[Mark Lerch]

I’ve never seen these in clay before but what it looks like to me is that the tabs are touching the other tabs on many of the bricks because of the haring-bone pattern that was chosen. It the bricks were laid with a running bond and offset instead the tabs would be creating a less awkward spacing between the bricks but would still allow drainage.  

[Mark Lerch]

I agree with Andrew. Also, raised island prohibits opportunities for stormwater capture. Can’t see much but I notice when someone plans for pedestrians after they get out of their cars and doesn’t force them to walk down drive aisles to get to their destination. 

[Mark Lerch]

How many other people out there are 40+ and found the ageist conclusion to be unsettling? 

[Mark Lerch]

From my commercial landscape plan review days… one applicant argued that there was nothing in the code that specifically excluded asphalt from being counted for area that contributed to % of ground cover.

[Mark Lerch]

Code minimums are just that. It is up to the L.A. to persuade the developer to go beyond the minimum. I know most owners/developers would rather maximize the opportunities for parking spaces, however trees that are planted in groups do better and have a greater chance of survival. So whether you decide to go with a low impact development strategy or not, double or triple the size of the islands which will host groups of trees and create some substantial landscape areas that really work.  You may want to look at “Up By Roots” or Google Ed Gilman, IFAS pp presentations for help.

[Mark Lerch]

I agree with the person on the article comments with the Observer, if the Crapes were planted to meet minimum code requirements and that is why the Forester is enforcing the pruning fine, it may require questioning whether these trees ever should have been approved as minimum code trees in the first place. It is my experience that many business’s choose to plant these trees because they are one of the few trees that allow the maximum amount of visibility of their business or building while meeting the requirements of accent trees for minimum code. It doesn’t hurt that they are also deciduous in an area that has a preponderance of evergreen trees. I have seen all species of trees topped in SW Florida and it is only a coincidence that in the case of the article the trees that were pruned were Crapes. Property owners rights advocates know no limits when it comes to species and it could have been any tree.  Crapes are more forgiving than others and will tolerate severe pruning but it doesn’t mean that it is good for the tree. I recently attended an extension service presentation on Crape Myrtles alone and it was very clear that this type of pruning is irreversible in its damage to the overall structure of the tree.

[Mark Lerch]

I have commented on this also. I believe you are correct. It is hard enough to find work now without having to compete with people that are willing to allow themselves to be exploited by predatory employers. The ASLA needs to create a separate forum for students that are interested in internships because an internship posting has no place on a job board.

[Mark Lerch]

Good article. It is good to see that there are professionals not more concerned with job preservation than actually doing their jobs. Topping trees is an archaic form of arboriculture that is no longer recommended by any of the professional arboricultural  associations. I worked in a county where it was illegal to do so but the initial penalty was a slap on the wrist, a letter from the code enforcement officer. A letter is insufficient in the case of topping where once the tree is damaged in this way it will never be the same again. It becomes a maintenance issue because the epicormic growth that ensues will be even more aggressive and poorly attached than the initial structural branches that were removed. Cheers to the Forester that took the stand to teach the community about the importance of following ordinances that are based in reason.

[Mark Lerch]

For 1″ bluestone you can get by with a 4″ grinder and a good diamond blade. Sakrete is weak as mentioned. I would use 5 shovel masonry sand, 1 shovel Portland cement, .5 shovel lime ratio mix. The sand is important. If its the wrong type, you won’t get the loft necessary and it will make levelling the patio very difficult. The consistency of the mix is also important. For a mason its second hand. You will need to find the right consistency. Too thin and will lack proper loft, too dry and its just hard to set. I would also recommend a bonding agent be applied to the old surface and mixed in with the mortar. It looks like milk and is sold in bottles. Be sure that put enough mortar down to get a good bond and the previous patio pitched the water away from all structures so you don’t inherit any former problems.

[Mark Lerch]

First, if vehicles have been parking on the Critical Root Zone for years the trees already are compromised. It really doesn’t matter whether you use pavers or not. Check the trees limbs for dieback and try to do a soil probe to determine how compacted the root zone is. How close to the tree will the paving be?

[Mark Lerch]

I am glad you wrote an article addressing this topic. It does seem like there is a lot of pressure to validate ourselves with more and more credentials. I thought when I got my RLA I would be done. Now with the competition for work being so intense it seems inevitable that just to be marketable it will be necessary to become LEED certified, even if I question its effectiveness. What really concerns me is having to seek certification to perform tasks that we are supposed to be qualified to do already. In Florida we are allowed to do drainage and stormwater by the statute, 481 part II. This is immaterial to the people who really matter when it comes to stormwater, the Water Management District. Only plans signed and sealed by a P.E. are approvable for stormwater management. There is discussion about possibly initiating another certification process that will allow landscape architects to prove they are capable of submitting plans for stormwater management. I don’t know if they will ever be allowed to design plans for structural stormwater control or just non-structural alternatives. As your article described it does seem that the profession of landscape architecture is being diminished to specifying plants and providing details of planting procedures.

[Mark Lerch]

Florida has a specific section of the LARE that it requires candidates pass prior to becoming licensed. It covers many areas but not specifically grading and drainage.

You are correct about the question of whether local goverment agencies have the right to elevate the standards of submittal to the exclusion of all statute qualified professionals except one. I am going to be speaking with a county attorney about this as soon as I get the opportunity to meet with one I have already contacted. One L.A. that has been doing a lot of work on this said that it is possible that if the Water Management Districts are illegally prohibiting the practice rights of a profession, by also doing so the local governments could be liable for conspiracy.

I would like to know from other landscape architects in Florida on the Land8lounge what their thoughts on this are. I don’t know if they feel there is extra liability or if they feel that it is a necessary evil if they are going to continue to get work from the engineers they depend on. One L.A. I spoke with, who is a Fellow, informed me that the engineers in his office just wouldn’t understand why it is important that L.A.’s be allowed to design stormwater plans.

[Mark Lerch]

You are not dumb or uniformed, Jennifer. You are right on. There is no advantage in being complacent about the diminshing role landscape architects are being resigned to. It is essential to the future of our practice that landscape architects exercise the rights we have to their limits. While we can equivocate about how much business we stand to gain from alienating other professionals while preserving our practice, there is no question that allowing our practice to be marginalized by those professionals will only decrease the options clients have for using our skills. Please stay involved with this. Both you and Andrew have described how we are of value because developers are required to use our services but on the flip side if the developers are prohibited from using our services, because an approving agency has drafted a rule that only recognizes one professional out of many that would be qualified, the developers are denied the freedom to choose in the first place. If you want to voice your support with the Florida chapter, I would recommend contacting the Government Affairs Chair, Mr. Shawn Kalbi. I don’t think that gerrymandering by other professions to restrict competition is unusal. I am sure that this happens with Physical therapists and chiropracters and general practicioners in the medical fields. Now I know why lobbiests are so important in our system, as much as I disdain the special interest group influence over policy and government. We only have the ASLA in our corner so we really need to let them know how important this issue is to our practice so they understand how much of their resources they need to devote to this particular issue.

[Mark Lerch]

Hi Andrew, first, thank you for your contribution to this thread.
In the State of Florida, in the Southwest Florida Water Management District, a developer doesn’t even have the choice to use a landscape architect to prepare the stormwater plans. This is in a state that recognizes landscape architects as being qualified to prepare stormwater plans. The question I am really asking, not overtly, is why has this been accepted by the majority of landscape architects that work in this district or others in Florida that have adopted similar exclusionary rules? They don’t know? They would prefer to foster better relationships with the engineers? They are not comfortable with storm water plans? Not everyone is happy that landscape architects have been prohibited from this and they have put a lot of work, over 20 years, and made great sacrifices to try and change this. I think that the internet has great potential to bring their efforts to light and gain support for something that I feel they have not vainly toiled. If L.A.’s are not allowed a seat at the table we can’t even consider how much work they will get doing stormwater plans or how they are perceived by developers.

We do require vegetative buffers. Most of the time it is considered to be an undue burden to reject a plan for a buffer violation after thousands of dollars have been invested in plans and design and the water management district has already granted approval. In a county that is pro-development and dollars are drying up there is little support from administration to hold a project up for landscaping buffers.

Is your phone ringing off the hook? I have yet to stamp my first plan. I also hope it is a run off drainage plan. I better brush up on my storm water calcs.

We can’t begin to educate the consumers when we are sabotaged by regulatory agencies with what I see as exclusionary and unlawful policies. Clearly the person who consulted you for your first plan at least hadn’t been told the plan wouldn’t be accepted by the agency or municipality or he wouldn’t have paid you.

Let me know if you find an answer to the errors and omissions insurance question.

[Mark Lerch]

I agree with the writer of the letter, Dan Kerr. It is not enough to just acquire LEED certification without verifying that there is a quantifiable gain in doing so. If there is not some accountability and proof that being LEED certified is actually accomplishing what it is supposed, energy efficiency and environmental compatibility, then it will probably be replaced by something else that is more successful. I know that there are many people jumping on this bandwagon now that have little knowledge of what it means to be promoting sustainability. They are much more interested in what it can do to promote their careers because they know rising waters lift all boats. I am cynical when these people approach me but at the same time they are looking to us for help and does it really matter what the motive is? It is important though that this goes beyond being just good publicity if it is going to have a beneficial outcome in the end. As the writers before me have indicated it is going to require follow-through and accountability.

[Author]

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