by Trevor Smith Water’s most amazing quality is that it is simultaneously part of the mystery of life and an essential element in the most mundane routines of life. We use it to cook, brush our teeth and wash our cars, but few can deny the majesty of a waterfall or resist watching waves crash […]
Beyond the Vegetable Patch – Strengthening the Food Connection in the Garden
December 16, 2018 in Edible Landscaping, Landscape Design
by Kerry O’Kelly and Darcy Paige There is a growing understanding that people need to make a connection between their food and its sources, but this is often difficult to achieve. When we think of food in the landscape, we most often think of the vegetable patch. That is a great place to start. However, […]
Certification Journey at Dancing Tree
December 16, 2018 in SITES, Sustainability
by Margot Taylor Sustainability implies that the two-acre subdivision with the charming home and expansive lawn is a paradigm that must change. The whole American landscape ideology needs to change. What does this change look like? What is a sustainable landscape? To answer these questions and for other reasons, I chose to enter my property […]
Mitigation of Suburban Deforestation: The Important Role of Designers
December 16, 2018 in Landscape Design, Trees
by Marie Chieppo I looked out the window this morning and with great pleasure watched the wide variety of birds at my feeders. The speed at which they landed and took off reminded me of an airplane runway. My eyes followed to where they perched to consume their meals – the oldest and largest tree […]
Deluge and Drought: a Landscape Designed for Rainwater Management
November 15, 2018 in Rain Gardens, Stormwater Management
by Julia Bunn The summer of 2018 here in the Midwest (Chicago area), regional weather conditions had a huge effect on installation of a landscape on the property of one client. I’ve anchored my story in the unfolding of project events in relationship to the rain. After all, the main purpose of the entire landscape […]
Wildflowers of Summer
November 15, 2018 in Beneficials/Pollinators
by Carol Gracie Unlike spring, when most people are eager to get out in the woods to look for the first wildflowers of the year, summer tends to be a time of vacations, beach trips, family gatherings, and other pleasant diversions. Our many beautiful summer wildflowers are often overlooked, or only perceived as blurs of […]
Native Plants for the Small Yard: Easy, Beautiful Home Gardens that Support the Local Ecology
November 15, 2018 in Gardening Basics, Landscape Design, Native Plants
Text by Kate Brandes Illustrations by Tom Maxfield Social scientists have looked at how people feel about their yards, and their research shows that preferences are determined mostly by people’s desire to fit in with the neighbors. Unfortunately, native plants have developed something of a bad rap among homeowners as messy and hard to manage […]
Digging into Ecological Landscaping by Following Nature’s Lead
November 15, 2018 in Biodiversity, Landscape Design
by Kate Hartnett, Mary Tebo, and Marilyn Wyzga This article first appeared in the Winter 2009 issue of The Ecological Landscaper, the newsletter of the Ecological Landscape Alliance. As evidence of extreme weather and ecological stress become more obvious, ELA’s mission to “promote the design, installation and maintenance of landscapes that are guided by a […]
Urban Trees
October 15, 2018 in Trees, Urban Landscaping
A Pathway to Meeting Forest Sustainability Goals and a Vehicle To Get You There by Laurence Wiseman A few weeks ago, government officials from nearly 100 nations met to discuss progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It’s fair to assume that most who attended the meeting were both committed, and professionally competent. Ordinarily, you’d […]
Insect Pest Alert: Turpentine Beetles Infest Landscape White Pine
October 15, 2018 in Disease and Pests Management
by Bruce Wenning Introduction There are many species of bark beetles in the United States which are destructive to both hardwood and softwood tree species. Some have been historically devastating to many valuable timber species because certain bark beetle species kill their host trees when large populations build up to the point of overtaking their […]