In 2010, my colleague Peter MacDonagh attended the American Society of Consulting Engineers (ASCE) conference and emerged with a chart from a presentation given by Bram Gunther and Fiona Watt, of the New York City Department of Parks, that listed the urban tree canopy information for about two dozen U.S. cities. Ever since then, I’ve… More
This area used to be a bog. Acidic water leached minerals for hundreds of thousands of years, forming a hardpan, making drainage very slow. The soil is unfavorable for plant growth in several ways – it is extremely acidic, aluminum levels are high enough to be called toxic, nutrients are low, and the poor drainage… More
Downtown Lincoln, NE. Flickr credit: Edward Stojakovic A trees-and-stormwater Silva Cell installation is set to take place in Lincoln, NE in July that will provide over 400 cubic feet of soil per tree to 12 trees in a parking lot. This will actually be our fourth installation in this city of just over 260,000 people…. More
(Read “Rise of the Curb Cut: Part 1 here). The fundamental behavior of stormwater in curbs and street design is simple. Each creature, each inanimate object, each molecule of everything functions and abides by its simple and powerful law every day: gravity. From this basic concept, direct parallels can be drawn between the design elements… More
The city of Derby has been in the midst of an ambitious urban regeneration project since 2003, a key aspect of which has been the development of a public realm strategy that increases pedestrian freedom and enhances major civic spaces such as the Derby Railway Station. Derby City Council laid out a plan to modernize… More
Before anyone is lost to their thoughts or misgivings about the title of this post, this is not a piece on Germany in World War II or military strategies. Rather, this is about how odd parallels can be drawn between streets and nature, the built environment and natural one, and how an understanding of history… More
The Silva Cell has officially been designated as an approved equal for bioretention facilities by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Designers and engineers who want to incorporate Silva Cells in to their projects can now refer to the official document, Using the Western Washington Hydrology Model (Version 4.0) to Size Silva Cells for Runoff… More
There are lots of ecological arguments for creating more green roofs, particularly in urban environments. Until now, though, I had never considered one additional benefit – certifying them as wildlife habitats. I started thinking about this after reading an item on the S.W.I.M. Coalition website about the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) of Grand… More
Alex Shigo, one of the most famous plant biologists and fathers of arboriculture, is widely credited with making huge improvements to standard industry practices. One of his famous sayings was an exhortation to “touch trees.” I’ve adapted this to my own related specialty, urban trees and soils, which is why I often tell landscape architects and other… More
We have a few video projects in the works, but this is the first one to be completed: a 90-second video showing how to assemble and install a UB 18-2 root barrier.
A couple of years ago, I wrote hopefully about the City of San Francisco’s plans to revamp our main thoroughfare, Market Street. The project, which began in 2009 and planned to improve transit, pedestrian spaces, and business opportunities, represented a tremendous opportunity for Market Street to meet the grandness of its proportions. I hoped for… More
What do trees really need? Sunlight, surely. Water, and nutrients from the soil. But do they need pruning? Some trees are said to be self-pruning, shedding dead limbs or even overly heavy live limbs. Trees and plants have evolved for millennia without our intervention.
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
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