In 1982, I was in China studying landscape architecture and architecture at the University of Nanjing. The central Chinese government had recently announced they would recommit to a nationwide multi-billion tree planting program, originally initiated in 1978. By then the Cultural Revolution was over, Mao Zedong was dead, the Gang of 4 had been jailed, and… More
There is extensive evidence that soil is an amazing tool for improving the quality of water runoff, for reducing peak flow volume, and for storing water for use by the tree and for groundwater recharge in urban settings. We also know that trees in soil are basically “added capacity” – that is, while the soil… More
Landscape architects, architects, and engineers have many tools available to them in the design of healthy long-lived trees, and no single one of them can guarantee the establishment or long-term success of the trees. These tools need to be applied within a larger understanding of general principles of arboriculture, soil, and urban conditions in order… More
It’s not unusual to find a piece of art or jewelry over 500 years old in a museum’s collection. These precious artifacts are (rightly) treated with great care commensurate with their value. Yet an inch of topsoil, which may have taken more than 500 years to develop, is commonly abused, mismanaged or discarded in the… More
Nothing epitomizes the spirit of the Pacific Northwest quite like wild Pacific Salmon. If you don’t live in this amazing part of the world, let me explain: Salmon and the clean water and healthy forests they rely on are integral to the quality of life that west coast residents love, cherish, and dream of when… More
Part 1 of this series described quantifying tree and soil stormwater benefits for tree benefit calculators and for stormwater credits. Today we’ll be going more in depth on single event stormwater models. This will simply be an introduction to various methods to quantify the stormwater benefits of tree stormwater control measures (Tree SCMs) and is… More
Most urban sites have some amount of mineral soil in place when the time comes to install plant material, yet these soils are often assumed – erroneously – to be unsuitable. Historically there have been two approaches to this situation. The default option is to ignore the problem, or make minor modifications such as digging… More
Trees and soil have the potential to provide significant stormwater benefits. Trees are also valued for many other benefits, and are already part of virtually all development. They can be integrated even into the densest urban areas – and many cities have tree requirement ordinances, so trees are not only desired, but also mandatory. It… More
What does “good” soil mean? It depends on your point of view. If you are engineer, you like soil that drains well or compacts easily to bear weight. If you are a farmer, you want soil that is fertile, easy to till, and soaks up water without runoff. If you are a tree… well, what… More
In March we hosted a webinar where Jonathan Page, an engineer working in Dr. Bill Hunt’s lab at North Carolina State University (NCSU), provided a stormwater engineering perspective on the design principles, treatment processes, and implementation of using Silva Cells as a stormwater control measure. Current research findings and a design case study were included in… More
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 3 years, you know that California is having a major drought. According to the Institute for Public Policy, the three-year period between 2011 and 2014 were the driest on record since record keeping began in 1895, made worse by record high temperatures in 2014. It’s… More
Research shows that tree stormwater control measures (SCMs) provide excellent stormwater benefits. With trees, however, come leaves – and leaf litter that falls on impervious street surfaces can actually add unwanted nutrients to stormwater runoff (leaf litter provides many benefits on pervious surfaces). The contribution of leaf litter to nutrients in stormwater runoff is more… More
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
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