I graduated from Daniel high
school in June of 1998. When our planting design class made the trip
to the site, I have to admit it was kind of hard hearing everybody talk
about what a terrible looking place it was. However, deep down, I’ve always
known that it was the truth- the outside of the school is in shambles.
As we walked around that first day, all the problems with the school just
started popping out at us. Trees had been cut down, for safety reasons,
leaving unattractive, barren hillsides. Trees were dying because of root
damage done by too many years of parking on them. There was an overall
serious lack of plants, and the ones that were there weren’t really planted
with any thought, it didn’t seem. I chose the front of the school for two
main reasons: first, because I really thought that it could use the most
work, and second, because it had the one shining spot in the entire place-
a beautiful sugar maple in the island in front.
Mrs. Sanders had one
main request for those of us who chose to do the front, and that was to
provide more seating for the students that have to wait to be picked up
after school. Because that was the client’s main request, I felt obligated
to include something other than just benches, which are expensive and easy
to vandalize. I have worked with earthen mounds in the past and I know
that they can be a very comfortable place to relax, and I thought that
maybe the students would appreciate an alternative to conventional seating.
That is why I designed half mounds with retaining walls for seating. The
mounds are gentle enough to be mowed and, if implemented, will supplied
a nice undulating pattern in the front of the school which is pretty much
barren right now. I also wanted to liven up the foundation of the building,
which is barren right now, so I ran a bed all the way along the entire
foundation of the building. Because the front of the school is north facing,
I made sure to use mostly shade tolerant plants. The bed lines were gradual
enough to make for easy maintenance. Also in the front I included some
serviceberrys for color and shade. Along the wall of the auditorium, where
there are blank stucco panels, I suggested espaliering sasanqua camellias.
Eventually they will grow up and cover what is a fairly ugly site, right
at the entrance of the school. And since they are evergreen, it would be
a year round cover. I took out the four dying willow oaks in the gravel
parking area, and replaced them with Chinese elms. I pushed the elms back
farther and ran a bed line around all of them, in the hopes that that would
keep cars off their roots. I included a row of kousa dogwoods, as well
as specimen plantings throughout to liven up the area. With my flowers
and groundcovers I tried to incorporate the school colors, which are blue
and gold.
My design is sustainable,
I believe, because of my use of native plant materials and good bed lines.
Most of the plants, like the dogwoods, the camellias, the serviceberries,
and the cast iron plants, for example are native to the southeast, which
is good for supporting wildlife in the area. The fruits and berries that
they provide are good nourishment sources for birds, squirrel, and deer.
The actual trees and plants will provide shelter for this wildlife for
years to come. Using sustainable trees and plants is also good from a sustainability
standpoint because they don’t require as much time to establish themselves,
which means that you really cut down on watering. The bed lines help make
this design sustainable because they encourage good maintenance practices.
The lawnmowers won’t hurt the trees and other plants if they can’t get
to them.
The end result of my
project, I hope, has offered some practical solutions to some of Daniel
High School’s landscaping problems. I plan to be in the area for many years
and look forward to seeing some of my, and my classmates, designs implemented
into the schoolyard design.
