irrigation | IDEAS

We have found a wonderful use for some beautiful trees that were felled during Hurricane Ike – we are planting them. And yes, we know they won’t grow back. [Watch the short video.]

We have found a wonderful use for some beautiful trees that were felled during Hurricane Ike – we are planting them. And yes, we know they won’t grow back.

[Watch the short video.]

Our Houston office is restoring Flewellen Creek as a part of an eco-community we are designing in Fulshear, Texas. The waterway had been degraded into a common agriculture ditch over the course of its past life meandering through farms and ranches, but today it has been given another chance as an ecologically rich stream. We are also creating an environment for the habitat that thrives in Flewellen Creek and its floodplain.

Raptors are an important part of this eco-system. We’ve created little brush teepees as habitat zones for their prey: field mice, rodents, frogs and more. But until the wetlands, native grasses, riparian trees and the surrounding prairie-style forest grow-in, there are few trees or even telephone poles for a falcon or hawk to perch on. The Ike trees offer birds of prey a suitable vantage point for their hunt. Even after the landscape is mature, the stumps will endure as an iconic feature of this area.

But the dead trees aren’t the only unique feature of Cross Creek Ranch. Developed by Trendmaker, Cross Creek Ranch is for people who want to live in a community that’s in harmony with its naturalized surroundings. Everything about the eco-community’s setting — from the native grasses and vegetation to the stream, prairie and lakes — is a different aesthetic than what most people are accustomed.

The landscape isn’t only for show. It’s is a working part of the community’s infrastructure. We’ve given the waterway its rightful flood plain. The prairie that this creates sits at a lower elevation than the homes and structures and offers great views while protecting the community during heavy rains and flooding.

Most of the landscape requires less maintenance and minimal irrigation, the places that do need supplemental water pull from the eco-community’s lakes. The lakes are replenished with recycled water from home showers and sinks. After it’s been treated, the water is polished through the wetlands on site.

The tall native grasses keep the ground cooler than mowed turf and their roots go deep – sometimes as deep as 6 feet. This pulls oxygen and organic matter far underground and nourishes the tree roots and the earth beneath our feet – which in turn feeds the grasshoppers and frogs, which feed the birds of prey.

Each component of this landscape is an important part of the cycle of life at Flewellen Creek and the dead trees are giving us a head start on the newly created habitat.

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Posted by MattBaumgarten
in Bayou By Us
on 3 July, 2012

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As developers strive to find a balance between profits and environmental responsibility, many are looking to water resources as more than just a way to demonstrate sustainability. A connected system that starts at the small scale and eventually returns higher quality water back to the river, lake, bay or other body of water can become… Read more »

Posted by SeanOMalley
in Urban Ecologies
on 21 January, 2012

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The Victoria Street Community Garden is located on a formerly derelict parking lot in Houston, TX. Sixty individual raised plots, along with a community orchard, group demonstration beds and community gathering spaces were designed by SWA Group and installed by volunteers over a two day period. Scott McCready and Eli Lechter talked to me about… Read more »

Q. Can you describe the features of the garden?

A. The garden contains sixty 4′x 4′ raised plots for community members, group raised planters for demonstration and teaching, a natural play garden for young children, a shed and deck, a picnic lawn, community orchard and a community gathering space.

Q. Who will manage the garden?

A. The garden is managed by Volunteers of America (VOA), a non-profit organization. Identifying long-term personnel at VOA to be involved was one of the project’s challenges.

Q. What infrastructure was needed for the garden?

A. An irrigation system serves the primary public areas (shared use lawns and gardens) and individual plots were designed to accept future drip irrigation. Security concerns prompted a different set of infrastructure, including lighting, access control and an 8′ fence to keep out feral dogs.

Q. Were there any permitting issues?

A. The main permitting issue was related to the fact that we were relying on volunteer efforts and on an extremely tight schedule. The city did require a full project review and eventually the Mayor’s Office had to get involved to expedite the review process so that the project could stay on schedule.

Q. What did you learn about designing for agriculture from this project?

A. We had to consider proper solar orientation for the garden plots, the suitability of the materials and soil depth. The project would be built by volunteers and that affected the way we designed. We thought a lot about scalability of program to allow the garden to grow as it becomes adopted by the community, and realized how important community participation is for a project like this. The greatest cost for the project in the end wasn’t related to the program improvements (community spaces) but rather to site preparation and utilities and security. These items are much harder to fundraise for. Finally, we learned that middle school students work as hard or harder than adults!

Q. The images of the garden under construction show the use of a pre-fab system for the raised beds. Can you tell me a little about it?

A. The raised beds were installed using a product called Gro-Pod. It’s a pre-fab raised bed unit, with integrated irrigation and cedar plank edges, and it allowed us to just lay out the garden, rather than construct each raised bed. It also isolates the growing medium from any potential contamination in the site soils. The product is new on the market, and this is a good testing ground to see how it holds up in a public application.

Q. Any last insights on designing community gardens?

A. Volunteer projects need a simpler plan for layout and construction to ensure reasonable quality. Design considerations must take into account labor, access to heavy machinery and the uncertain nature of volunteer availability. Coordination of large groups is always a challenge, but the results are quite rewarding – despite all the problems, the project succeeded in transforming an eyesore into a vital gathering space for a community in need of such opportunities. With a bit of creativity and sweat, a lot of work can be accomplished without huge resources.

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