Photo: nrcs.usda.gov“Landscaping is the improvement of aesthetic appearance of (a piece of land) by changing its contours, adding ornamental features and plantings.”
There are a lot of different takes on the definition of landscaping, but there is one thing that landscaping always comes back to no matter the property and no matter the landscaper – enhancing the surrounding nature.
Now, most landscapers are enhancing the surrounding nature for a client. However, landscapers can also enhance the surrounding nature just for nature itself.
One team in Minnesota has been working to restore a drained peat bog by providing proper hydrology and vegetation to the area.
The value of the bog is to reverse the drainage problem and gain mitigation credits for road construction projects that disturb wetlands. If one wetland is filled or changed, another wetland must replace it.
Through the National Regulator Research Institute (NRRI), the wetland is on the right track.
Even though a research team and a few botanists helped with this wetland project, it doesn’t mean that landscapers should be sticking strictly to the clientele projects. Landscapers can partner with research teams, universities and labs to help Mother Nature in a different way. Isn’t that what the ultimate goal is anyway? To end up with something better than you found it?
Landscapers have the needed skillset in helping Mother Nature return to its former glory by sharing ideas, knowledge and understanding of different landscapes.
