Rob Halpern

In fact, even the claims about reducing storm run off are only true for intensive green roofs, not extensive ones. And extensive green roofs are far more common

Thanks Eric! That should be fascinating browsing and reading

A 10′ high fence,especially angled out a bit , is usually effective for the most part.

How will the raised beds be drained?
Painting the asphalt a light color just seems blinding to me and uncomfortable for those in the garden area. Consider laying down wood chips and at the end of the season collecting what remains as compost or mulch.

Some is good…that was not my point.

Which are good and why?

Just asking…..

You appear to be making a point of some sort rather than posing a question. What then is your point?

The Government will rescue us……

Your statement, not mine. Whether the cost of maintenance is born by Government (is that something other than the Public?) or a…[Read more]

Well I was not thinking of it as “make work”, simply recognizing what the actual resource required is (labor). The argument “Who will maintain it when the city goes broke?” applies to everything, doesn’t it? New construction? Extended subway line? Streets? It cannot be a reason not to create green space.What are the alternatives? Hardscape for…[Read more]

The primary maintenance is skilled labor. And we need jobs for people (with th rate of human population growth and automation we face a growing problem of What are people supposed to do to support themselves?) So greening sites and as a result creating employment opportunities seems eminently sustainable to me.  If we are to have plantlife then…[Read more]

I agree on all counts.
Of course BBG has essentially gutted their research department in the past few years.

I have been corresponding with the person behind this. After years of work to get legal protections for biodiversity in the City she is frustrated, This is indeed her P.R. effort to take her advocacy work to another level. I expect that it would send the wrong message (much as Andrew suggests)

Each soil must be understood for its own traits. Often a civil engineer will be needed on the team.
I worked on a project where the soils were a crumbly shale. They were not going to erode but more likely would collapse. Now I am working on a project 45 miles from that one. Soils are old Great Lakes dunes, 98%sand. Easily eroded. Forest cover…[Read more]

Since the transport of the rock was the entire story, that would have to have been recast (some pun intended) as

Of course the thing is, plants (especially woodies) don’t have a set “ultimate size” or even “mature height.” How big that red oak will get depends on many factors. And is 50 years the period we use as “mature”? Or 100?
The 15 year ROT is fine because it sets a reasonable time. But the client had better understand when you show the plans the…[Read more]

I think I walk a line in between.
Locate plants based on mature size but show them at a size reasonable after a few years. I do not want to confuse my clients who look at the plan and don’t know why all the trees and shrubs look so small when planted. They need to have a sense of what the landscape will lok like when done.
But my landscapes are…[Read more]

And the latest
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/04/arts/design/congressional-report-faults-eisenhower-memorial-delays.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMediaHigh&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

For Australian plants in China, try http://www.birkdaleinternational.com/facilities.asp
Also, you might re-post in this group:
https://land8.com/group/asialandscape

Beijing is a bit cold for that plant list, I think…. unless this is a rather protected site. And don’t overlook the importance of pollution tolerance.
Can’t the LDI on the project assist in this?

If they only water the transplanted root ball, rather than the soil surrounding it, they do not support establishment of the tree. They merely keep it from dying.

There are many beautiful Pennisetums but one must be careful in the tropics where some have become invasive pest species.
The grass in the first two links is not, I think, a Pennisetum. Flower seems all wrong. Perhaps a species of Calamagrostis?

Thanks, but I am not convinced it is P. Alopecuroides. .Pennisetum orientale  maybe? P. macrourum ?

Appears to be a species of pennisetum. Perhaps one of the running species rather than the clumpers, but can’t tell for sure from phots