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at 60 yrs. I can tell you it’s always been as Roger Daltry said in the early seventies..”meet the new boss, same as the old boss” . If you think anything will change, I have a nice park in Manhattan I’d like to sell you….

You are fine, I reviewed my primary query and noticed a mis-communication (I have since edited my meaning).  
Most of the time designers simply note plaza with seating on the space and deem it worthy to support a community, or host a community involved charette.  This is good, but I believe is not the extent of public participation as a d…[Read more]

While it maybe impossible to achieve, several spaces are better than others to involve/invite the public to “own” the landscape.  According to Randolph Hester,”people seeking to design sociable neighborhoods must clarify the concept of “residents’ own” spaces, and then they must decide how to delineate those spaces. The word “own” refers to…[Read more]

 
A tapered lawn and flanking allées of littleleaf linden trees converge from atop a 100-foot-wide ceremonial staircase, pointing toward the tip of the island as if stretching toward infinity. 
Reminds me of the numbing power of the forced-lines of the vista from the plaza space between the buildings at the Salk Institute. Perhaps one of Kahn’s mo…[Read more]

Mark:
Man, those really irritating insects on one’s chest can be pesky little creatures. Glad you got that little bugger off.

I meant no intentional harm, nor foul in singling out your forum posting in the comparative and introductory part of this posting. My sole motivation, that you seemingly missed or skipped over, was simply this and remains…[Read more]

Looks like a skateboarders paradise!

Since the area will be receiving some foot traffic, lounge chairs etc…It seems that maybe a grass paver type application may be applicable. If there is a light weight grass pave system you could use with the correct grass, that may be a solution. The pavers may take some of the abuse away from the grass. But… you will likely run out of gro…[Read more]

Bingo. We’ve been investigating grasses that are tolerant of desiccation, full/part sun and resilient.
Havent found the right mix yet, but we’re in the hunt.

The situation is definitely not boggy – the opposite in fact. We are using a proprietary soil blend created for green roof plantings so I’d have to do a bit of research to see if it breaks down over a given amount of time. 

We are already specifying  a significant amount of sedges on the project, this particular area calls for something that c…[Read more]

Thanks again, I certainly will look into this. The initial thought was to hydroseed the area, however sprigs could be an interesting alternative. I’ll see if its rated for traffic. If anything good comes out of this I will let you know. 

Thanks again!

Remember that most not all green roofs are essentially alpine gardens. Full sun, lean soil, potentially limited water, windswept, etc. There are turf species that do well in that situation and as you stated fescues are one that will work.

Experiences (and completely successful examples) are few but growing in number. Most introductions of a socially and materially complex notions will come slowly. That being said we only serve to keep them slow when we over examine their components and manufacture contrast between those components. The practice of sustainability must be kept just…[Read more]

 They seem to have no problem going way beyond the somewhat boring, mundane and timid  (but still important) i.e.”How can I handle the grade change of this patio ?” and targeting something that may have profound impact, and sometimes even an immediate one.
This statement really bugs me and I need to get something off my chest.  
Why did you re…[Read more]

Thanks for the post. This is just …..Meh? Probably should not have ever been built, especially since he is already memorialized on the Mall. Halprin’s, while still much too large, is much, much nicer. I think I’ll pass, much.

You can’t have sustainable as long as somebody is able to bring in cheaper (in the short run) alternatives.  Try and legislate it and you’ll get calls for your head on the chopping block.
In an effort to get a lively response, I’ll go so far as to say ‘sustainable’ is impossible to achieve. 
 

Have you ever been near a synthetic grass that has full sun exposure on a hot day ?
You mention “soil”…what’s the mix ?    Does it break down over time ?  What is your irrigation ?
If the potential is a boggy situation in time, then go with somethng that grows in boggy situations.  Investigate what grows streamside and in wetlands where your…[Read more]

Look into this stuff. It is a rhizomatic low-growing variety of bluegrass. It only grows to 2″ or 3″ meaning low/no mowing and since it is rhizomatic, it self-heals and needs much less watering. And since I first spotted it, they seem to have a deal with LiveRoof to make it into green roof modules, which makes the whole operation that much e…[Read more]

Thanks Jason, this is really helpful. I’ve since found ways to “increase” the soil depth to about 5″. So there’s a small silver lining there.

As for synthetic, yeah, thats what many others have recommended as well. Problem is we have to hit a certain percentage for vegetated roof coverage. I’ve been looking into slow growing and hard fescues.…[Read more]

I’d go with synthetic turf on a roof like that. You just don’t have the soil depth for proper root growth. If this was in Florida, you may have been able to use a bermuda with very heavy maintenance and replacement schedules. You can try a creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) that is used on golf course putting greens. It is a cool season g…[Read more]

Some advice I utilize:
If you want to enter a specific firm, create graphics that are of the same quality and style of theirs.