by Nick Shannon The 2,000 Gallon Project envisions a healthier Gowanus community through a conventional dumpster planted with native trees and perennials. Each dumpster provides a visual representation of the amount of stormwater a bio-swale can handle during a storm event and brings attention to the issue of Combined Sewage Overflows (CSO) emptying into the…
Urban Landscaping
Bus Stop Green Roofs Win Greenovate Boston Award
June 15, 2015 in Urban Landscaping
Green roofs installed on several Boston bus shelters received a Greenovate Boston Award at the Greenovate Boston Community Summit held at Northeastern University on June 6, 2015. Funded by an Environmental Protection Agency grant, the project partnered Fairmount/Indigo Line Community Development Corporation Collaborative and Trevor Smith’s Land Escapes Design Inc. Trevor is the current president…
Tree Growing Contracts: The Solution to a Steady Supply of Quality Trees
February 16, 2015 in Trees, Urban Landscaping
by Matthew Stephens New York City is on the verge of completing a major tree planting project through its MillionTreesNYC initiative. It is expected that by the fall of 2015 one million trees will have been planted throughout all of New York City over the course of seven years. MillionTreesNYC was announced in the fall…
The Green Alley, the Water Table, and the Ostrich
December 15, 2014 in Stormwater Management, Sustainability, Urban Landscaping
by Heather Heimarck Boston Architectural College’s “Green Alley” was built with the intention of creating a replicable model that would ameliorate negative environmental impacts caused by urban streets and high building density. Cities lack porous surfaces to return stormwater into the ground due to road, rooftops and sidewalks built with non-absorptive or impervious surfaces. The…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
Planning for Resilient and Sustainable Communities
January 16, 2012 in Sustainability, Urban Landscaping
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.
Incorporating Vegetables into the Urban Landscape
November 14, 2011 in Edible Landscaping, Urban Landscaping
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…
Establishing Resilient Urban Landscapes Using Native Plants
November 14, 2011 in Native Plants, Urban Landscaping
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…
