown with successive vegetation, been vandalized, and used as dumping grounds. Sometimes structures remain, beckoning us from a not so distant past. As our urban centers start to see a new renaissance through the “smart growth” movement gains and as people from the suburbs move back to urban areas, the land these abandoned places occupy is becoming more valuable. [click to continue…]

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Planning for Resilient and Sustainable Communities

January 16, 2012

by Jack Ahern An original method for planning resilient and sustainable cities is presented here. The method builds on established planning methods and models. The method has five themes: (1) goal-oriented and exosystem-services-based, (2) strategic, (3) scenario-driven, (4) transdisciplinary, and (5) adaptive. Each of these five themes is discussed in the following sections.

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Incorporating Vegetables into the Urban Landscape

November 14, 2011

by Jessie Banhazl Incorporating vegetables into the urban landscape is not as difficult as it may seem. As with ornamental and perennial plants, placement, light, and spacing between plants are critical to the success of a vegetable garden. What is great about working in urban spaces is that you can take an untraditional approach to [...]

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Establishing Resilient Urban Landscapes Using Native Plants

November 14, 2011

by Claudia West Imagine yourself strolling along a typical metropolitan street. What vegetative characteristics might you experience? Are window boxes and containers bursting with seasonal color? Do low growing sedges tickle your ankles as you walk past a lushly planted tree pit? Are you enticed to run your fingertips through the Panicum seed heads as [...]

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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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Can Cities Rise to the Challenge?

October 20, 2010

By Jennifer Chesworth Urban landscapes are going green to fill an important role in food production, habitat provision, and conservation of wildlife. Can the built environment, with its vast impervious surface areas, treacherous roadways, and neighborhood “nuisance” ordinances adapt to create a truly green future? The answer to that question is a conditional yes; It [...]

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