an Australian garden design scrapbook
Author |
Message |
Paul Spracklin
|
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 2:27 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
Last edited by Stan on Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:40 pm, edited 9 times in total.
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:00 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:05 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:29 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
That first box kept dropping on me..type fast or it would sink out of view!
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:41 pm |
|
|
Kev Spence
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:59 pm Posts: 10902 Location: Loughborough, Leics, central UK
|
Hi guys
Can we leave this topic and all agree to differ on what design criteria is best for the gardens in general as I for one do not need to read this any more.
I think Stan Paul and David all have strong views on this subject and who is right or wrong or who agrees with who is no particular interest to the rest of the forum and it is getting a little out of hand now......ok.
Kev
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:42 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
Yes,I agree.
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:47 pm |
|
|
david feix
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 3:54 am Posts: 3206 Location: Berkeley, California
|
David M,
Your point about how your green roof holds onto water and releases it more slowly to avoid peak surges is perhaps the most important function of such roofs in the larger landscape. Retention ponds in conjunction with office park parking lots is another common practice that is a requirement for new developments in the rainier parts of the USA, but not seen so much here in California, where space is in critical short supply to locate them. Permeable pavement, even including concrete mixes that are more permeable to run off are also available for use these days, but I have yet to see how well they actually work in practice, or see definitive comparative studies as to how the permeability compares to regular concrete. I would predict that cisterns to contain rainwater, as well as others to contain gray water for landscape irrigation will become much more popular as water supplies become both less available and more concentrated over time. In larger scale new subdivisions and office parks installed over the last decade here in California, there is often a requirement that landscaping must be irrigated using gray/recycled water, and duplicate plumbing systems are installed to provide clean potable water and recycled water. There are also requirements in place for new multi unit developments which limit the extent and conditions under which high water using turf can be installed, and often they will have a list of allowed plants from which you must select.
While I admire the intention behind the required plant lists for new projects, I always found them too limiting, and it was often next to impossible to propose alternative plants that were just as drought tolerant. This level of municipal prescriptive legislation has yet to make its way down to the individual home owner's situation, at least in my hometown, there is no current requirement for submitting landscape plans for city review when redoing an existing garden, or building an individual new house and garden, while just across the bay in Marin County, all new construction, even if just a single house, must have complete landscape plans submitted for design review before construction.
Have the newer more permeable concrete mixes become popular for use in England as well? As I work on my own these days, I don't have as much contact with other landscape architects nor read the American journal on a regular basis, to know if they are really being used heavily here. I don't doubt that they are more expensive to install, and probably less stable long term, and likely require regular cleaning to keep the porosity up and functioning. The local press hasn't given the issue of water run-off, long term sustainability of current water use, and allocating of diminishing supplies to keep up with continued population growth much coverage here. It is as if we all have our heads in the sand, we know a crisis is coming, but refuse to address the solutions, much like our energy use here in the USA.
We tend to treat water here in the arid west much like we consider oil. It seems ridiculous to me that our politicians praise themselves for shifting the minimum mileage standards up to 35 miles per gallon for a fleet average, when it is easily possible to double that. In addition, phasing that in so many years from now instead of immediately is also rather suspect. I don't know whether it makes the international news, but the State of California has a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, for their refusal to allow California to impose higher mileage standards upon all auto makers to reduce pollution, and over a dozen other states would similarly copy California's new standards if allowed to do so, essentially requiring at least half the American market to meet the new standards. I have higher hopes that things will start moving again with a change in presidential parties, but the progress seems so glacial here at times.
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:01 pm |
|
|
Dave Bindon
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:15 pm Posts: 1113 Location: Pagrati, Athens, Greece
|
_________________ Dave Pagrati, Athens, Greece Jul/Aug av.: 33C day, 23C night January: 13/6
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:37 pm |
|
|
Ron Whisenhunt
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:57 pm Posts: 288 Location: Spring Valley, CA USA
|
|
Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:49 pm |
|
|
Peter Richardson
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:16 pm Posts: 1472
|
|
Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:23 pm |
|
|
David Matzdorf
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:06 pm Posts: 5321 Location: Islington, London UK
|
|
Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:18 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
|
Wed Jan 09, 2008 3:43 pm |
|
|
David Matzdorf
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:06 pm Posts: 5321 Location: Islington, London UK
|
|
Wed Jan 09, 2008 5:35 pm |
|
|
Chad
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:03 pm Posts: 2343 Location: Inland Cornwall UK
|
|
Wed Jan 09, 2008 6:54 pm |
|
|
|
Who is online |
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum
|
|