Landscaping Principles Practices

While landscaping has the potential to be part of the solution to certain environmental problems, the quest for beauty can also produce effects that are harmful to the environment. Sustainable Landscaping: Principles and Practices examines landscape practices that adversely affect the environment, which occur in the process of constructing, impleme

Succeeding as a landscape professional requires not only mastery of horticultural skills but also of the business aspects of the industry. Landscaping: Principles and Practices thoroughly examines both sides of the business, providing the knowledge necessary to perform multiple skills expertly, efficiently and profitably. It teaches such skills as graphic design, installation, maintenance, pricing, human resource management, contract development and the use of industry-specific technology. The reader will find that the list of industry organizations and related Web sites provide leads to further sources of in-depth information.

SUPERB EXECUTION RELIES UPON RIGOROUS PROJECT DOCUMENTATION A project will only be built as well as it is documented. This publication focuses on the key documentation needs of the landscape architectural design and construction documentation process. That includes both "design documentation" and "construction documentation" as well as all that which occurs in the transition from one phase to the other. Documentation requirements include those components necessary to explore and define design intent, logic, physical proposals, and ultimately, the specific components included within construction and bid documents. Discover how proper documentation facilitates every stage of the design process from pre-planning to construction, and leads to a highly resolved built outcome. Understand the principles behind these documentation practices. Implement best practices specific to each documentation phase and drawing, from title block and cover sheet design to soil plans and plant protection. Organize keynoting systems, cross-referencing and interdisciplinary coordination amongst multiple consultants and vendors. Study sample project documents from a leading landscape architecture firm to better understand the elements and benefits of complete and well-coordinated project documentation. These standards have been time-tested by over 150 designers at the industry leading landscape architecture firm Design Workshop, reflecting a range of project types, including parks, streetscapes, urban spaces and over-structure construction. This guide shares the methods behind the success, to facilitate exceptional built outcomes through principled documentation practices.

Today, there is a growing demand for designed landscapes—from public parks to backyards—to be not only beautiful and functional, but also sustainable. Sustainability means more than just saving energy and resources. It requires integrating the landscapes we design with ecological systems. With Principles of Ecological Landscape Design, Travis Beck gives professionals and students the first book to translate the science of ecology into design practice. This groundbreaking work explains key ecological concepts and their application to the design and management of sustainable landscapes. It covers biogeography and plant selection, assembling plant communities, competition and coexistence, designing ecosystems, materials cycling and soil ecology, plant-animal interactions, biodiversity and stability, disturbance and succession, landscape ecology, and global change. Beck draws on real world cases where professionals have put ecological principles to use in the built landscape. The demand for this information is rising as professional associations like the American Society of Landscape Architects adopt new sustainability guidelines (SITES). But the need goes beyond certifications and rules. For constructed landscapes to perform as we need them to, we must get their underlying ecology right. Principles of Ecological Landscape Design provides the tools to do just that.