Earth Day is April 22, and to celebrate our commitment to sustainable practices we are proud to announce our third consecutive year participating as a City of Columbus GreenSpot. We are renewing our sustainable commitments for not only our Columbus, Ohio, office, but throughout our entire organization. With summer around the corner, we are also excited about the native landscaping completed in our Columbus office that will help save water all season long!
GreenSpot is a voluntary program promoting green and sustainable practices for businesses, households, and community groups. To be a member of GreenSpot, organizations pledge to strive for environmental stewardship excellence and report on a yearly basis on their successes and progress. In fulfilling our water conservation commitment to the GreenSpot program, ms consultants selected sustainable landscaping for its Columbus, Ohio, office.
Our objective was to create a unique, attractive landscape native to the area that would require minimal time and treatments for maintenance, and would survive the summer season without the use of an irrigation system. This in turn would reduce maintenance, excess water usage, and soil additives necessary for plant survival. To accomplish this objective, our landscape architect, Edward Ferguson, provided landscape architecture design and plant selection services.
Overall, we wanted to combine the elegance and color of a private garden with design aspects that complement corporate offices, while maintaining a low maintenance, sustainable design. One of those aspects is mass planting. Mass planting is done with specific plant species. It can promote a feeling of stability and relief in corporate and urban neighborhoods. ms consultants selected the following plants:
Variegated Liriope was used to create a massed ground cover bed that adds a beautiful striped carpet of color. It is known for its ability to survive in almost any condition, from full sun to full shade, from wet soil to extremely dry. It is also a fast grower which assists in eliminating weeds for the entire area. As the plants spreads, we will divide it and plant it again which will eliminate the chance for weeds to establish and reduce the need for herbicides.
Astilbe is another low maintenance plant that adds elegance with its plume-like flowers. They are one of the easiest flowers to grow but will be a welcome burst of color to a shade predominant area of the site.
Finally, two species of bamboo were selected to line the side walls of the main entry, giving a peaceful feeling as one walks towards the building. Our varieties were obtained from a local grower who has grown ten different bamboo species in Ohio since 1978. After the first stage of planting and some selective trimming, bamboo is virtually maintenance free. A very resilient plant, it is known for its quick growth and elegant, calming nature. The evergreen characteristic also gives the landscape a year-round interest that helps balance the design.
The end result from working with these carefully selected plants: a design that is visually pleasing, low maintenance, and environmentally friendly!