Land8 | Les Ballard | Activity https://land8.com/members/lesballard/activity/ Activity feed for Les Ballard. Tue, 07 Apr 2026 20:35:21 +0000 https://buddypress.org/?v=6.0.0 en-US 30 hourly 2 2aa8ce9fc3c80ada9573c85a84fe2e14 Les Ballard replied to the topic Best vine for full sun trained on wire on concrete wall in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/best-vine-for-full-sun-trained-on-wire-on-concrete-wall/page/2/#post-156116 Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:54:23 +0000 My edit didn’t work.  Added features may have an overflow and so should the planting base some inches up maybe being led to a drain with the 2 small tubes initially put in a single piece of hose.  Both may be pricked with wire back up them occasionally to remove any clogging.    
The planting base can be shielded from the sun by a bent raked lip…[Read more]

]]> 0 bb35806c893e685c2da2bf43b2bebbe9 Les Ballard replied to the topic Best vine for full sun trained on wire on concrete wall in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/best-vine-for-full-sun-trained-on-wire-on-concrete-wall/page/2/#post-156117 Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:11:05 +0000 there are many varieties of hedera – maybe a normal, a yellow and a variegated ivy with a honeysuckle or 2 for winter berries and summer aroma – i would let these climb up a false screen and keep off the wall as much as possible.  Ivy changes to an evergreen leaf from the top down, when it reaches the top, then having flowers and berries (which…[Read more]

]]> 0 6502f8f63eae536063495a2ae3ad01d1 Les Ballard replied to the topic Name these trees... found in North Wales. in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE https://land8.com/forums/topic/name-these-trees-found-in-north-wales/#post-156322 Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:41:21 +0000 Oh you couldnt do it any more too many health and safety issues you would need armed guards to protect folk from committing suicide by eating the seeds lol,

]]> 0 f5895a6bb8149821592cde19fd25b692 Les Ballard replied to the topic Rainwater Harvesting in Utah in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/rainwater-harvesting-in-utah/#post-156145 Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:33:06 +0000 right, you cant desalinate the salt lake and melt water reduction in many years may dry that out anyway – recycling what you have is king unless you convince residents to bath with a friend a few times per fill and not shower lol.  The stat on irrigation is obviously key in that so much h2o is lost to evaporation and better ways of irrigation, eg…[Read more]

]]> 0 afb02332ea77365e36ccd011cff9e685 Les Ballard replied to the topic Renewal on the East Coast and elsewhere in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/renewal-on-the-east-coast-and-elsewhere/#post-156153 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 22:01:03 +0000 I am obliged for your responses.  I agree with the attitude of needing nothing and noone to continue to live in some areas – whereas we should know our place more and be called upon to work together – and as for the barrier, it needs to be finished before the next surge, not after all returns to normal or it may never get the chance.  Just build i…[Read more]

]]> 0 92108dfab0ccb0be78c06ec3328fa583 Les Ballard replied to the topic Rainwater Harvesting in Utah in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/rainwater-harvesting-in-utah/#post-156147 Fri, 02 Nov 2012 05:14:53 +0000 yes grey water tanks are fine as are 3 pond filtration systems to get back to drinking water and underground reservoirs but planning new areas from an underground cistern upwards carrying all services seems best.  For donkey’s years people have said we should save the rain, at least and recycled water from sewers but I see it done nowhere really…[Read more]

]]> 0 42b57ca70574e4409af78ccaf1a937e8 Les Ballard replied to the topic Name these trees... found in North Wales. in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE https://land8.com/forums/topic/name-these-trees-found-in-north-wales/#post-156326 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:28:41 +0000 Laburnum in the local park with wisteria and ash on a metal framework.  This was a walled garden to a cluniac priory.  Because a few children suffered and the public became newly aware – for their generation – of the poisonous nature especially of the seeds, which little children might think were peas or sweets, many were cut from suburban g…[Read more]

]]> 0 2c27ba31e7bd2126916ac3dddab259aa Les Ballard replied to the topic Community Tree Plantings in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/community-tree-plantings/#post-156722 Wed, 22 Aug 2012 01:01:13 +0000 There are disparate groups but also groups of groups and they advise members on various issues.  There are likely groups wherever folk think of “green” protests and so-called tree-huggers.  For you that may mean those who try to save the redwoods in Ca. and those working in the Seattle area.  Wherever there are permaculture (which google) pr…[Read more]

]]> 0 2fb9580915e8cea5af6cd13d5c2140ce Les Ballard replied to the topic Community Tree Plantings in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/community-tree-plantings/page/2/#post-156732 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:11:30 +0000 I am sorry but have to ask, without really expecting a reply, why your firm has been asked to do this apparently with no adequate brief.
I have read the other replies and can only add these points:
     It could be good to plan 4 phases – street trees, others say in parks, both using paving and other aspects that may take some time, money and ef…[Read more]

]]> 0 e147fb8a98153655016f1a9110bb5835 Les Ballard replied to the topic container plants-winter care in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/container-plants-winter-care/#post-156746 Sun, 12 Aug 2012 00:07:32 +0000 If you do not know much about an area’s environment or a subject yourself it may be an idea to pencil your idea into a sketch then seek help from someone who does know stuff. A gardener would say you can remove whole trees if you have storage, leave them out in all weathers if roots are protected from frost and you can protect foliage with fleece…[Read more]

]]> 0 e4db1335493b3d33d8c0d80d0e711865 Les Ballard replied to the topic Wildlife Crossing: Good idea? in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/wildlife-crossing-good-idea/#post-156869 Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:51:32 +0000 htt://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_crossing
http://www.wildlandscpr.org/evaluation-wildlife-crossing-structures-their-use-and-effectiveness
http://www.badgerland.co.uk/help/helpbadgers/tunnels.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi-9ycF45YE
http://uktv.co.uk/blighty/stepbystep/aid/600114
I hope these links assist and it will be seen that…[Read more]

]]> 0 02d61fc6ae67a48733f87d7ea1c7bbe6 Les Ballard replied to the topic Writing Britain in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION http://land8.com/forums/topic/writing-britain/#post-157547 Mon, 14 May 2012 09:21:11 +0000 I think we have said before, in effect, what we have read and learned makes us the individuals we are and different sources will shape different people different ways.  Listening to Kate Bush go on about Cathy and Heathcliff on the Yorkshire moors. or alternatively reading the novel Wuthering Heights, may give different people a similar…[Read more]

]]> 0 116a7b1defab71da405c61951fdb7984 Les Ballard replied to the topic Big Box Parking Lots in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE https://land8.com/forums/topic/big-box-parking-lots/#post-157799 Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:50:47 +0000 There certainly are problems around the world with this.  No-one really wants to provide a green space for any reason save making it more conducive to dropping your wallet and leaving as soon as possible.  It only needs a little thought, however, to actually attract shoppers with planting, even if they do not start out that way.
What I mean is a m…[Read more]

]]> 0 156feb5ed10e7684dbf020dd9aa44097 Les Ballard replied to the topic Low Impact Development in Cold Climates in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/low-impact-development-in-cold-climates/#post-157773 Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:17:16 +0000 will you not be interested in desert living and the drylands competition mentioned on here?  I realise insulation is the other way around, you want to keep heat in but, like everyone, you want cheap power.  Surely there are many correlations.  You may, however, want to think about reducing snow to water before the spring melt and, in a virgin ar…[Read more]

]]> 0 d81238f6323d8d90a94b77d92510462a Les Ballard replied to the topic Walking in America in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/walking-in-america/#post-157842 Sun, 15 Apr 2012 04:35:14 +0000 Parents are saved from walking their little kids to school here by walking buses.  Different adults each day, though maybe the same collection as you always get inactive folk in any group, collect the children from their doors and they are walked to school in company.  How the adults are qualified to do this I don’t know, some adults seem unable t…[Read more]

]]> 0 1b3ab94272d9c8951bc38367c2ceaa9c Les Ballard replied to the topic Outdoor Fireplace Standards in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION http://land8.com/forums/topic/outdoor-fireplace-standards/#post-157862 Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:19:14 +0000 A yard with a draft pipe and depth of a fireplace.
Several thousand years ago folk decided that it was a good idea to put a hole in the roof of their roundhouse to let the smoke out but, fireplaces as such did not really get going until a thousand years ago.  Quickly then, however, they found that one of the most important things to put in a…[Read more]

]]> 0 5b1e6ee69568d7cf45cbe0bae1bc3aee Les Ballard replied to the topic 1958 article by Jane Jacobs in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/1958-article-by-jane-jacobs/#post-158465 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:57:58 +0000 People really want seats but they do not want to get wet, their rear shredded like on a mandolin by metal blades, piles (the myth persists though cold is an issue) or accosted / mugged.  The UK – in my part at least – used to have bus shelters made of wood and thatched like a little shed but, instead of modernising these, they have become a metal…[Read more]

]]> 0 31f1a6f7128d502b3cd75910842f0914 Les Ballard replied to the topic Getting Drawings from Tracing Paper to Standard Paper in the forum GRAPHICS https://land8.com/forums/topic/getting-drawings-from-tracing-paper-to-standard-paper/#post-158475 Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:38:05 +0000 Yes, even for remaining smokers there are now so few brands of cigarettes with nice white shiny trays you can flatten, you have to waste a whole recycled envelope back on a sketch.  I think some folk contributed to a thread a while back saying the magic and evidence of genius associated with drawing an idea for a client on a napkin over lunch, or…[Read more]

]]> 0 842361888df5fc8501dcd96d75c21fbf Les Ballard replied to the topic Urban Farming - What a great idea!! in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE https://land8.com/forums/topic/urban-farming-what-a-great-idea/#post-158638 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:20:35 +0000 we tend to call these city farms here and many can be found on google so i thought i’d just give the link for a bunch city farms are helped by and/or belong to = http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/

]]> 0 69e976e91e365e7aafffbd3e89cf32bc Les Ballard replied to the topic is Ivy good for walls? and I don't mean your Aunt Ivy in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/is-ivy-good-for-walls-and-i-dont-mean-your-aunt-ivy/#post-158554 Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:07:34 +0000 Ivy changes leaves from the top down once it tops out and so proceeds from maiden to mother as it flowers and, in ivy month very often, crone – most of October – then hag as the berries rot on the vine in the late winter/spring.  Of course it never goes back to the maiden stage and leaf shape we like, we have to wait for new shoots.  Cutting an i…[Read more]

]]> 0 c77dd62e653069441be7f97bd24bdbd0 Les Ballard replied to the topic Real Landscape Architecture, no certification required in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/real-landscape-architecture-no-certification-required/#post-159640 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:23:28 +0000 I have spoken before about making living furniture, eg growing trees as a bench or a shelter, with a tree leaning away a little way off as a lightning conductor, that is surprisingly vandal proof. The fact is we have rules, regulations, laws and lawsuits re safety but anything we can do to ameliorate the use of cold plastic and concrete seems a…[Read more]

]]> 0 caffc50f6593cb82160f04cceb5376c0 Les Ballard replied to the topic Mediterranean Climate-North Africa and Urban Design in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/mediterranean-climate-north-africa-and-urban-design/#post-158902 Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:11:33 +0000 they aint all lengthy but cheers! lol  As for thebook I was waiting until I’m old and grey.  Oh!  I am – rofl

]]> 0 88df1d3f176dfc6d030a2e8225a70b31 Les Ballard replied to the topic How are you irrigating trees? in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE https://land8.com/forums/topic/how-are-you-irrigating-trees/#post-158857 Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:19:14 +0000 Some of the English country houses had exceptional owners – not to mention landscapers – and systems from the first own electricity lit home, to diverting rivers, to creating lakes and ice houses to get ice and store it for cooking/drinks, etc.  The overwhelming rule I think I may have discerned is, however much trouble you have to go to…[Read more]

]]> 0 45c31afcc45830412a6d13feff5a945b Les Ballard replied to the topic adventure or extreme sports resort in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/adventure-or-extreme-sports-resort/#post-158868 Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:18:13 +0000 o agreed nick i was listing things to do in between more xtreme stuff (while sporting a plaster cast? lol) 

its nice there are slopes but u need some kind of a flat area – maybe you can chop off a mountain and hollow another out as labour isn’t a problem and, re the ganges, someone has to risk any suggested water flow problems associated with…[Read more]

]]> 0 db11ac4de00bba7bf18dd807260de702 Les Ballard replied to the topic adventure or extreme sports resort in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/adventure-or-extreme-sports-resort/#post-158875 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:24:52 +0000 Do you have mountains or holes in the ground, holes in any flight paths over the site to allow for local flights and a stretch of water without predators, etc. for those sports?  What are local safety laws and medical facilities or will you have to introduce them?  How will you cover insurance costs and requirements?  Finally, what can you pr…[Read more]

]]> 0 09fd32a9c231bd8888527435bc14a3b9 Les Ballard replied to the topic cremetorial places in the forum PLACES & SPACES https://land8.com/forums/topic/cremetorial-places/#post-159231 Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:48:38 +0000 you may find this interesting http://uspace.shef.ac.uk/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/4504-102-1-9286/Cemeteries-churchyards-and-burial-grounds%20inc.%20andy%20Claydon.pdf

]]> 0 1fdc4fe614100125d5e2463a3ec59dc2 Les Ballard replied to the topic Landscape in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION http://land8.com/forums/topic/landscape/#post-158896 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:13:37 +0000 Lost Gardens of Heligan slope and can be seen at – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Gardens_of_Heligan

Whereas many slopes are terraced, especially to grow crops like rice, or provide a flat area for building, it is also possible to embrace a slope and have a house on a concrete raft raised at the front on stilts and being at ground level at…[Read more]

]]> 0 d33bd144c131bc8953596b5c4148cb2e Les Ballard replied to the topic Mediterranean Climate-North Africa and Urban Design in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/mediterranean-climate-north-africa-and-urban-design/#post-158904 Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:34:14 +0000 The Islamic tradition is to have cool courtyards away from prying eyes just as their art escapes human forms yet embraces mathematical patterns.  When given a chance to start afresh and with money no object, you get places like the Alhambra Palace in Spain.  When the area has to grow organically, in the heat and the dust, the wind and the dirt o…[Read more]

]]> 0 9b4da5e129176895109ac7608e687af6 Les Ballard replied to the topic Plant materials that will survive gray water irrigation in California in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE https://land8.com/forums/topic/plant-materials-that-will-survive-gray-water-irrigation-in-california/#post-159263 Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:26:49 +0000 Are you just interested in planting something to be green until changed by a contractor, to make folk more amenable to dropping their wallet at the mall and go home maybe, or is there some kind of vision?  Is it to reflect local flora in a natural habitat or be forward looking, say to support elfin figures like a fairy lustre plate as a backdrop…[Read more]

]]> 0 006bd0a74a28350b79a110ebf135785b Les Ballard replied to the topic ArborPro GIS Tree Inventory Software in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/arborpro-gis-tree-inventory-software-3/#post-160094 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:21:28 +0000 In reading your post some things occur to me and wonder if you would have any wish to respond here to the points below.
Local authorities in the UK seem to be led by the clubs they all belong to though they contract for tree and planting services as a rule.  No doubt other countries have similar advisers.  Since Victorian times there have been p…[Read more]

]]> 0 89a53b6c194dcca6adc29f08693cfc35 Les Ballard replied to the topic Occupy Wall Street - Are you with it? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/occupy-wall-street-are-you-with-it/#post-159896 Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:38:54 +0000 The London protest started just outside St. Paul’s Cathedral and it closed for a while losing £20k a day income.  I think the scale of the income shocked a lot of people as did one journalist going inside for the first time, when it opened again after health and safety fears were addressed, to see priests on the tills in the shop taking the c…[Read more]

]]> 0 850803fa29a11b9dd1ac5b2286220d38 Les Ballard replied to the topic Bourj Hammoud Port (Waterfront) in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/bourj-hammoud-port-waterfront-2/#post-159365 Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:20:14 +0000 Oh how exciting but even the idea of networking to get laws with teeth must feel like getting yours pulled in relation to the pollution.    I would say the port will get what the government are willing to do and enforce but just the drawings and sketches could be nice even if pitched in tranches, sections being finished one at a time.  It is sa…[Read more]

]]> 0 f695ee31e819d90046763127f01ab08f Les Ballard replied to the topic Another Failed Landscape - When Ideology Trumps User Needs in the forum PLACES & SPACES https://land8.com/forums/topic/another-failed-landscape-when-ideology-trumps-user-needs/#post-159790 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:17:17 +0000 Go write 100 times “If I can’t do it, no-one can”.  You are there to play God, you have a piece of paper that says so, just make sure you get it right.  
In Britain we have lost all our girl black poplars and the boys, that are on general sale and come from micro propagation or cloning, aren’t being bought to plant.  They are dying out because th…[Read more]

]]> 0 d3abd4d7c16e3e569d38886c37617378 Les Ballard replied to the topic Another Failed Landscape - When Ideology Trumps User Needs in the forum PLACES & SPACES https://land8.com/forums/topic/another-failed-landscape-when-ideology-trumps-user-needs/#post-159791 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:06:24 +0000 Oh the joys of 20 acres, me and a bitch to play with lol!  Everyone is frightened.  If necessary, you should have ID and sign in to enter the park.  You should be allowed to do what you like, mainly on CCTV loop just in case you hurt someone or something but, generally, you do as you wish.  What will attract old people is good lighting and smo…[Read more]

]]> 0 f9bf5276968cedd63db895382b3ed6ab Les Ballard replied to the topic Bottomless Sand Filters - Septic Systems in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/bottomless-sand-filters-septic-systems/#post-159608 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:20:42 +0000 You put plot plants on a board over a manhole cover maybe, or sink it below the level of a lawn, but for a larger size you can disguise it with a lightweight box, maybe in sections, that can permanently support the weight of what planting you fancy.  Think semi-permanent but strong film sets.  
Equally, you can add a fountain or gazebo with hard l…[Read more]

]]> 0 2f3b2beb25a2791552f86cd2cd63da61 Les Ballard replied to the topic Site Survey Equipment in the forum TECHNOLOGY http://land8.com/forums/topic/site-survey-equipment/page/4/#post-160682 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:00:12 +0000 A tongue is quite good equipment though i empathise with the view not to do anything solid without a survey.  Often, land has been surveyed in the not too far distant past and/or there are aerial photographs and satellite photos/maps available,  I once found guys before a ruined pavillion and whitewash shed in a flat open area surrounded by lar…[Read more]

]]> 0 2f3a52f2a3e457d9d8f9e886166ecac9 Les Ballard replied to the topic Species selection and soil amendments for coastal tree planting in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/species-selection-and-soil-amendments-for-coastal-tree-planting/#post-160725 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:15:46 +0000 Find the oldest photographs you can of this and close/similar areas from archives and see what grew then.  Check for what local tribes picked/ate/used.  Consider replacing areas of dead sand, ie not yet converted to soil but not likely to have sand added now and consider upgrading them.  Spent mushroom compost mixed with a top layer of fresh so…[Read more]

]]> 0 dc29c9c339f3e0109cd406a0db9c6528 Les Ballard replied to the topic Rioting in London/Urban living conditions in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/rioting-in-londonurban-living-conditions/#post-161002 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:10:59 +0000 Charles’ baby is Poundbury.  Google it and check the prices there.  There are no council estates as far as I know and everyone I have ever seen associated with the place is white.

]]> 0 b1d22bc12e0318c4999bf6d3b1cdbe52 Les Ballard replied to the topic Rioting in London/Urban living conditions in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/rioting-in-londonurban-living-conditions/#post-161003 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:07:38 +0000 Oh sorry = kettling is a new term for crowding protestors, for example, into a small area, barracking is generally harranguing someone and dear is expensive. 
 
All the police pictures displayed tonight on a TV programme covering all the cities in the riots and incuding actual cctv recording of people breaking into shops, requesting informers to…[Read more]

]]> 0 a3689d8fdd206eda2beecb74a8cf05d3 Les Ballard replied to the topic Rioting in London/Urban living conditions in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/rioting-in-londonurban-living-conditions/#post-161007 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:46:48 +0000 These riots happened shortly after the kids broke up for the school holidays and under 16’s of afro-caribbean origin did most of the damage.  Most of these sought props for their preferred lifestyle from x-box units to trainers and tops.  Almost all else, including fires, was the standard trashing that follows illegitimate activity including the b…[Read more]

]]> 0 1a184dc315a147175cfed14dd3778183 Les Ballard replied to the topic standards for pathways? in the forum DETAILS & MATERIALS https://land8.com/forums/topic/standards-for-pathways/#post-161542 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:41:04 +0000 Do you know about paths folk make on their own across land?  Too much meander they make more to achieve a beeline.  You may have to make departing from the path impossible with other features (and see below).
Do you know police categorise roads and paths for reports cos they are made a certain width to allow for traffic?  In the event of a cr…[Read more]

]]> 0 3b2ba8bcc29f27587194ad21462a4e70 Les Ballard replied to the topic Professional Liability Insurance in the forum PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE https://land8.com/forums/topic/professional-liability-insurance/#post-161523 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:03:58 +0000 it is always a good idea to go to a large broker and ask them to get you a quote from the market to suit your own circumstances.  You may fancy asking insurers direct then find you actually dont save money even paying a brokers commission.  The answer is awlays a lemon though, u got to suck it to see how sweet it is.  Another thing is that the br…[Read more]

]]> 0 b9a44d9e4bf466edcfa68495bcd5c661 Les Ballard replied to the topic Beyond the Border: How to Use Perennials and Grasses in Landscape Settings in the forum PLANTS & HORTICULTURE https://land8.com/forums/topic/beyond-the-border-how-to-use-perennials-and-grasses-in-landscape-settings/#post-161608 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:44:42 +0000 I think I have a few beefs and try to not be to florid (no pun intened) in posting this.
1.  My main angst is not planting native wild species but favouring park and garden varieties with increased cost because they have a different colour or upswept branches or whatever.  In the UK the only wild variety of tree planted on steets since Victoria w…[Read more]

]]> 0 bf63c0689cf5afe0199b283d7eaa2889 Les Ballard replied to the topic Anybody get a bulk discount on Prozac? in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/anybody-get-a-bulk-discount-on-prozac/#post-161680 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:33:03 +0000 It is a disgusting suggestion that supposedly nature-oriented LAs might bulk buy Prozac when St. John’s Wort is a more natural product, associated with midsummer and has always been considered suitable even for mums-to-be lol. 

]]> 0 a01b9221a36862559b1179051f087b95 Les Ballard replied to the topic Permaculture and Landscape Architecture in the forum SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN https://land8.com/forums/topic/permaculture-and-landscape-architecture/#post-161750 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:25:56 +0000 Isn’t permaculture and any other knowledge you can assimilate another tool in the box that should be kept sharp?  Knowing coppicing, or the theories behind the five senses unicorn tapestries and the meanings of the flowers and animals, or how to sharpen a pencil properly, or arrange flowers in the Japanese fashion and seeing a few Zen gardens, ar…[Read more]

]]> 0 1e46c656a0e022fcc61fc7b7fd0f3614 Les Ballard replied to the topic Bad font decisions, yes I'm talking to you Papyrus users! in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/bad-font-decisions-yes-im-talking-to-you-papyrus-users/page/3/#post-162111 Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:51:12 +0000 im sure some of the recent fonts mentioned were designed by ibm for the golfball typewriter – point is, i see nothing i like lol

]]> 0 f48815ed5bf9c1d8a3afa8a2ee2e8a2c Les Ballard replied to the topic Bad font decisions, yes I'm talking to you Papyrus users! in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/bad-font-decisions-yes-im-talking-to-you-papyrus-users/page/4/#post-162139 Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:44:22 +0000 I have empathy with the views expressed but, being ignorant of font matters, wonder why no decent font seems to have been been designed since the war (1940).  Every mall has signs in a font suitable for the credits on a fred astaire movie.  I use arial or take a lead from others but, of course, if you need to transmit anything digitally, you ne…[Read more]

]]> 0 05910439e8c5ce8c82a73392ee4b5083 Les Ballard replied to the topic File Under - NASTY in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION http://land8.com/forums/topic/file-under-nasty/page/2/#post-162374 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:18:09 +0000 What happened to survival of the fittest?  Nanny state is wrong, smacking gently little children who go near the water is good and zapping with a tazer all polluters is fine – in fact, 10,000 volts in a capacitor activated by a wire mesh on the bottom of the pool would be fine.  You just load the dead winos on a cart each morning and turn the p…[Read more]

]]> 0 3f37fe90bb3210e13c1911c76e5eaddf Les Ballard replied to the topic Victorian Fencing in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/victorian-fencing/#post-162298 Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:10:19 +0000 It occurrs to me that you do not need to see Victorian photographs just around Edwardian, as folk had old fences, lol.  Many had simple spike top bars let in and location is important.  Shiplap pine was common as a whole fence or set above a low wall.  Gates were made of this too.  (Like a clinker built boat – and you nailed them when they cam…[Read more]

]]> 0 b06b2a972bc68a66c87c4d1588d5762a Les Ballard replied to the topic top 10 landscape architecture firms in the US in the forum GENERAL DISCUSSION https://land8.com/forums/topic/top-10-landscape-architecture-firms-in-the-us/page/2/#post-162596 Thu, 26 May 2011 16:27:01 +0000 Hang on, don’t the town planners, local authorities, architects and even folk like retirement village and gated community owners each do more LA than LAs?

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