Sustainability: A No-brainer for your Landscape

2018-02-22T11:38:39-05:00By Ben Hale|Ecological Landscaping|

Let’s do a test. I want you to read the next few phrases and notice your reaction.

Global warming.

Save the trees.

Mother Earth.

Sustainability.

Is your head ready to explode?

Well you’re not alone. A lot of people get turned off by the polarization that occurs with issues regarding the care of our planet.

Regardless of your feelings regarding such issues, there should be […]

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Five Shrubs That Look as Good as They Taste

2020-04-29T17:54:40-04:00By Ben Hale|DIY Landscape Design, Ecological Landscaping, Edible Landscaping, Low Maintenance Plants, Native Landscaping, Permaculture|

Five Shrubs That Look as Good as They Taste

The word ‘shrub’ is rather interesting. It kinda reminds me of other words ending in ‘b,’ like glib, drab, blob, flab. Fairly plain on its own, the word seems to slough its way across the lips and falter to the floor as it leaves the mouth.

Despite any odd word physics, shrubs themselves can be very plain, unassuming plants while others bring amazing beauty to a landscape. Here […]

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5 Trees That Look So Good You’ll Eat Them

2020-04-29T17:54:58-04:00By Ben Hale|DIY Landscape Design, Ecological Landscaping, Edible Landscaping, Low Maintenance Plants, Native Landscaping, Organic Landscaping, Permaculture|

Edible Attractive Trees for Your Landscape

Man, I love me some pie. That’s right. Apple pie, banana pie, cherry pie, lemon merengue pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, you name it.

Yeah, so what gives?

As it turns out, most pies are made from some edible plant. And most of them come from a tree fruit.

Who doesn’t love edibles? Go to a supermarket and look for the space that seems most ‘alive.’ Odds are, you’ll end up in the […]

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Bring Back that Wild Space!

2020-05-18T12:02:18-04:00By Ben Hale|DIY Landscape Design, Ecological Landscaping, Low Maintenance Landscaping, Low Maintenance Plants, Native Landscaping, Organic Landscaping|

Add a wild space to your landscape, and learn how to murder your lawn

Back when I was a kid, I used to go to ‘Nature Camp’ at the local park every summer. I would come home every day with some creation, be it a bowl made from creek clay or some woodland creature made from bark and leaves. There, we also would get covered in burrs traipsing around the wild meadow trying to catch butterflies […]

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Stormwater Management in the Suburbs

2021-07-17T22:17:39-04:00By Ben Hale|DIY Landscape Design, Drought Resistant Landscaping, Ecological Landscaping|

What to do with stormwater in your landscape and the greater landscape

So I have an infomercial question for you today.

Do you want to cut your water bill and usage by 50%? Stick around and I’ll show you the no-brainer solution! But wait, there’s more! You’ll get several other bonus tips at no additional fee!

Just ten easy payments….

I’ll stick to blogging.

With all this talk on stormwater, I have broken stormwater management into segments based on geographical […]

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The Opportunity Called the California Water Shortage

2021-07-17T22:17:30-04:00By Ben Hale|Current Events, Drought Resistant Landscaping, Ecological Landscaping|

The California Water Shortage: A Case for Aesthetic Ecosystem and Ecological Design

A reservoir showing the effect of drought conditions in California

In recent news, there has been significant coverage of California’s struggle with its below average precipitation in the past several years. Yes, they call it a drought.

Governor Jerry Brown and California State Water Resources Control Board have come forward […]

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Must-Have Strategies for Urban Stormwater Mitigation

2017-06-14T13:27:11-04:00By Ben Hale|Ecological Landscaping|

How we can redesign urban stormwater systems

As described in my previous blog post, there is an increasing need for better handling of our precipitation and its transition to runoff. There are numerous benefits from proper management of stormwater before it leaves our landscape. Here, I’ll take you through some of the issues with the design of our current systems, then to what are characteristics of an ideal stormwater management system, and finally to several […]

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Must-Have Strategies for Stormwater Mitigation

2018-02-01T11:20:23-05:00By Ben Hale|Ecological Landscaping|

A call to action for designing stormwater systems in our landscape and the world around us

The day this post comes out marks the one day of the year where we celebrate the land we walk upon. We ignore it the other 360-something days, but not today. Today is special so we can celebrate Earth and all of its wonderful natural resources.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

But sadly today is not special. Today is just another ordinary day. […]

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