Landscape Design & Construction
Sustainable landscapes
Street-side swales manage stormwater on-site.
Local codes, industry standards, and successful developers are moving towards sustainable site development. Benefits include soil restoration, water conservation, onsite stormwater management, site appropriate trees and plants, sustainable materials, easier maintenance, and the community and customer value of green environments.
Landscape design
- Fit the design to the site.
- Start with the soil.
- Choose the right plant for the right place.
- Manage stormwater on-site.
- Design for water conservation.
- Develop a maintenance plan.
Landscape construction & installation
- Minimize site impacts, to maximize benefits.
- Protect and restore soil functions.
- Plant it right, and care for plants until established.
- Verify proper installation of soil, irrigation, etc.
- Train end-users in sustainable care.
- Train staff and users for long term success.
Learn about sustainable design in our guide Natural Landscaping: Design, Build, Maintain (pdf).
Explore this site for soil best practices, irrigation design, lawns and planting, training opportunities, and more.
Additional resources
- Sustainable Sites Initiative publishes the SITES Guidelines (the site and landscape equivalent of the LEED™ green building rating system) with comprehensive national standards and methods for site designers and developers – the current state of the art for these professions.
- The Urban Tree Foundation has developed peer-reviewed details and specifications in AutoCAD, PDF, and Microsoft Word formats for planting, trees, and irrigation. Intended for use by landscape architects, engineers, architects, contractors, urban foresters, arborists, and government agencies. All files are open source, free, and can be edited, see details and specifications.
- WA Master Builders Built Green and the US Green Building Council’s LEED standards also include some site guidelines.
- The best stormwater design resource (consistent with both WA State and local codes) is the 2012 Low Impact Development Technical Guidance Manual.
- WSU’s WA Stormwater Center helps designers, developers, builders, and local jurisdictions comply with their NPDES permits and the WA Stormwater Manual which is the base for Seattle’s Stormwater Code and Manuals. Washington Department of Ecology’s Low Impact Development Resources has many useful links.
- EnviroStars and Grow Smart Grow Safe have information to help plan sites for low-chemical, cost-effective maintenance.
- Saving Water Partnership resources for business and Designing Irrigation Systems have more information on water conserving design, installation and management strategies.