Ecological address is similar to physical address but instead of state, town, street and house number, it includes ecoregion, watershed, forest community, soils, and habitat type.
For example, an ecological address for a house in Harrisville, NH could be ‘grassland and wet shrub openings within a hemlock hardwood pine forest on sandy loam on the Monadnock Plateau and the Merrimack River watershed.’
When we identify the ecological address of a place, not only does it help practitioners make functional design decisions, it also expands our clients’ sense of home into the natural world.
Matrix planting is a low maintenance layered technique popularized by the New Perennialist movement in Europe. Working with plant communities rather than individuals, matrix planting utilizes a “green groundcover” base layer that replaces bark mulch, and relies on flowering plant combinations for seasonal bloom sequences and fall color. Matrix planting makes a natural segue between a right sized lawn and an early-successional mix of taller shrubs, grasses and understory trees. It is also a functional choice in that it does not require irrigation, is relatively inexpensive to install and supports pollinators and songbirds.
