The Landscape Blog

Autumn Leaves, and Trees

Thu, 8 Sep 2011 17:33:18 -0400

I would like to say that I am not a huge fan of evergreen trees. They seem to have a single dimension: green. Deciduous trees, on the other hand, turn decay into a display that gives us a sense of both change and continuity. Trees that lose their leaves are also quite lovely in the winter. When chosen and grouped properly, their bare branches can do a better job at screening than the evergreens.
But the fall is their moment of glory. It goes beyond the beautiful color. The decaying leaves give us the scent and sound of autumn: musky and crunching underfoot. Sure, it’s the last hurrah before winter sets in, but that is what life is all about. Change.
Did you know that fall is the best time to plant a tree? If a tree is selected in October, you’ll see its autumn color and know what kind of display it will provide every year. And planting just before the tree enters dormancy allows it to “settle in” so that it is ready to take off in the spring and have an uninterrupted growing season.

What's a Landscape Architect, Penny?

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:11:47 -0400

When I tell people I’m a landscape architect, they usually nod and say, “Oh!” with an expression that looks both interested and clueless. One thing I’d like to do in this blog is interview some people to find out what they think landscape architects do. Every once in awhile I will include a very short movie clip so that we can see what they say.

"Buzzing" Around

Tue, 5 Jul 2011 11:18:18 -0400

If you have ever been to Italy, you know that many of its urban streets are ancient, narrow, and congested. Seaside towns also get crowded when people flock to them in the summer from Milan and Rome. The Vespa is a vehicle that is perfectly suited to this landscape.
As the story goes, it was created after the WWII when Italian landscape was ravaged by war. People were suffering economically, and it was hard to get around. The Vespa was designed for them.
It is a well-loved vehicle in Italy and elsewhere: it’s comfortable and splash-proof, so you can ride it to work a good part of the year. I can personally attest to the fact that it is possible to carry several bags of groceries up a steep hill on one of these beautiful, fun scooters.
Today the Vespa’s fuel economy makes it a environmentally friendly way to get around - and it makes me think of the possibilities for our landscape if we downsize our motor vehicles. Maybe we could chip away at those parking lots!