by Madeline Banks First Things First Any kind of prescribed burning has a lot of thought and careful planning behind it. Everything from safety to environmental impact need to be considered to ensure that a burn is beneficial, not detrimental.
Public Gardens and Parks
The Art of Gardening at Chanticleer
June 15, 2017 in Landscape Design, Public Gardens and Parks
2017 Conference Session Review by David Falk Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, PA grew out of a large family estate with intricate gardens created for the family’s pleasure. Now open to the public, Chanticleer stays true to its origins as a pleasure garden, but its purpose also seems to be to expand that idea to include…
Innovative Pollinator Ribbon Planting along The Greenway
June 15, 2017 in Public Gardens and Parks, Urban Landscaping
by Darrah Cole The Greenway horticulture staff is excited to have new, innovative planting designs installed along the length of The Greenway in downtown Boston, MA. Two narrow parcels along Surface Road near South Station and two others in the North End Park along Cross Street have been planted to create the end points of…
Discovering Garden Gems
June 15, 2017 in Public Gardens and Parks, Urban Landscaping
Public and private gardens are a source of beauty and inspiration any time of year, but especially in the full bloom of summer. That’s also the time many of us travel to unfamiliar locales for graduation parties, weddings, and family reunions. During your travels, consider scheduling an excursion to a local garden.
Managing “Wear and Tear” in Heavy-use Landscapes
November 14, 2016 in Landscape Maintenance, Public Gardens and Parks
by Ronnit Bendavid-Val As parks and gardens get more and more use by the public especially in our urban areas, many places are seeing increasing effects of this heavier use on the horticultural elements of our gardens. While it’s exciting that our culture is putting greater value on our green spaces, the effects of substantially…
Community Design: How a New Pocket Park Came to the Near Northside
September 15, 2016 in Landscape Design, Public Gardens and Parks
by Katherine Sargent Cairoli, MA, LEED An earlier version of this article originally appeared on OffCite, a blog published by the Rice Design Alliance, a community engagement organization based at Rice University. Not all vacant lots are the same. Some are nestled between residential lots and looked after by neighbors; some are littered and adjacent…
Natural Play and Sustainability in a Maryland City Park
July 14, 2016 in Landscape Design, Public Gardens and Parks
by Nancy Striniste As a landscape designer and former teacher, my specialty and passion is creating sustainable natural play and learning spaces. I’ve worked with dozens of schools and early childhood programs in the mid-Atlantic and along the east coast to create a variety of unique, place-based outdoor spaces for children. When a chance to…
2014 Community Project: Arcola Park Rehab
August 14, 2014 in ELA News, Public Gardens and Parks, Urban Landscaping
Tucked away off a side street in the Hyde Park Square area of Jamaica Plain, Arcola Park was a rough-cut gem until July 22nd when the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA), Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN), and the Landscape Institute at Boston Architectural College (BAC) met to polish the park into a fine jewel.
Beautifying Public Places: The Importance of Plants
February 17, 2014 in Landscape Design, Public Gardens and Parks, Urban Landscaping
by Lynden B. Miller One of the most important elements in successful public urban green space is PLANTS. Over the last 30 years in New York City, we have found exciting reasons to use plants in new ways to improve the lives of city dwellers. We now know that plants have the power to soften…
Organic Turf Maintenance on a Large Scale at the Rose Kennedy Greenway
December 15, 2013 in Lawn Care, Public Gardens and Parks
by Anthony Ruggiero Anthony is a panelist at ELA’s Large-Scale Landscapes Symposium at Wellesley College on January 18th, 2014. The Greenway is a mile-and-a-half-long public park that stretches from Chinatown to the North End in downtown Boston. It is a linear series of small parks that sit above the I-93 tunnel totaling approximately 15 acres,…
The Spicket River Greenway: Habitat Creation at Manchester Street Park
October 15, 2013 in Native Plants, Public Gardens and Parks, Restoration, Urban Landscaping
by Brad Buschur The City of Lawrence, MA, has three very distinct rivers flowing through its boundaries. The wide Merrimack River flows through the heart of Lawrence’s Mill districts. The Shawsheen River flows northward through a small river floodplain forest. The Spicket River has been engineered to flow through residential neighborhoods, and the process of…
A Master Plan for Garden in the Woods
October 15, 2013 in Native Plants, Public Gardens and Parks, Restoration
by Mark Richardson Garden in the Woods has inspired generations of professional horticulturists, landscape designers, and backyard gardeners alike to create gardens that look to nature for inspiration. Embracing an early 20th-century trend toward “wild” gardens, the Garden’s founder, Will Curtis, sought to highlight the inherent glacial landscape of this property in Framingham, MA, and…
