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Landscape Design

Daveography

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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
The City of Edmonton has introduced new landscaping requirements to ensure a minimum number of trees and shrubs are planted when new homes are built. The new rules also include an incentive to encourage Edmontonians to keep mature trees.

Council recently approved changes to the Zoning Bylaw governing tree and shrub planting requirements, which are now in effect for all new development in Edmonton.

“We want to promote tree preservation, while creating consistent landscaping requirements across the city,” said Colton Kirsop, Senior Planner with Development Services, who helped bring forward the changes. “Mature trees are key to the environmental quality and biodiversity of the city, but they also reinforce community character where there is new development.”

The number of trees and shrubs required on a lot will be based on property width.

In addition to the landscaping requirements, all new infill development now requires Edmontonians to sign a document confirming they are aware of City regulations, including the proper protection of boulevard trees and new landscaping requirements.

These bylaw changes support The Way We Grow, The Way We Green as well as the Urban Forest Management Plan and were based on feedback gathered through public consultation last year.

For more information:
edmonton.ca/treeplantingrequirements
Media contact:
Amber Medynski
Communications Advisor, Sustainable Development
780-508-9528

http://www.mailoutinteractive.com/Industry/View.aspx?id=818865&q=1057454599&qz=5ef656
 
Enough of that highfalutin Kentucky bluegrass or common fescues — the City of Edmonton is exploring ways to encourage homeowners to go natural when it comes to their lawns.

Embracing naturalization is a landscaping technique that focuses on native flora, allowing properties to grow naturally instead of requiring the constant manicuring of lawns.

Ward 10 city Coun. Michael Walters asked city staff to look into the benefits of native vegetation, including how lawns can be converted and how homeowners can be encouraged to transform their lawns into a naturalized wonderland.

Full Story (CBC Edmonton)
 
Wild weeds or native plants? Edmonton launches debate on naturalized lawns
It’s farm meets city all over again.

First bees in backyards, then chickens. Now city hall must figure out how to deal with growing numbers of people who want to turn manicured lawns into something that, to their neighbours, looks a lot like weeds.

Craig Schlegelmilch spent roughly $10,000 fixing his front drainage by installing a bioswale with natural wetland plants and a rebuilt fescue prairie alongside.

Then a bylaw officer mistook a native plant for a noxious weed and mowed the whole thing down.

Schlegelmilch was at a recent city utility committee meeting, arguing for better training and city recognition for natural landscapes. His front yard efforts reduce the burden on Edmonton’s stormwater system and increase its ecological diversity, attracting pollinators, dragonflies and songbirds.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)
 
@Daveography -- you won't regret it. There are some very pleasant fragrances borne by Alberta prairie and parkland natives -- and, of course, they are extremely hardy. My wife and business partner is a landscape architect and she is almost religious about promoting natives in nearly every setting. A wetlands approach to a residential garden is also good if you can populate the effort with some bug-eating species -- frogs, toads and the like -- to keep the mosquito population in check. Anyway, good luck with your project. Glad to hear that you are becoming a "nativist" ;-)
 
Council votes to plow ahead with new rules for natural yards in Edmonton
Bylaw and drainage officials will team up to draw up rules around what appears to be a growing trend in Edmonton — natural front yards.

Council voted unanimously to charge them with the task Tuesday, after at least one homeowner had their attempt at replicating a natural fescue prairie weed-whacked by bylaw officers.

Edmonton has been encouraging natural-plant landscapes through its Front Yards in Bloom programs and rain garden guides, said Coun. Ben Henderson, who asked council to endorse the new effort. But at the same time, bylaw officers aren’t sure how to respond to something that can look a lot like unruly weeds, he said.

“Clearly, we’re overdue for some thinking on this,” Henderson said. He pushed administration to investigate how other communities have found a middle ground, promoting the benefits of a natural yard while mitigating animosity between neighbours whose expectations are very different.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)
 
Edmonton city council passed a new bylaw Thursday that may help ensure that neighbourhoods don't become concrete jungles.

After a public hearing at city hall, councillors voted in favour of a new bylaw that limits the amount of non-permeable material, including concrete, homeowners can have on their properties.

Under the new bylaw, non-permeable material will be limited to 70 per cent of the property for single homes, semi-detached homes and row houses with lanes. Row houses without lanes will be limited to 75 per cent.

"Your house and your garage and your driveway — sidewalks and all of those things — can cover a maximum of 75 per cent of your property," said Coun. Ben Henderson. "The [rest], water has to be able to drain through."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...bylaw-council-drainage-plants-river-1.4089403
 
Concrete paradises no longer allowed in Edmonton: City
Edmonton’s new restrictions on concrete lawns “are better than nothing,” says a community rep, as the city will now limit residents from cementing their entire property.

City councillors voted unanimously Thursday to allow the new restrictions at a public hearing meeting. Prior to the change, residents could turn their entire front and back yards into a concrete paradise. Now, they can only cement 70 to 75 per cent of their property.

“I think the city has done a good job with this,” said Jan Hardstaff, who’s been pushing the city to put an end to residents cementing their front lawns. “But we need to go further by at least allowing a minimum requirement for green space on properties.”

The changes come as Edmonton tries to reduce “stress” on pipes. That’s because when people cement their entire property, there is no grass to absorb any storm water. More of that water then enters the drainage system, which can cause flooding.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmont...concrete-lawn-back-yard-cement-city-hall.html
 

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