Leslie has worked with the Whitefish Animal Group, WAG, for over six years to create a wonderful playground for dogs and people. It is a 5.6 acre year round destination park with paved trails, pavilion, obstacle course, fenced small dog park, and a fenced large dog area with spectacular mountain scenery. Hugh Rogers WAG Dog … Read more
I recently gave a presentation at Montana Native Plant Society’s Flathead Chapter on Food Forests and other sustainable thoughts. My talk focused on a project in South Eastern British Columbia which I have been involved with for 7 years. It really has been a special project for me as a Landscape Architect. I have taught … Read more
These photos show the steps we took to protect and restore the native plants on a site for our landscape architecture client. This involved removing, storing then replanting sod and plants from the site. Prior to this it was also important to minimize disturbance of the overall site during excavation and to save native topsoil … Read more
I am not opposed at all to planting ornamental shrubs, trees and perennials here in the East Kootenays and Montana. I like them because of the color and variety they provided throughout the season. However, I do love my native plants and there are many areas of a site that I want to first protect, … Read more
Another technique that I have been successful with is actually stripping the native sod, not just the topsoil. Essentially you are saving the native plants to replant on the site at a later date. This is a big investment, as somebody needs to take care of your plants while your construction is being done. However, … Read more
Another key component of restoring native plants on a site, in addition to minimizing site disturbance, is retaining as much native top soil from the site as possible. When we bring in topsoil from off site we not only bring in the soil, but many of the weeds and other seeds from that site. The … Read more
Weeds are the bain of any native restoration. Disturbed areas, such as the post excavated site in this photo, are ripe for weeds to come in. One of the biggest difficulties of site work for new construction is minimizing the extent of disturbance. When contractors are on site, their goal is to get the work done … Read more