Image Credit: CR Goodman & Associates

E-Landscape has been selected to install the landscape for a new medical office building in Odenton, Maryland. The project, designed by CR Goodman and Associates and located at the corner of Sappington Station Road and Route 175, is a joint venture of Anne Arundel Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University. The $14 million, 60,000 square foot medical building, along with the multi-family “Odenton Gateway” project by Johnson Development, are meant to anchor a future Town Center-style development in Odenton. The project will include primary and specialty care services and could open by the end of 2012 or early 2013.

The ongoing and anticipated population growth in that area of the county sparked this project. Thousands of new residents and workers are expected to move or commute to Anne Arundel as a result of the federal Base Realignment and Closure process and emerging cyber security programs that are fueling growth around Fort George G. Meade.

E-Landscape will be providing landscape installation services, including laying new lawns on the property.

The rose garden project, in progress

This winter, the crews at E-Landscape have been busy working on further defining a client’s side yard from a turf area into a formal rose garden. The space is accessed from the dining room via french doors and steps that lead down to the garden area. The garden’s central axis is framed with Hick’s Yews, an upright evergreen shrub which forms a hedge separating the front lawn from the rose garden. A new, interior, circular planting bed will be home to the owner’s choice of hybrid tea roses (a long standing passion) and gravel paths will lead guests and gardeners through the space and down steps to the backyard. The path will be defined with steel edging along the perimeter to contain the gravel surface and maintain the perfect arc in the very formal space.

Soil samples have been taken to ensure the proper amendments are added to optimize growing conditions for roses, and the irrigation system was modified so the new bed was on a separate zone. Doing so will allow the homeowner to adjust run times for the specific growing requirements of the roses without having to change run times on the entire system. Since the area had drainage challenges, over 50% of the gravel path serves as a French drain with an extended profile of graded aggregate and perforated pipe to move surface and sub-surface water away from the space.  The drainage profile consists of three sizes of stone – #2 stone on the bottom (crushed stone 1.5”-2”), #57 stone (3/4” ) in the middle, and a finer decorative gravel as the walking service - all encased with non-woven filter fabric to prevent soil from migrating into the profile. The owner has commissioned a decorative wrought iron gate which will enclose the space and will be visible to passersby on the street.

Please check back in for the completed photos!

Johns Hopkins is known throughout the world for its medical and science curricula. This expansion project will enable the University to bring together in one new building undergraduate laboratories for chemistry, biology, biophysics, and neuroscience. This new laboratory building is part of a plan to revolutionize the way the natural sciences are taught at Hopkins.

The expansion, designed by architecture firm Ballenger of Philadelphia and constructed by Whiting Turner of Baltimore, is comprised of 105,000 square feet over four floors plus a basement. When complete, it will include 14 new laboratories, 19 faculty offices, five meeting/seminar rooms and a new student commons. The building will meet the standard for LEED Silver certification, with a goal of reducing energy use by half as compared with existing science buildings on campus.

The landscape for Mudd Hall’s expansion was designed by Mahan Rykiel of Baltimore. Our scope of work will include landscaping for two interior courtyards (including hoisting soil in via crane) and the construction of bioretention ponds and rain gardens.

Image Credt: www.jpwaredesign.com

Pervious concrete, also known as porous, gap-graded, or enhanced porosity concrete, is concrete with reduced sand that allows water to drain through it. There are a number of benefits to the use of pervious concrete in commercial construction and as a result, it is becoming an increasingly popular material.

Benefits of Pervious Concrete

The use of pervious concrete over an aggregate storage bed reduces stormwater runoff volume, rate, and pollutants. In addition, pervious concrete is durable, low maintenance, and has a low life cycle cost. With an increasing number of developers seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for their projects, the environmental benefits of pervious concrete make it an attractive component for Leed-seeking projects.

Applications of Pervious Concrete

Private development projects use pervious concrete to meet post-construction stormwater quantity and quality requirements, but there are also benefits relating to land use. Because surfaces paved with pervious concrete increase the area available for stormwater drainage, they can potentially reduce additional expenditures and land consumption for conventional stormwater infrastructure. In addition, pervious concrete is a naturally brighter surface than traditional asphalt, and thus can be used to reduce lighting needs and increase nighttime safety.

Snow Removal Do’s and Dont’s

Pervious concrete works well in colder climates due to its rapid surface drainage which reduces the occurrence of freezing puddles and black ice. Nonetheless, if sand, dust, or other sediment collect in pervious concrete’s voids, it will reduce the porosity. As a result, sand and salt should not be applied in snowy or icy conditions. In addition, plowed snow piles should not be left to melt over pervious concrete as their high sediment concentrations can also result in clogging.

When snow does build up on pervious concrete surfaces, it should ideally be remove using a rotary broom to avoid damage. When this is not possible, snow should be cleared using a plow with a lower edge made of plastic or rubber. Metal plows should be avoided as their blades tend to catch stones (particularly at joints) and cause damage to pervious surfaces.

Bradford Pear Trees In Bloom

Winter is an excellent time for pruning and evaluating potential hazards in deciduous trees as the absence of leaves reveals the plant’s branching structure. It is also easier to spot previous storm damage, such as broken branches, which may fall in more winds or heavy snow.  Similarly, exposure to plant pathogens and fungal diseases is much lower during the winter months, which is beneficial as pruning most typically involves exposing live tissue which can create an entry point for disease.

Here at E-Landscape Specialty Solutions, we were taking care of some winter pruning this week which was prompted by a call from our client, a healthcare facility.  They have quite a few Bradford Pears(Pyrus calleryana “Bradford”) in their parking lot and a branch snapped in high wind causing damage to a light pole and customer’s vehicle.  The Bradford Pear was bred to be a prolific flowering tree with a narrow canopy making it desirable as a street tree with excellent fall color as well. This narrow canopy coupled with it’s aggressive growth, however, creates many weak forks or crotches which split easily under high winds or heavy snow.  This damage can be prevented with proactive pruning to thin the canopy and remove any heavy, low branches.  While there are improved cultivars of the Callery Pear that are less susceptible to self-destructing, such as ‘Cleveland’ or ‘Aristocrat’, the species still remains relatively short lived at around 25-30 years and is considered invasive by many agencies.  This does not mean you need to eradicate  Bradford pears on your commercial property, but you should make corrective pruning a part of your maintenance program to ensure you do get the most life of out of them!

The LEED certification system is not simply aimed at influencing architects and builders. It has substantial implications for the landscape architecture and contracting industries as well.

Landscape Contractor Facilities

LEED principles can be applied both to the projects on which landscape professionals work as well as the facilities in which our businesses are housed. By “greening” our workspaces, we can use less energy and water, have lower greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a healthier work environment than conventional buildings.  Here at E-Landscape, we have not yet begun to pursue LEED certification, but we have introduced a Sustainability Policy and are taking steps to make ourselves greener.
Service Offerings
LEED-seeking projects can earn points for water-efficient landscaping, green roofs and other landscape-related components. Because landscape design and maintenance are factored into the scoring system used for LEED certification, there are opportunities or landscape designers and contractors to position themselves as LEED experts. “Landscape professionals can play an important role in green building as sustainable landscaping techniques are an important aspect of achieving LEED certification,” says Ashley Katz, a USGBC spokeswoman. There are also opportunities on the maintenance side. One of the fastest-growing LEED categories is Existing Buildings (EB), and landscape contractors have an opportunity to help property managers transition their landscapes to LEED-EB standards through irrigation, drainage and water containment upgrades, mulching projects and more.

Landscape Design

In addition to the LEED certification guidelines promulgated by the U.S. Green Building Council, the American Society of Landscape Architects – in conjunction with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanical Garden – has launched the Sustainable Sites Initiative to provide further guidance on how landscape design can promote sustainability. The Initiative has developed a rating system that can be applied to landscapes regardless of whether they include a building (whereas the USGBC LEED standards apply to buildings only). The system rewards practices such as stormwater management, the use of native plants, acquiring plants from local growers, selecting durable materials and supporting social interaction through landscape. USGBC has agreed to incorporate the lessons learned from the Sustainable Sites Initiative into future versions of the LEED rating system.

The LEED scoring system is still evolving, but one thing is very clear – the “green” movement is here to stay and landscape contractors that understand LEED practices will be well positioned to contribute to projects with a sustainability component. To learn more about the work E-Landscape has done on LEED-certified and LEED-seeking  projects, visit the Sustainability page of our website.

Brightview’s parent company, The Shelter Group, worked with architects Hord Coplan Macht of Baltimore and contractor Harkins Builders to design and build a development that qualifies for LEED Silver certification by promoting energy efficiency, water efficiency, healthy buildings, and the conservation of natural resources. As a result, Brightview South River’s many environmentally friendly features include a green roof, an electric car charging station, native landscaping, bike racks and building materials made with recycled content.

In addition to general grounds maintenance, our scope of work includes maintenance of the building’s green roof and native grass meadow.

The AAMC Heart and Vascular Institute is a comprehensive program offering exceptional emergency, interventional and surgical care. It features a dedicated Heart and Vascular Unit, vascular screening, surgery and treatment, cardiac-catheterization, interventional medicine, emergency angioplasty, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation and interventional radiology. It is also a participant in the C-PORT E program, offering elective angioplasty services to our community. The AAMC Heart and Vascular Institute is nationally recognized as a standard for care and treatment of heart attack patients and is the recipient of the 2011 Gold Performance Achievement Award from the American College of Cardiology.

The $130 million, 500-unit Park Morton redevelopment project is a dual partnership between the Warrenton Group and the Landex Companies. Wiencek & Associates Architects & Planners designed the Phase One building and general contractors Hamel Builders are carrying out the construction which is slated for completion this spring.

The 83 unit building is sited on what was once three parcels of vacant land. Twenty-seven units of the 7-story building have been reserved as “public housing,” while the remaining units are classified as “affordable housing,” serving residents with up to 60% of the area median income (AMI). The building also includes 2,300 square feet of retail space.

The objective of the developers and design team for The Avenue was to create a work of architecture that exudes modernity and sophistication, and to challenge preconceived notions about “affordable housing” by using high quality materials and employing an elegant design on the exterior as well as the interior.

Some notable features of the building include two landscaped rooftop terraces, one of which will be outfitted with numerous planters for community gardening opportunities. This green roof will not only provide residents a chance at producing healthy produce, but also lower the energy bill by decreasing the solar load on the flat building top. In addition, all sidewalks are being replaced with brick pavers, granite curbs, and two rows of continuous planter strips, where trees, shrubs, and flowers will bring shade, color, and life to the public space.

E-Landscape’s scope of work includes planting, site furnishings, and the creation of small pocket landscapes around this urban building.

(Source and Image Credit: www.dcmud.blogspot.com)

Princeton Elms planted along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House

This winter, one of the projects we’ve been busy working on involves tree planting over at the new Fort Belvoir Business Center. Although the scope is simple – tree planting and the installation of an irrigation system – it touches on a subject (the prevention of Dutch Elm Disease) close to our hearts as landscape contractors.

Dutch Elm disease first came to America in the 1920’s via a shipment of logs from the The Netherlands, but was prevalent in Asia prior to that time. It is spread by elm bark beetles and has, since the 1950’s, done severe damage to the American Elm population. Because Dutch Elm disease is caused by a fungus, there are a variety of chemical and biological ways to treat it,but disease prevention holds the most promise for reviving this declining species.

The American Elm is a fast-growing and long-lived species capable of attaining great size in a few centuries, especially when open-grown. Because of its impressive height, the American Elm has historically been the single most popular shade tree for lawns and city streets in the eastern United States, even earning distinction as the state tree of Massachusetts and North Dakota.

Perhaps because of its natural abundance and stately character, Elms have taken on cultural significance in the United States. The early citizens of Portland, Maine and New Haven, Connecticut had such a passion for the American elm that they created elm-lined streets on practically every block and earned each city such nicknames as “Forest City” and “City of Elms.” Once as naturally abundant as maple, oak, and pine, the American elm was an essential part of our natural landscape and cultural heritage throughout the first few centuries of our history, and it was in fact the first symbol of our national independence (Boston’s famous “Liberty Tree” was an emblem of promise and a gathering site for patriotic citizens intent on independence until British soldiers destroyed it as a final act of hostility during a hurried retreat in 1775).

As an industry, landcapers have played a major role in the effort to bring back the American Elm through the use of disease resistant cultivars. Thanks to Colorado State University and its National Elm Trial, there are now more than 10 resistant American Elm U. americana cultivars commercially available in North America

At Fort Belvoir Business Center, we are planting the ‘Princeton’ cultivar, one of several relatively new disease resistant varieties. Examples of ‘Princeton’ were planted along Washington Road and another road in Princeton, New Jersey, and most of these trees survive to this day unaffected by disease. The cultivar was more recently chosen to replace Elms killed by disease along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. ‘Princeton’ is currently being evaluated in the USA as part of the National Elm Trial coordinated by Colorado State University. We look forward to watching these beautiful trees thrive in the years to come!