Local Ecologist

Wild turkeys outside the Sacramento Tree Foundation office

Babylon is not the only setting for hanging gardens. Now, Armenia has one, too. Michael Kimmelman details the origins of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in his article for the NY Times titled "Unveiling the Hanging Gardens of Armenia" (Nov. 19, 2009). Kimmelman writes of the design, I arrived, having been invited to lecture at the opening, dimly aware of the center’s history, which began during the 1930s, when a prominent local architect, Alexander Tamanyan, conceived the Cascade, as it’s called, a towering, white travertine ziggurat of artificial waterfalls and gardens tumbling down a promontory that links the historic residential and business centers of the city. The Cafesjian Cascade reminded me of Oakland's Cleveland Cascade which connects a residential neighborhood to Lake Merritt and Oakland's downtown. The original essay was posted on September 22, 2006 and is reposted below. Enjoy (again). Cleveland Cascade, 1931. Source : clevelandcascade.org The Cleve

Plan view of Sunset Circle parking lot Trees, vegetated swales, slopes, and infiltration basins: four elements of the stormwater runoff management landscape at the Sunset Circle parking lot off Lake Merced Boulevard. The project was designed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Public Works. The management system was designed to slow and to clean stormwater runoff before it enters the lake. The landscape is an example of Low Impact Design (LID). Vegetated swale Vegetated swales were designed to capture stormwater runoff from the parking lot paving. Source : SF Public Utilities Commission Sunset Swales Project Summary Main infiltration basin The infiltration basins reduce and delay stormwater flows by capturing and holding runoff. They also allow stormwater to percolate into the soil, recharging groundwater and postponing or completely bypassing drainage into on-site catch basins. Source : SF Public Utilities Commission Sunset Swales Project Summa

by guest blogger Katydid on the Street (all photos courtesy of Katydid) When I was in St. Louis in September I visited the City Garden and was very impressed with this new park in Downtown St. Louis, not that far from the Arch, which has successfully incorporated native plants into a small, urban park design that is also packed with water features and artwork. The horticulturalists from the Missouri Botanical Garden helped with the selection of native plants for several rain gardens. Although it is a very constructed park, with many paths and benches to accommodate a high level of foot traffic, more than half the site is permeable. Read more about the landscape design here . I was impressed with the size of the trees that had been transplanted just last spring including a native oak ( Quercus genus) and red maple ( Acer rubrum ). This being St. Louis, there was an abundance of cardinal flower ( Lobelia cardinalis ) and there were also some very whimsical sculptures that made some o

Recently, we were forwarded such positive feedback about one of our essays for Human Flower Project that we decided to post the original essay here. Let us know what you think! Hawthorn in bloom - find the bee In urban settings, human tensions arise over the selection of large stature or small stature street trees. The “Right Tree in the Right Place” planting policy recommends that short stature trees – 25 feet or less – should be planted beneath utility lines because the canopies of these trees do not interfere with overhead wires. But emphasis on height alone neglects larger issues—of ecosystem value. Large stature trees—like red oak, London plane tree, or sweetgum—do interfere with overhead wires, but they also provide greater ecosystem benefits than do small stature trees: they sequester (store) more carbon, filter more particulate matter from the air, and intercept more rainfall via leaves, trunk, and soil (and slow runoff into storm drains). And, because of their larger crow

Update: Stay tuned for a review. With a comment (see below) to Garden Rant's contest - "Win the awesome book Flora Mirabilis " - I won a PDF copy of the book. Yesterday I received an email from Garden Rant's Susan Harris with details on receiving my prize. Source: Random House My comment: My plant geek credentials. Well, I studied for the Massachusetts arborist exam by exploring the grounds of the Arnold Arboretum and the streets of Boston.I took a very short course about mycology held at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. During the first class (of 3?), we learned about "chicken of the woods" among other 'shrooms. This mushroom stuck with me. While out on inspections for my job, I came across a large specimen which I picked, placed in a paper bag (luckily, I had one in the car), and cooked it in olive oil and s&p for dinner that night. Delicious! (My dinner mate was skeptical but the amazing aroma convinced him to try it.) Garden Girl is also

Going around in a circle has negative associations unless you are walking a labyrinth or walking inside Sir Winston Churchill Square; these circular walks are delightful! The small square, 0.05 acres, is located at 6th Avenue and Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, NYC. (I had forgotten the name of the square between visiting it and writing this post. I could not locate the square or its name on the NYC Parks Department website. I looked at an area map on the Parks website, saw the Downing Street Playground , and searched for "park near Downing Street Playground," and found the name of the square. Phew! The square is considered a part of the playground and thus is not mapped separately.) The square's sitting area was designed by George Vellonakis and built between 1998 and 1999 (the original parcel was purchased in 1943). The square is organized like an arboretum with specimen trees tagged with name plates. Among the trees are: Dawn redwood ( Metasequoia glyptos