The presentation explores the interplay between the built form and landscapes and their water needs – looking at how variables like hardscape, shade, site slope, and others influence how well plants can survive in un-irrigated environments – that is, landscapes that don’t have an irrigation system they are attached to.
This presentation will explore 10 years of design, installation, and research I have done through my practice, Prairieform, on creating landscapes that can grow and thrive without irrigation – both in Mediterranean and more continental climates. It will explore long-term data collected on actual – as opposed to perceived – water needs of plants and how this data translates into learning lessons for site and building design, plant selection, and planting and watering techniques. Participants should leave the workshop with a better sense of not just how landscapes without irrigation are possible (a common misperception is that they are impossible or that they will look half-dead) but how site and building design, and site prep, can play a critical role in making these landscapes successful. While we will be looking in part at numbers and data, the presentation will be place equal emphasis on visuals, as, at the end of the day, these landscapes need to read as beautiful to the general public and not as science experiments (even if they are!).
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