EXAMPLES
NaturescapeConventional
and NaturescapeRestoration
To facilitate a better understanding of
the process of making a plan, we now offer a few examples.
Please note that some municipalities and non-profit
entities offer workshops on how to design a naturescape
for your property. Inquire with local entities or visit
our Community Services
Directory to learn about potential workshops in
your area. If none are available, consider requesting
one. If enough people adk, the request might be honored.
The examples include:
- A design for a
conventional landscaping approach, and
- A design for a
restoration landscaping approach.
A threshold difference between conventional
landscaping and restoration landscaping is that conventional
landscaping tends to look at a plant for the function
it provides while restoration landscaping tends to look
at the ecological relationship of the plant to the site
and to other plants.
Conventional landscaping, for example,
will label a plant a "groundcover" for the
function it provides of covering the ground. The use
of a groundcover is favored in conventional landscaping,
while it is disfavored in restoration landscaping. A
groundcover is typically a plant that forces out other
plants and monopolizes an area. This is perhaps favored
in conventional landscaping in that it may provide a
certain look or permit easier identification of weeds.
A groundcover is not favored, however, in restoration
landscaping because it promotes a loss of biodiversity
and provides limited nutritional and habitat benefits.
Many monoculture groundcover plantings are quite sterile.
Other aspects of conventional
landscaping that are not favored in restoration
landscaping include placing plants in well defined
rows (or other geometric arrangements that require
maintenance to retain the desired geometry), planting
in monoculture (i.e., planting a lot of the same
plant) and promoting pruning practices that mandate
a geometric shape that removes the food or shelter
offerings of that plant. |
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While NS-restoration is better from
an ecological standpoint, NS-conventional is better
than what exists in many places and may be more
readily accepted by neighbors and easier to deal
with for a naturescaping novice. NS-conventional
tends to work well for smaller confined spaces
such as park strips, parking lot landscape "islands"
and areas border by walks, driveways or curbs.
Larger areas tend to be better suited to NS-restoration.
And there is no reason why you can't have both
on the same site. For example, have NS-conventional
close to the house and NS-restoration further
away.
NS-Conventional
Plan Example >>
NS-Restoration
Plan Example >> |
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