Tag Archives: alexia landscape architect

First installation of 2020!

The first installation of 2020 is in the ground and ready for Spring!

A Look at Summer Abundance, on a Winter’s Afternoon with West Cook Wild Ones and Friends!

I had fun sharing my experiences, observations, and strategies for “re-ecologizing” with Wild Ones, West Cook this past weekend…. Here are a few snippets from the presentation I gave. I discussed plant community-based design, and native-plant-community based design and installation and stewardship gardening, and touched on soil health and, of course, monarchs. Check out theirContinue reading “A Look at Summer Abundance, on a Winter’s Afternoon with West Cook Wild Ones and Friends!”

Fools and Dreamers indeed… and the weeds may redeem us all

Magical place nurtured back to nature. Great lesson here about gorse. Soil wishes to be covered, so, there are always plants up for the job. Some of them, and most of them in places we disturb, are likely considered weeds. Perhaps we need to be clearer in our intention, step back in our understanding, andContinue reading “Fools and Dreamers indeed… and the weeds may redeem us all”

All-Season Beauty + Texture

(Christmas in July??? Or just understanding your landscape year-round?) Plant combinations, massing, and matrices, are chosen for their ability to play off one another with timing and textures, for their ability to hold interest during multiple seasons, and because they “get along” well culturally. This video was made during the second winter for this corporateContinue reading “All-Season Beauty + Texture”

Parkway Possibilities

This is an urban parkway in a residential neighborhood in Chicago. The plantings are native, except the Clematis and the tulips. There are several boulders that make great seats on a hot summer evening. Weeding a couple times a year is all this type of landscape needs, as long as the Norway Maples are trimmedContinue reading “Parkway Possibilities”

Schematic Sketch for a Bungalow

This Bungalow on Chicago’s Northwest Side has a front yard needing some redefining, replanting, and re-shaping.  The Schematic Sketch included a design, recommendations for maintenance and reconstruction of a retaining wall, and an opinion of cost.  The client can now budget the next steps, and can use the sketch and example pictures to communicate toContinue reading “Schematic Sketch for a Bungalow”

The RIVERS Project Extreme Build…. soon!

Watch the Rain Garden Do It’s Thing…!

Watch the Video:  Semiramis Studio’s garden at CNT-E The Garden at CNT Energy during a rainstorm with the newly diverted downspout water going into the garden! Want to know more?

Gangway Drainage Solution….. Refining the Grading & Getting Ready to Lay Some Gravel and Drainpipe

Peter Hoy is working on the fine grading and the team is checking the depth of our trench. We are creating a green infrastructure drainage solution to trapped water in a gangway. By directing the water to a trench that ends in a dry well in the front yard, the water will no longer beContinue reading “Gangway Drainage Solution….. Refining the Grading & Getting Ready to Lay Some Gravel and Drainpipe”