Category: Landscape Architecture

Three Do’s (And Two Definite Don’ts!) to Keep a Roundabout Island Alive And Well

How to Design Roundabout Plantings That Are Healthy all Year Don’t compact the soil. Provide soil that stands up to road salt. Pick plants suited to dry conditions. Plant thick to fight weeds. Water faithfully throughout the first growing season.   The center area of a roundabout can turn into a weedy, underdeveloped island. The… Read More »

From Trashy to Classy: Turning a Closed Landfill into a Community Asset in Cedar Rapids

Iowa isn’t known as a mountainous state. But there’s a hill in the heart of Cedar Rapids – a closed landfill known as Mount Trashmore – that looms along the Cedar River just southeast of downtown. The hill is highly visible from the vast majority of downtown Cedar Rapids, which is about 120 miles east… Read More »

What Does Brownfield Redevelopment Cost? Right Question Is ‘What Does It Pay?’

If you have a blighted area in your community, you can view it as a liability, or you can see it as an opportunity. That brownfield is probably shouting “ugly, ugly, ugly!” to all who drive by, but it might also be whispering “location, location, location.” Communities that can see beyond the scars and understand… Read More »