dealing with landscape

[Elan L]

Hi, I'am Elan, a landscape student without much work experience. I
just wonder in practice in the planning process or urban design
process, how the practitioners perceive the "landscape", and how it is
being dealt with in what scale? Any comment is welcomed !!

Thank you

[Amy Blankenship]

Post by Elan L
Hi, I'am Elan, a landscape student without much work experience. I
just wonder in practice in the planning process or urban design
process, how the practitioners perceive the "landscape", and how it is
being dealt with in what scale? Any comment is welcomed !!

Don't expect to find any actual practitioners of design on this forum. It's
mainly just people either advocating urban planning or others saying no one
should eve plan anything.

[Elan L]

Don't expect to find any actual practitioners of design on this forum.  It's
mainly just people either advocating urban planning or others saying no one
should eve plan anything.

OK...
Which side do you stand on, if take the landscape as an example?
Should it be planned?

[Amy Blankenship]

Post by Amy Blankenship
Don't expect to find any actual practitioners of design on this forum.
It's
mainly just people either advocating urban planning or others saying no one
should eve plan anything.

OK...
Which side do you stand on, if take the landscape as an example?
Should it be planned?
------------------------
I usually try to stand on the sidewalk, so as not to create paths through
the landscape ;-)

[Troppo]

Post by Elan L
..

Post by Amy Blankenship
Don't expect to find any actual practitioners of design on this
forum. It's
mainly just people either advocating urban planning or others saying no one
should eve plan anything.

OK...
Which side do you stand on, if take the landscape as an example?
Should it be planned?
------------------------
I usually try to stand on the sidewalk, so as not to create paths
through the landscape ;-)

The alternative view is - don't build the sidewalk until the grass wears
out. Or preferably, work out beforehand what the 'desire lines' will be.

Post by Elan L
how the practitioners perceive the "landscape"

I'm yer "actual practitioner". I could be cynical and say 'landscape' is
how you clear up the mess left by the construction contractors, but there
needs to be more than this, in these days of triple bottom line and
sustainability concerns.

Landscaping needs to be part of the total design. Consider:
1. Any existing vegetation/landscape features to be preserved: how you
can protect it when the construction process is going to change all the
parameters, eg soil compaction, alteration to natural drainage, aquifer
level etc.
2. Distinguish between areas that can remain 'soft' or will need to be
hardened.
3. Get the species right according to the climate type. Don't mix
drought-tolerant and intolerant species etc. Consider the ongoing cost of
landscape maintenance.
4. Consider that growing things have a life-cycle. Mature trees don't
react well to being on a construction site. They easily get stressed and
react accordingly by dropping bits of themselves or dying etc. The only
way to preserve trees is to plant more of them. On 'green field' sites or
old redevelopment sites, look at what is prepared to grow without human
interaction.
5. On urban sites, consider CPTED principles, eg visibility, passive
surveillance opportunities etc.

[Elan L]

Post by Troppo
Landscaping needs to be part of the total design.

I agree with that. From one point of view, vegetation contribute to
the quality of environment, aesthetics, etc. In urban environment,
don't we expect to live in a place surrounded by green space?

While, from another, if "landscape" means vegetation only, why it is
called land-scape? ;- )

[Pat]

Post by Elan L
Hi, I'am Elan, a landscape student without much work experience. I
just wonder in practice in the  planning process or urban design
process, how the practitioners perceive the "landscape", and how it is
being dealt with in what scale? Any comment is welcomed !!
Thank you

There are really two answers to your question.

First is the landscaping; as in contours, erosion control, ADA,
parking, floodplains, etc.etc.

For examply, we are sinking a building into a sidehill to make the
bottom "floor" into a basement to control building height and get
benefits from the building code. So the site engineer has to deal
with that and to keep retaining walls to a minimum. Here, landscaping
(or more specifically: site engineering) is extremely valuable. The
engineer has to deal with the elevations of the building, that
parking, the walkways, etc.

For the second part, it the landscaping itself as is planting the
trees, hydroseeding the ground, etc. etc. The though goes into what
do we use for screening and what type of trees, but the site engineer
does the design and the contractor gets the landscaper. Some larger
firms might have a landscape architect, but mostly its done by civil/
site engineers as an afterthought to keep the planning board happy.

[Jack May]

Post by Elan L
Hi, I'am Elan, a landscape student without much work experience. I
just wonder in practice in the planning process or urban design
process, how the practitioners perceive the "landscape", and how it is
being dealt with in what scale? Any comment is welcomed !!

You certainly need sufficient variation to be interesting. Saying it
another way, the fractal dimension needs to be significantly greater than 1,
maybe approaching 2 (like natural terrain).

There is a lot written out there about fractal dimension and how to measure
its value. It should not be hard to calculate the fractal dimension for a
landscape to see if it has sufficient visual appeal or not enough.

I personally like my back yard to be divided into outside rooms with
dividing passages between different "rooms" in the back yard. The plants
in my back yard are raised above the brick walkways to provide a short
drainage path since there is a lot of salt in the dirt.

The salt is probably there since I am near to the San Francisco Bay
shoreline. In fact the dirt has sea shells in it probably from getting the
dirt from dredging in the bay.

In one corner I have a pit lined with brick that I walk down into to put me
at eye level where the critters are roaming around. My exercise trampoline
is higher than other parts of the yard. That adds some visual appeal.

Of course I also have big trees with a large population of birds and
squirrels to keep things interesting.

In the SF Bay area, areas with a lot of big trees have houses that sell for
significantly more than in other areas.

[Elan L]

To Pat and Jack
Thanks a lot for the answers and sharing your experiences. How lovely
your house is, Jack, well, the price must be "lovely" as well ! I wish
I could live in such place, in addition, with dogs surrounded.

Just wonder another thing that who will plan and design the open
spaces? The answer probably urban designer, I guess. While, because I
know some landscape architects also play a role in this part, and some
even in charge of the whole process, I am interested in knowing the
opionions about that either from urban designer or landscape
architects if it is possible. And are their approaches different to
planning or designing the open spaces? or in cooperative relationship
with each other?

[george conklin]

Post by Elan L
To Pat and Jack
Thanks a lot for the answers and sharing your experiences. How lovely
your house is, Jack, well, the price must be "lovely" as well ! I wish
I could live in such place, in addition, with dogs surrounded.
Just wonder another thing that who will plan and design the open
spaces? The answer probably urban designer, I guess. While, because I
know some landscape architects also play a role in this part, and some
even in charge of the whole process, I am interested in knowing the
opionions about that either from urban designer or landscape
architects if it is possible. And are their approaches different to
planning or designing the open spaces? or in cooperative relationship
with each other?

Why are not open spaces simply natural spaces? Do all open spaces have
to artifically planned?

[Pat]

Post by Elan L
To Pat and Jack
Thanks a lot for the answers and sharing your experiences. How lovely
your house is, Jack, well, the price must be "lovely" as well ! I wish
I could live in such place, in addition, with dogs surrounded.
Just wonder another thing that who will plan and design the open
spaces? The answer probably urban designer, I guess. While, because I
know some landscape architects also play a role in this part, and some
even in charge of the whole process, I am interested in knowing the
opionions about that either from urban designer or landscape
architects if it is possible. And are their approaches different to
planning or designing the open spaces? or in cooperative relationship
with each other?

Who plans open spaces depends on who owns the open spaces. It's just
part of the job for most things -- maybe even an afterthought. I hope
you don't plan to make a career of it.

In a commercial setting, it's usually the civil/site engineer -- maybe
working with a landscape architect. There are lots of competing
goals: drainage, safety, lighting, flow, etc. But the two over-riding
concerns are costs and regulations. You need to meet code any
probably not spend too much extra money on it.

In a government setting, it's whoever controls the site. Some
department effectively owners the land. For a park it might be the
parks department and for a couryard of a municipal center, it is the
designer of the building.

For a residential setting, it's usually the landscaper and maybe a
landscape architect.

The only real advice I can give you is that you are not inventing the
field. So there are lots of regulations and rules out there waiting
for you. I'd start with calling your city and/or county planning
office and asking to speak to a planner. Get a copy of your local
zoning ordinance and read it, cover to cover. There are lots of rules
and regs for you -- what you can do and where you can do it. It
covers trees and building locations and slopes and stuff.

If you are interested in highways, there are regs on that. If you are
interested in courthouses, there are regs on that. You name it and
there are regs on it.

Don't ask your profs. They probably don't know the down-in-the-
ditches part of regulations. Sorry.

Finally, go look up Sec 504 regs, aka Americans With Disabilities Act
(ADA). That regulation has a HUGE impact on sites because it requires
full handicapped accessibility.

Have fun.