Biosecurity and plant health is an awkward area for landscape architects to engage in: we tend to be generalists and biosecurity is a fast-changing and highly technical field with environmental, political and economic implications. Nevertheless, it’s an essential strand to what we do and understanding how our designs and actions affect biosecurity is a challenge.
Plant Thesaurus
Right plant right place
Finding the right plant for the right place is one of the biggest challenges for landscape architects. Henrik Sjoman’s paper on matching the range of tree species to urban environments shows how to do this with trees, and with the recent publication of the BSBI’s distribution database, we can start to use UK data to help us. There are loads of potential applications for this, whether it’s drawing up plant lists for meadow restorations, highways verges, SuDS schemes, street trees and community woodlands…
Learning from Wharram Quarry
I visited Wharram Quarry earlier this week and whilst marvelling at the huge orchid display, I reflected on Thomas Rainer and Claudia West’s book and what lessons landscape architects can learn from places like this.
Winter colours
When we talk about winter colour in the landscape, we usually think of witch hazels, crocuses and dogwoods, but a recent site visit to the Yorkshire Arboretum was a great reminder of the richness and complexity of the winter palette.
Folk House roof meadow
The Folk House roof meadow is an experiment to make the most of every square inch in the city, maximising the potential for biodiversity and a riot of colour wherever we find it.
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Using Magnolias as street trees
Botanising holoparasites
Bristol Botanic Gardens
Westonbirt Arboretum
Tollesbury Wick
Earlier this summer I returned to Tollesbury for the wedding of two old friends- it was a magical weekend, seeing people I’d long lost touch with and walking again through the marshes. For any who are interested in botany, birding, naturalism generally or indeed just like long walks, I can’t recommend Tollesbury Wick highly enough- just check out these satellite images. The marshes are fascinating at any time of year and when I lived here, I’d happily spend an afternoon watching the subtle changes in colour (and temperature) and the rise and fall of the tide. Happily, the wedding coincided with the flowering of perhaps my favourite marsh plant, Common Sea-Lavender.
Anisodontea capensis El Royo
2m tall, flowering for 6 months straight in a north-facing garden on thin Yorkshire Wolds chalk and unquestionably the finest plant I grow: Anisodontea capensis El Royo.