[Jason T. Radice]

The bags that go around the tree trunk really tend to attract bugs of all types. And if not positioned properly, they can water too fast to the point of runoff (they are supposed to take hours). The other thing I don’t care for is that they tend to water in ONE SPOT, so the other side of the tree might not be getting water in windy or very dry locals or of the outlet is positioned on the downhill side of the root ball.  

They also can damage the bark if the person filling it is not careful. I’ve seen lots of trees lately at a very large installation with these things that some of the trees have had bark damage and some of it rubbed of from both the wind and less than careful handling of the bag.

[Jason T. Radice]

It will look like that, not because of sea level rise, but because the ground is sinking. They working to stabilize a bulkhead wall that has sunk over the years in the tidal basin. Remember, much of DC is built on a filled in swamp.

[Jason T. Radice]

I make a great deal of my own textures in a combination of photoshop and CAD. Say I need a slab or “architectural paver” made by companies like Hanover or Wausau. They really don’t have good textures, so I draw the grid that I need in CAD (the size of paver, like a 12×24). Save it off as a PDF and bring it into photoshop. I then either find a texture like a granite or I cobble something together. I also tile the texture by rotating it and overlapping then  airbrush erase portions. Clone stamp works well here, too. The goal is to make it look like you are not repeating a pattern. Put the texture layer under the line work. Then apply a sharp bevel on the line work and you have pavers. I’ve done lots of other brick and pavers in this similar way.

Another cool thing is the Masonry Designer from Interstate Brick. This make incredible textures (with a little massaging to make it seamless). You can choose individual bricks to change, vary the coursing, change the mortar color, make soldier courses, inlays, and decorative patterns with other colors. It is pretty much like you are building the wall. The you can save off a hi-res image. I use this A LOT. Then again, I’ve used quite a bit of Interstate Brick, too.

http://www.interstatebrick.com/masonry_designer/ 

[Jason T. Radice]

Most trees don’t need staking at all if planted properly. Most of the time it isn’t done right anyway, and just ends up hurting the tree.

[Jason T. Radice]

Totally agree, but the lumber and chemical companies have a point as well. There may be perfectly acceptable uses for their products, which may be greener than something else, but they are stigmatized because of generalizations about the industry.

As well, I always thought it was ironic that USGBC charged so much for their manuals if they want people to use them or become educated to take the exam. They should be free download PDFs like the Sustainable Sites Initiative guide is. USGBC is a business.

[Jason T. Radice]

There are vast differences in Landscape Architecture and landscape design. A Landscape Architect can be a landscape designer, but a landscape designer cannot be a Landscape Architect. Many of us who are LAs really don’t have a great deal to do with the plant side of things except for occasionally specifying them. But day to day, it just really isn’t there for much of the profession. I would suggest more research into many of the allied professions, such as taking landscape design (you don’t need a degree for this, you can get a certificate), horticulturalist, botanist, or even become a Master Gardener (usually through some University extension program). The degreed occupation that closely resembles LA, but is much more plant oriented is Ornamental Horticulture.

But if you are set on getting a degree in Landscape Architecture, go for the MLA. You already have a bachelors, and a 3 year MLA for some reason is generally looked upon more favorably than those of us with a 5 year BLA.

[Jason T. Radice]

There is also the issue that a great many LEED buildings do not perform any better, and in some cases, WORSE than their non-LEED counterparts. Worse even than older buildings. The design of many LEED buildings is far from the most energy efficient possibility. Architects know the “loopholes” to have a building still be LEED, but be an energy hog thanks to floor to ceiling windows, smaller HVAC systems that have to work harder, and poor energy modeling and simulations. They can’t even get the solar studies correct most of the time.

Many places are looking to get off of the LEED standard and are instead looking towards revamping building codes to achieve the same goals.

LEED is also private and proprietary, so no other accepted “competition” exists for the rating systems, so many governments are looking at not mandating LEED compliance for public buildings due to this fact. LEED also costs a bunch of money to implement.

[Jason T. Radice]

They use raw iron (rusty color) or ductile iron which creates a darker non-orange patina.

[Jason T. Radice]

Excellent point about the finish. Underfoot, the protective coating of intentional corrosion will wear off and cause the next layer to rust. That, and the surface of Cor-Ten is quite fragile and the ‘rust’ will come off on user’s feat. Cor-Ten does not equal corrosion or rust-proof, it is a mix of alloys in the steel that intentionally corrode and “seal off” the steel underneath to prevent that from corroding. But excessive moisture is still an issue, as is the wearing of the surface. Steel that is heavily tread upon with polish itself and become slippery if no precautions are made to create a non-slip texture on the surface.

Those truncated dome inserts you see from time to time are made from grey iron which naturally develops a patina and is corrosion resistant. That is why things like manhole covers and such are made from gray iron, not steel.

[Jason T. Radice]

Not a huge fan of the cloud, but I do have a free Dropbox account for larger file transfers and keeps me from setting up an FTP site that people never seem to be able to figure out.

I do self backups to hard disk, and plan on getting a web-capable NAS. You could also do the same thing with Linux and free/cheap software with an old PC. But I like the NAS because it isn’t power hungry, especially if you put SSDs in there.

Here are some hardware choices I have been looking at a bit. You can get a small one (1-2 TB) for less than $150 and not be reliant on wonky internet connections.

http://www.seagate.com/solutions/cloud/consumer-cloud/products/

http://www.microcenter.com/product/425150/My_Cloud_4TB_Personal_Cloud_Storage

[Jason T. Radice]

Read this:

http://www.deeproot.com/blog/pdfs/Comparing_Silva_Cells_and_Structural_Soil.pdf

I’ve heard the same issues with the long term performance of structural soils. It does not work as well as other methods and the trees don’t get nearly the size they do with trenching or mechanical support methods.

[Jason T. Radice]

I’d skip the structural soil altogether and redesign the structure of the sidewalk to span a tree trench or use something like Silva-Cells where you can use proper soil.

[Jason T. Radice]

Pretty much every municipality should be using the National Cad Standards for CAD and BIM by now, as this is the exact thing they were developed for.

http://www.nationalcadstandard.org/ncs5/

This is what you should be using, and this is what you should tell the municipality to use as this is the preference of the GSA (Federal) and most state DOTs.  

[Jason T. Radice]

Yes, most schools offer a track for students that do not have an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture. It is usually a three year full time program. You might be able to get an internship or even an entry level job, but not necessarily doing pure LA work, but you would be extremely valuable for your graphics and can try to pick up some LA knowledge while you are there. It sounds like you already have a good knowledge of design, and as I like to say a good designer can design just about anything once they “get it” as to what they are to design.

[Jason T. Radice]

If it is a public park area meant to be for everyone and not just skateboards, the preference would be to keep the uses separate. Around the city, the skateboarders have taken over various parks and thing that were never meant to be skated upon and have utterly destroyed very expensive landscapes. They also tend not to give two craps about the people around them, so there is very often pedestrian/skateboard conflicts almost always caused by the skateboarder. Little kids getting struck and smacked down onto the concrete, people trying t use handrails on stairs and so forth.

I’m not against skateboarding (I used to do it when I was a kid), but keep the uses separate for everyone’s safety and enjoyment.

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