ARTICLES Archives - Page 236 of 312

Integrated pest management combined with landscape design is the most effective path to healthy landscapes, says professor of landscape and horticultural technology Jan-Marie Traynor, who points out that the lack of this insight in the past promoted large-scale plant devastations that might have been prevented had urban landscapes been approached differently.

Keeping Pests at Bay

Integrated pest management - or IPM, as it has become widely known -- is a concept that emerged about 20 years ago when landscape professionals and others involved in the management of plants and the land began incorporating its techniques into their landscape installation and management projects. Unfortunately, however, the concept of pest management is all too often seen as the exclusive province of those engaged in landscape maintenance: As a rule, designers and design/build contractors rarely pay more than lip service to pests in general and give even less attention to considering them as part of an integrated approach. At the risk of being labeled a "tree hugger," I believe it's time for everyone involved in the various landscape professions to embrace IPM. The simple truth is that, as landshapers, we need to pick up on the lessons of our collective experience. As the saying goes, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it - as we have, over and

En Espanol

It's a plain fact: In many regions of the United States these days, the vast majority of construction laborers speak Spanish. That's a big deal because, as watershapers, it is our responsibility to convey the design mission for our projects as well as all-important client wishes to these talented craftspeople - not to mention the basic, general communications that come with managing the work of individuals and small groups of people. Where I work in Texas, this is the simple reality - and I know it's true as well in California, Arizona, Florida, Nevada and many other parts of the country. As a consequence, I think it makes sense for those responsible for guiding the overall efforts of these workers to be able to communicate with them in their own language. After all, these are the folks who are installing the details we've so carefully designed and engineered. For my part, I'm trying to elevate my communications skills by

Corner Control

With some details, seeing is believing. That's certainly the case with the one we'll consider in this column, where the images will do much of the work in defining a simple but elegant way of making a statement with any raised bond beam or wall. Yet again, it's testimonial to the good things that happen when watershapers know how to control materials and infuse their work with visual appeal. Most of the time when pool people build small or medium-size walls, they'll automatically be topped with some form of coping or capstone - anything from poured-in-place concrete or stone to brick or some pre-fabricated coping. Many of these walls are

A beautiful landscape will always appeal to those privileged enough to walk into and through the exterior space, says Mary Donovan, but from her perspective as both landscape and interior designer, true and full success is achieved only when the views from inside the house and out to the landscape are just as compelling as is the outdoor experience.

Inside Out

It has always bothered me a bit that designers tend to restrict their thinking to just the physical area that fits the definition of their design specialty. Landscape designers stick to outdoor spaces and interior designers work on interior ones - and seldom the twain shall meet. To my way of thinking, that's shortsighted - which is just one of the reasons I'm both a landscape designer and an interior designer. I would argue that, when it is appropriate, professionals on both sides of the divide need to open their eyes and work with the visual flow through and between clients' interior and exterior spaces to achieve optimal design results. As landscape professionals, we already accept the importance of the "borrowed view," a wonderful term used to describe the deliberate capturing of other properties' assets by creating living or artificial frameworks that make them an artistic component of our clients' landscapes. If we are good at capturing neighboring views for our landscapes, I'd suggest it's a short step to make certain that we achieve the same sorts of wonderful views between the

Changing Your Tune

As designers, we learn to evaluate landscapes and watershapes with critical eyes, deciding if we like a plant palette, for example, or if a hardscape makes sense or a watershape is sited properly in a yard. These critical skills are important, because clients hire us to pull all of those elements together and develop solutions that suit their needs as well as those of the setting. On rare occasions, a design/build project will stay on a straight course from initial concept to execution. Usually, however, I know that any ideas or biases I carry onto a job site will change and become more complex as I get to know my clients' wants, needs and desires. In other words, my critical skill - my designer's point of view - is consistently

Designing with Stone

Whether laid flat, stacked, loose or alone as an accent, stone is an integral part of most garden designs. Whether used in walls, paths or decks and no matter the type, it's a versatile material and knowing a bit about using it (and how to avoid problems) can be a tremendous help to any landshaper. These days, stone is quarried and can be moved to where you are from anyplace around the globe, provided your clients are ready to pick up the eye-popping cost of freight. But almost every area also has local sources of supply - a big advantage not only because you and your clients can easily see what you're getting, but also because local stone tends to fit better into naturalistic landscapes. Beyond the practicalities of

Riding a Wave

If you've been paying any attention to the media lately, you may have noticed that watershaping is "in" as a big-time topic for television, books, magazines, newspapers and other forms of mass communication. Never in all my years as part of this industry can I recall a time during which the subject of beautiful custom pools, spas, fountains, ponds, streams and interactive bodies of water has won so much attention. It seems as if our society has finally caught on to the power, beauty and excitement of the art form many of us

Combining Solo Players

As the possibilities of learning more and creating unique gardens take hold, the give and take of landscape design can become a kind of addiction both for designer and client. I have experienced this phenomenon again and again, but only occasionally has it been as pronounced as in the case of the shade garden featured here: It's a wonderful example of how this constant drive to create new and beautiful plant combinations and visual planes can grip any landscape professional. A dedicated gardener, my client

Technical Ecstasy

I've always found it interesting that most of us have such a clear divide in our minds between technical and aesthetic thinking. Science tells us that our brains conduct analytical and logical thought processes on one side and creative and emotional thought processes on the other - and that certainly makes sense when you consider

Vertical Gardening

Inspiration - literally, the breath of an idea - can come from any number of sources. While studying the work of 20th-century designer Beatrix Farrand at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., for example, I spotted the planting combination of climbing pillar rose and Wisteria and thought her brilliant for having covered the woody Wisteria stems with rose flowers and