June Scott

The South Lake Tahoe and North Lake Tahoe Demonstration Gardens show a plethora of California Native plants used in the high Sierra. These gardens give great examples of California Native plants at diffrent stages of development.

Agree with Blake — the Merritt program is great. I also volunteered at Tilden’s native nursery on Thursday mornings — propagating, etc. It was a great way to learn about natives. U.C. Botanical Garden and the Tilden Park (native) Botanical Garden are both stunning places to check out CA natives in a park setting.

you may also want to check out the horticulture program at Merritt College for i.d. classes. http://www.merrritt.edu

Rob,

There are a lot of good softwares out there, selection really depends on your situation and needs. I would “demo’ as many softwares as possible to see which one fits your office best.

For Autocad, Raincad for Autocad works well. It runs in Autocad as a toolbar, similar to Express Tools. You still have the full function of autocad while…[Read more]

I was able to find some irrigation training and I am more confident now. However, I am looking to purchase irrigation design software. What are the best choices out there? Land F/X? IrriCalc? RainCAD? Others?

yep, sure I could contribute! well done Jennifer

Whilst I am glad you all find the discussion useful – let’s avoid blank statements and overlooking the progress some applications had achieved. Every release of each application brings many new and sometimes very good features. Some of these upgrades make a huge difference and change the appeal of the software.
So for 2D – AutoCAD LT is g…[Read more]

I’ve been using Rhino and just a word of caution, it is primarily an industrial design 3D modeling program and I’ve found that it does not work well for large scale applications. It exceeds in designing small elements, which can then be exported into other programs that work better with land manipulation.

I think this conversation is great…[Read more]

After using AutoCAD for about 12 years of drafting, and then switching over to Vectorworks Landmark, I would say without hesitation that the advantages of working in Vectorworks over AutoCAD are immense. The only reason why I had been using the “industry standard” is because I didn’t seek anything better. Many take their work out of AutoCAD to do…[Read more]

Great idea for a group! As I accumulate drawings with each class, I am at a loss of what to do with it all, what is worthy to include in a portfolio and how best to create a portfolio.

Has anyone looked at Viz Terra?

Re Justin and Glass Factory Brownfield conditions.
Is there contamination of anything other than “broken glass” and in what condition would that contaminate be? .. Glass is just another form of sand, I wonder if you could tumble the contaminated ground in something like what they tumble new bricks to make them look old. Smooth off the edges, maybe…[Read more]

In regards to mitigation measures for the redevelopment of brownfield sites, the two design options that I am most familiar with, is to install a 40mil impervious linear and or install 3′ of clean fill.
The basic concept is that you are capping the areas of contaminated soils with a liner or with soil.

In regards to the impervious liner,…[Read more]

Will definitely browse a number of sites and see what they have. . thanks laura

Thanks laura….Am keeping my options open..so i would be interested in programs in US, maybe you could give details about there websites then i could check them out.

I have an interest in water management..and arid land reclamation. I have B.LA. and i want to pursue master sometime soon, wondering which is the best programme for me. Please share ur thoughts.

Thanks.

I want to sharpen my irrigation skills and train one of my coworkers. Are there any free online tutorials with practice problems that we could download? Any help would be much appreciated.

Susan told me you started this group! Sounds like a great idea! I am interested to see what ideas come out of it.

Excellent idea, Jennifer!

Hi Doug,

Check out the California Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, at http://www.owue.water.ca.gov/. It is in the process of final revision and is set to go into effect January 2010. It outlines the services and responsibilities of CIDs.

The CID process is pretty involved with classes and tests and can take awhile to get certified. If…[Read more]