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Showing posts from March, 2013

Gates of the World

Image: Japanese Garden, Chicago Image: Segara Ninda, Penang, Malaysia Image: Fairway, NYC More Gates of the World can be seen on our Flickr page.

10 Picture Books about Nature

The children's nature book, Nature in the Neighborhood , by Gordon Morrison, was the inspiration for a map of selected natural resources in my neighborhood.  Kelly Brenner of Metropolitan Field Guide asked for "other must-have nature children's books".  Here are 10 recommendations. 1. Big Night for Salamanders , by Sarah Marwil Lamstein, with illustrations by Carol Benioff Evan and his family help the salamanders migrate across a road.  The book is cleverly organized: the natural history of the salamander is told alongside the fiction in a facing page layout.  2. Las Estaciones , by Iela Mari A story of the seasons centered on one oak is told in pictures only -- the illustrations are so fabulous that you don't miss the text. 3. Bugs Galore , by Peter Stein with illustrations by Bob Staake A fun way to introduce the sheer diversity of bugs.  (The book is all about bugs though some of the bugs look like no-bug insects like bees.  Learn a

World Water Day 2013

World Water Day is celebrated annually on March 22 and developed to "a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources." Image: Rainfall drainage calculations for Skyline Park, Denver, by Lawrence Halprin in Landscape Journal 31(1-2), 2013, Komara Image: Constructed seep for the Bush Center in Dallas, by MVVA in LAM March 2013, Van Valkenburgh and Saunders Image: Vegetated swale at Sunset Circle parking lot, Lake Merced Boulevard, San Francisco, by San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Public Works Image: Stormwater vegetative control, East River, NYC, by Trees for NY What water management proposals or sites inspire you? P.S. 2013 has been designated the International Year of Water Cooperation by the United Nations.

Interview: Melissa Harrison, author of Clay

Image: Clay , by Melissa Harrison, UK cover photo via Bloomsbury ( source ) One reason I enjoy my subscription to "Harper's Magazine" is the New Books review section. This month, Jane Smiley reviewed three books which she described as extending the tradition of Don Quixote by writing about "geography: what is out there, who lives there, how they are different from characters who live in other landscapes." One of the books is Clay , by Melissa Harrison . Clay is about the intersections and differences of the lives of a boy, a girl (and her mother) and her grandmother, and an immigrant man. Nature also plays a significant role in this novel -- it provides identity, solace, wonder, and home. The book is published by Bloomsbury and has its own website . Instead of writing a traditional book review, I decided to ask Melissa Harrison to participate in an interview. She agreed to answer my questions via a questionnaire which I have included below. T

Species: Landscape designs and species that survived Superstorm Sandy

Pier A Park, after Hurricane Sandy, Hoboken, NJ via Fund for a Better Waterfront ( source ) In his segment at Waterproofing New York , Dennis Burton, horticulturist/forest restoration manager of Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, referred the audience to the Urban Forest Hurricane Recovery Program at the University of Florida. The Trees and Hurricane website recommends site designs and tree species to establish a "more wind-resistant urban forest" in coastal, sub-tropical and tropical places like Florida. (I did not find a discussion of flood or surge-tolerant urban forests.) In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, several articles examined the impacts of the superstorm on waterfront parks in New York and New Jersey, in particular the suitability, or lack thereof, of plant species and landscape types. For example, Pitch Pines and other salt-tolerant species planted in Brooklyn Bridge Park survived up to four hours of inundation by "brackish and salt water,"