We recently mailed out a seasonal newsletter! Here are a few words of advice from several Father Nature representatives.

Fall Transplanting

Andrew McCurry, Birmingham AL

"If you have been thinking of moving anything in your garden, now is the time! With temperatures dropping and days getting shorter, the metabolism of your favorite plants will begin to slow, transporting carbohydrates to the root zone where nutrients are stored during the winter. Reduced metabolism means reduced stress on the plant. Keep a heavy layer of mulch around your plants to insulate, buffer temperature extremes and reduce winter desiccation by consuming moisture in the soil. Don't forget to fertilize your under nourished plants once the leaves begin to fall."

Landscape Lighting

Andrew Robinson, Mobile Bay AL

"With the days getting shorter, it is a great time to think about landscape lighting. Outdoor lighting can create an artistic element in your garden, and allows you to enjoy your outdoor spaces for a longer period of time. Low voltage lighting fixtures do not use as much energy as typical incandescent outdoor fixtures. A dusk till dawn sensor and lighting timer can be used to make sure the system will only come on when needed, optimizing energy usage, and creating a greener solution for lighting up your home."

Proper Drainage

Chris Scheer, Tacoma WA

"As you may know, water poses the greatest threat to your most expensive investment, your home. With this in mind draining water away from your home through the use of downspouts, entire house drains, French drains, and driveway drains is of highest priority. Through effectively managing water runoff you can greatly improve the ability of your home to shed water away from it, thus keeping it safe for years to come."

Home Improvement

Daniel McCurry, Birmingham AL

"Improve the value of your home through proper landscaping. To help sell a home or increase the value of your home, there are a few small ticket items that you can administer in your landscape. Top priority is cleanliness. Make sure you have clean bed lines. Your planting beds should be cleaned out of noxious weeds and debris, and your plants should be trimmed properly. Second, the front door is the central focus. Your plants should be arranged to encourage the eye to the front door. Lastly, attempt to separate property lines with groupings of plants to help convey the size and boundaries of your property."

Email us or post a comment to find out more information about any of the above topics. Also, check out the rest of our website to see our other areas of knowledge and expertise.

As a Landscape Architecture student, you learn about the so called "greats" of the field: Fredrick Law Olmsted, Thomas Church, Ian McHarg, and Lawrence Halprin just to name a few. You take notes on their design style, theory, career, and projects only to regurgitate them into A, B, C, or D on a multiple choice test. You hear about them every year,in almost every class, so much so that they become common. But we must not forget why they are "Great." Especially one, Lawrence Halprin who died on the 25 of October this year.

Halprin was the ultimate sculptor of the environment. His sphere of achievement and influence extends not only to residential works but to memorials, parks, plazas, environmental planning, and urban design. He understood the connections between environment and design, social interactions in space and environment, and creativity and ingenuity. Like the other "Greats," Halprin solved problems not by words but design in its most ingenious form.

There are countless reasons to be inspired by Lawrence Halprin and others like him. For one, he was a master at figuring and communicating with his clients. On working with clients he stated,

"One is that they will feel about you that you're going to make something wonderful for them. And they help you by expressing themselves. Not telling you how to do it but encouraging you and accepting your vision and working with you on that kind of level."

He understood this unique connection between designer and client, and how important it is to the success of the design.

His ability to process information from people combined with a talent for reading the landscape resulted in a long list of designs, books, and awards . His wife, Anna, describes his legacy perfectly:

"He believed the most important thing about designing is to generate creativity in others, and be inclusive- to include the needs and experiences of people interacting with the environment, and to let them be a part of its creation. That doesn't mean that you don't use your own artistic sensibilities to shape and contain and incorporate your own vision, but it means that vision must connect with people's feelings, experiences, and needs. That's his legacy."

This is why he is Great.

Check out a few more of his projects:

• Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park
• Freeway Park, Seattle WA
• Ira Keller Fountain
• Lovejoy Plaza Fountain, Portland OR
• FDR Memorial, Washington D.C.

Autumn is upon us. It is a great time to be outside, plant bulbs in the garden, and rake the leaves. If the Fall season excites you, then let it show in your landscape! There are countless ways to decorate your containers, window boxes, and front porch to celebrate the cooler weather.

Try these plants in your containers and window boxes for a beautiful fall effect:

New England Aster, Black mondo & Dwarf mondo, Sedum ('autumn joy' is a beautiful choice) Heuchera, Creeping Wire Vine, Sedge ('red rooster' has great coloring for the fall), Phlox, and many more! Email us if you would like any other plant suggestions.

Don't forget about container and porch accessories! Try some of the following:

Place pumpkins on your front steps, porch, and even in your containers. I went to a local nursery and was overwhelmed with all the different pumpkin varieties. There are so many to choose from: regular pumpkins of all sizes, white  pumpkins of all sizes, pumpkins with bumps, 'tiger striped' pumpkins for the serious Auburn fans, and gray colored pumpkins, only to name a few! All of which would be a great addition to your landscape decor.

Try using pine cones, reindeer moss (if you can find it!), Indian corn, and bittersweet. A general warning for bittersweet is that the berries are poisonous, and 'American bittersweet' is the only one that is not an exotic invasive. Nevertheless, the beautiful orange and red coloring is hard to resist!

Once you finish with the outdoors, bring your landscape inside! Use colorful leaves, twigs and branches, dried flower heads, and dried grasses in combination with the above accessories.

Use these ideas and let us know how it goes! Don't forget to turn on your landscape lighting to show off your creative handy work.

Happy decorating.

The famed "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" by Michael Dirr, "Southern Plants for Landscaping" by Odenwald and Turner, an old LEED New Construction manual, countless saved and dog-eared Garden Design, Fine Gardening, and Landscape Architecture magazines, and "10,000 Garden Questions answered by Experts" put together by the American Garden Guild are all stacked on my bookshelf. The last known copyright date of the garden questions book is somewhere between 1950 and 1975. Apparently, some garden secrets transcend time.

Despite what you do or don't have on your bookshelf, there is always room to add more to your shelves. But, what to add? If you peruse the gardening/landscape section of Boarders or Barnes and Noble, you will find countless books with shiny covers and crisp pages. Do not be fooled, however, some of the less appealing covers can have the most valuable information. As is the case for most of Michael Dirr's books. The information inside is valued by many if not all of the people in this profession. A fellow Father Nature plant nerd claims it's like "reading sandpaper." There is truth behind his humor, but nonetheless if you want accurate and quality information about plants, Michael Dirr is the author for you.

Other recommended books include:

• "Gardens are for People" Thomas Church
• "Color Schemes for the Flower Garden" Gertrude Jekyll
• "The Education of a Gardener" Russell Page

For a read more along the lines of "eye candy," flip through magazines such as "Garden Design," "Fine Gardening," and "Organic Gardening." This month, "Fine Gardening" provides you with "100 skills to make you a better gardener." I won't give anything away, but you just might learn something.

Don't hesitate to call or email us here at Father Nature. After looking through "Garden Design" you will probably be inspired to do so. We can help. It is what we love to do.

Also, don't hesitate to ask for other book suggestions or to consult with the office book nerd.

Happy reading.

Water has always been an important resource. The manipulation of water in the landscape is determined by a number of professionals in a variety of fields. As a result, different technologies crop up to address water issues as we continue to control and employ water in the landscape.

You might have heard about the wonder that is "pervious concrete." Do not be fooled by the fact that it resembles a rice-crispy treat. One can confidently empty a bottle of water onto its surface, and watch the water percolate through the concrete. Large quantities of impermeable surfaces are responsible for many storm water issues. What makes pervious concrete so appealing is that it has the ability to solve these some of these issues. By design, it reduces runoff and recharges groundwater. A special mixture of materials creates a web of interconnected voids allowing water to pass through rather than pool on the surface.

For more information, I would suggest you Google "Bruce Ferguson pervious concrete" (Ferguson is the leading researcher in the field)

In your search, you may come across several humorous tag-lines. For example: "When it rains, it's porous" or "When it rains, it drains."

At least these people don't have a dry sense of humor.