by Carl Brodeur Last November and December my phone was abuzz with reports from my clients in Southeastern Massachusetts, letting me know about little “whitish” moths flying around porch lights during the evening hours.
Designing Ecological Landscapes
Landscapes that mimic natural systems deliver important ecosystem services and are also aesthetically pleasing. Guided by principles that reduce resource consumption, ecologically designed landscapes provide natural solutions when land is disturbed by the construction of buildings or roadways, and they support landscaped communities from tiny rooftops to grand urban parks.
A Better Understanding of Trees & Their Ecology
March 10, 2010 in Trees
By Rolf Cachat-Schilling It’s all about competition. Or is it? For most of the past two centuries, we have been given a picture of forests as realms of fierce competition, and have looked upon human interference as constructive refereeing.
Memorial Park Beach: Lakeside Park Restoration Project
February 11, 2010 in Public Gardens and Parks, Restoration
Interview with Amanda Sloan Introduction Along the north shore of Lake Massapoag, a 350 acre natural lake in Sharon, Massachusetts, the public beach was in need of restoration. “A labor of love” is the way that long time Sharon resident and landscape designer, Amanda Sloan, describes the five year project. In a collaborative effort involving…
Native Plants: Restoring to an Idea
February 11, 2010 in Invasive Plants, Native Plants
Native Plants: Restoring to an Idea Article by Toby Hemenway Let me tell you about the invasive plant that scares me more than all the others. It’s one that has infested over 80 million acres in the US, and in many places forms virtual monocultures. It is a heavy feeder, depleting soil of nutrients. Everywhere…
Gaias Garden (excerpt)
January 15, 2010 in Permaculture
In Gaia’s Garden, Toby Hemenway presents permaculture. Permaculture is a design method that helps humans design and re-wild landscapes following nature’s patterns. Robust enough to invigorate and regenerate landscapes across continents, permaculture has found astounding success is every climate. Hemenway takes it to the home-scale, offering tools to create self-sustaining systems that increase functionality and…
Coastal Buffer Zones
January 15, 2010 in Landscape Design, Landscape Maintenance, Native Plants
Article by: Kate Venturini, of the URI Outreach Center Buffer zones between development and shoreline habitat are attempted in many states, but rarely work well enough to protect the ecosystem. Laws and enforcement vary between communities, as do development histories and how people interact with the environment. Realizing this dilemma, land developers are finding common…
The Basics of Ecological Landscaping
October 20, 2008 in Designing Ecological Landscapes, Gardening Basics
Ecological Landscaping is a method of designing, building, and maintaining landscapes that considers the ecology of a site and creates gardens that enhance the surrounding environment for the benefit of humans and all other life in the ecosystem. When the earth is disturbed during the construction of buildings, homes, driveways, and roadways, the land is…
