There are many things that make streets beautiful. Vibrant street life, local businesses, beautiful homes, and buildings all create a sense of wellbeing and appeal. Yet one of the most immediately arresting elements, the things that instantly makes us stop and take note, are the least urban of them all — the trees. By this… More
There’s no arguing that, at first glance, the Silva Cell just looks like a hunk of black plastic. Its humble and basic form definitely doesn’t reflect the extensive design, testing, and engineering that has gone in to it. Here’s a brief overview of the why the Silva Cell is the way it is.
Back in March, we introduced our Stormwater Schematics for the first time. Last week’s webinar reminded me that I want to make sure everyone knows about these as they consider how they want to use the Silva Cell on their site. The Stormwater Schematics (look under the Standard Details, Specifications, & Schematics section) are there to help designers… More
Back in August 2010, Silva Cells were installed to create a bioretention planter at the Casey Trees headquarters. Now, the good folks at that same organization have added an information panel to explain how the system works.
A few weeks ago I wrote about some of the basics of working responsibly around wildlife. For a major karma power up, though, why not consider doing volunteer work? Arborists, especially experienced climbers, are uniquely valuable as volunteers for groups like the Hungry Owl Project, who need help placing owl boxes and returning fledgling raptors… More
It’s simple! A collection of some of my favorite New Yorker cartoons featuring trees.
Snowfall seems to have happened very late all across the country this winter, but now that it’s here, most people are trying to find ways to get rid of it. But salt, while effective for deicing roads and streets, can have extremely detrimental effects on trees, causing things such as necrosis, burned tips, or failure… More
The specifications for most construction project are filled with seemingly endless phrases of precision such as “not less than 100 percent maximum density,” “no variation greater then ¼,” “shall be at least .005 in thickness,” “minimum strength of 3,000 psi,” etc. Why is this? Buildings, bridges, roadways, utilities, and the like are all intended to… More
Through my work with DeepRoot, I’ve come to love and appreciate trees – especially urban trees – in a way that I never anticipated, so much so that I recently became a certified arborist. But my greatest love, since I was very little, was for animals. There is an intersection between these two interests, of… More
Finding influential tree people in any one industry or organisation can be difficult. Finding influential tree people in various disciplines to get around a table at the same time can be like trying to find the Loch Ness Monster or a Sasquatch: we hear about these rare things, but finding them is elusive. Since its… More
This post is now out of date! Please see the updated post here. In the day-to-day, we can become so focused on what isn’t working with the way we design and plant street trees that it can be difficult to focus on the people and places that are actually doing right by them. It’s just so… More
I read a lot of news stories about development projects described by words like sustainable, walkable, dense, and multi-use. These characteristics are experiencing a real surge in emphasis from both a design standpoint and from media coverage, and rightly so. They are some of the pillars of community design that support the physical and economic… More
Soil. Stormwater. Sustainable Infrastructure.
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