Subscribe

Green Infrastructure

Arbor Day is Friday, April 25th. To honor this holiday, Ellyn Shea takes us through the unexpected history of this event, and points out that the way we celebrate Arbor Day may have more to do with what’s best for politics than with what’s best for trees. -Leda The first Arbor Day in the world... More

“What about utilities?” This is probably the most frequently asked question I hear on projects where the Silva Cell is being used. And I get it! Utilities are an extremely important consideration. As DeepRoot’s technical manager, I am often the person responsible for explaining what the different options are for working around utilities in pre-construction... More

In 1978, James Urban had a chance meeting with a man named Tom Perry that forever changed the course of his career. Tom was a microbiologist with a PhD from Harvard. He was working for the Forest Service and was assigned to the urban forest department because, to hear Jim tell it, Tom didn’t fit... More

In October, I wrote about some of our concerns with Philadelphia’s highly-lauded green infrastructure plan, now codified in their Green Streets Design Manual. This plan has received more praise and recognition than any other citywide green infrastructure policy that I’m aware of (here are a few examples). I’m thrilled to see a major green infrastructure... More

Last year, The Kestrel Design Group developed a formula for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to estimate evapotranspiration benefits from trees to include in their stormwater crediting system. This formula is one of the first – or possibly the first – in the country to formally quantify this benefit.  I spoke to Nathalie Shanstrom, a landscape architect... More

The World Forestry Center is a nonprofit educational institution that was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1964. Their mission is to educate and inform people about the world’s forests, trees, and environmental sustainability and to increase public awareness of the benefits of sustainable forestry management – environmental, social and economic. Rick Zenn is the Senior... More

This article tells the story in words and pictures about the evolution of a sidewalk on a single block in San Francisco. The 20th Street Biophilic Landscape is on 20th Street between Alabama and Florida Streets. This block is a flat area that was on the edge of or part of a tidal marsh. In... More

Downtown Fort Worth, Texas was a popular hangout for outlaws, cattleman, gamblers, cowboys, and many legendary names from the glory days of the Old West. The site’s historic architecture and rich heritage has been preserved through the development of Sundance Square, a 35-block collection of restored and replicated turn-of-the-century storefronts, outfitted with colorful landscaping and... More

In commemoration of the 4 year anniversary of this blog, Green Infrastructure for Your Community, I sat down with Ms. Leda Marritz, the woman behind it all, to reflect on the last 4 years of the blog, the topics she finds most compelling, and some of her own story, inspirations, and aspirations, both inside and... More

If you follow us on Twitter, you might have heard that we’re headline sponsors of this year’s Trees, People, and the Built Environment conference in Birmingham, UK (April 2 – 3, 2014). This conference, which is hosted by the Institute of Chartered Foresters and was last hosted in 2011, seeks to gather professionals in different... More