LOW-INPUT SUSTAINABILITY
Smart Design and Plant Selection
IPM-based design programs are an integration of design and management. It is based on the philosophy of eliminating long-term care issues in the design process through smart cultural, environmental, and preventative design solutions.
- Creating more unique, interesting, naturalized designs with the use of rock, ‘micro-grading’, water, architectural lines, texture, etc.
- Know client needs and level of management conducive to their lifestyle.
- Use of native plant material. Native is defined as those plant species which are regionally and locally ecologically dominant and beneficial.
- Use of pest-resistant species and cultivars.
- High plant density and diversity for boosting beneficial organisms at strategic times.
- Avoid the use of plants overly dependant on outside inputs (i.e. turf), ‘key’ plants, and monocultures.
- Construct canopies with high variation, complimentary with ‘microgrades’ (naturalized contours) on the ground.
- Knowledge and avoidance of invasive exotics as well as resource-greedy species.
- The right plant in the right place.