It is true. I made up a word. Re-Ecology. I used to dream of oceans of nature surrounding corporate buildings and parking lots in the suburban phenomenon called The Office Park. Park? If it is a Park, it must be healthy for birds, bees, and butterflies, right? Well, not so in the typical situation.
Really?
Really. The landscape contracting industry typically does things a certain way in these places, especially around the Chicago metro area. Regular fertilizer, weed killer, pre-emergent weed killer…. irrigation, mowing, blowing, shearing…. You get the picture. There is a lot of work going on. (And, by the way, you are paying for it!)
With all this work, one would think these spaces might support a healthy environment. Do they?
There are endless literature and studies and metrix on this topic, but the short answer is we can do a LOT BETTER. Typically, these conventional landscapes are comprised overwhelmingly of non-native plants in large wood mulch areas, a very limited palette of plants, and sustained with chemicals and irrigation. This is not conducive to all the ecological services we should be getting from our landscapes!
We do it differently at Re-Ecology LTD. I know you know that because you are here, and it is likely you saw a video of the Monarchs or two….. So magical!
Anyways, there was no word for what I wanted to do. So, I made one up. Re-Ecology. Please take a look.
Re-Ecology Land Design 