Landscape design is engineering with an artistic touch
We’ve all heard “never judge a book by its cover” yet consider today’s realm where individuals are constantly uploading images of themselves and their environments for the world to see and make judgement. A city is no different when it comes to first impressions and the judgment placed upon it by its citizens and visitors. The first impression is often in relation to the viewer’s perception of the city’s landscape; a preservation and interior look into its character and function.
The city of Medicine Hat is extremely unique as it is characterized as a desert landscape, receiving small amounts of precipitation each year combined with warm winds, leaving moisture for plants and fauna a scarce commodity. Yet we consider our city to be an “oasis on the prairies” with its lush green spaces and colorful garden landscapes. Just how does one showcase our city’s beauty and maintain such a tranquil design whilst combating the low levels of moisture often required for urban landscape beautification? Enter innovative landscape design.
A unique landscape and environment requires a management strategy complete with low impact sustainable development driving every project. By choosing new and innovative landscape designs and concepts, the City of Medicine Hat is lowering its environmental footprint and enhancing its aesthetic beauty.
Native plants of the shortgrass ecosystem have long been successful in our climate; thus, by looking to nature for solutions to our current obstacles we can implement nature’s success. Native species of vegetation have undergone centuries of acclimation and physiological changes to thrive in our environment. By planting these species into our urban gardens and landscapes we can showcase the prairie beauty while removing unnecessary environmental stressors.
Bunch grasses aid in protecting soil from wind erosion and subsequent evaporation; therefore, more moisture is held in the soil for the biological users. By choosing the correct species for our climate we will be able to reduce water consumption and our environmental footprint, while improving air quality and our urban environment. Very interesting concepts will continue to develop with the global shifts to a more environmentally conservative mindset. Look for future City of Medicine Hat developments to employ these concepts.