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LI LANDSCAPE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION www.landscapeirrigation.com Landscape and Irrigation May/June 2015 21 When Ohlsen selects plant material, he looks for plants that can offer a variety of benefits — from improving soil health through mineral management or nitrogen fixing to creating a wildlife habi- tat, providing a food source, and offering an aesthetic appeal either live or as cut flowers. "For one client, I planted a lupine hedge around an apple tree," he said. "The tree produced fruit; the lupine is a nitrogen fixer, restoring health to the soil; and the lupine also provided a habitat for wildlife." At another site, Ohlsen used a water feature to create a microcli- mate on a client's property. Not only did it attract wildlife, offering a habitat and nature experience, the strategic location of the wa- ter feature worked as a climate moderation tool. "It absorbed heat during the day and let off heat at night, changing the temperature around it," he explained. CONVINCING CUSTOMERS Ultimately, homeowners and commercial property owners must be receptive to considering a permaculture design approach. Al- though some clients already embrace sustainability in other areas of their life and will readily accept this approach, others will need a little persuading. Edible gardens are a great conversation starter for the topic of permaculture. I'll get to a client's house and they'll say to me 'I don't have a green thumb,'" said Ohlsen. He'll ask for a tour and be guided around the corner of the house, down a stone path, through an arbor and finally reach a garden that looks less than healthy. "With people's busy lifestyle there's no way they will be successful with a garden that far removed," he said. Instead, he suggests planting edible gardens in spots through which the client naturally travels every day. When the plants are in plain sight, it's easier to pull weeds, harvest for eating, and maintain. "I call it the slipper test. If someone is cooking an egg breakfast on the stove and decides they want chives, they need to be able to go out to the garden, cut chives and come back inside without getting their slippers wet. If their slippers get wet, it's too far away," he said. Another landscape feature that opens the door to discussing permaculture is a rainwater harvesting system. When Simpson ex- plains the benefits of a rainwater harvesting system, clients often get excited. "Rainwater is treated as waste when it's actually a free resource," he said. "It can be directed into the landscape, or stored for use in emergency or drought situations. [Rainwater harvesting is] relatively cheap for a big impact on one's lifestyle, landscape and water bill." Even his clients living in Massachusetts or New England, who don't consider the region affected by drought, have recently expe- rienced drought conditions in recent summers. "These sys- tems catch water from storm events, and store the water for use during a prolonged drought period," he said. The environmental benefits of a rainwater harvesting system extend beyond the ability to turn "waste" into a re- source. When Simpson designs a rainwater harvesting sys- tem, he looks "downstream," beyond the initial components of the system. "We think about where the overflow of the system will go," he said. A carefully placed rain garden collects overflow from the system during large storms, and also gathers runoff from non-porous surfaces such as driveways and sidewalks. In addition to providing a place for the excess water to collect, rain gardens are designed to filter contaminants out of the water before it seeps into the soil. "We've designed rain gardens that are planted with asparagus or blueberries that thrive in those environments and create an aesthetically beautiful and functional garden," he concluded. LEARN MORE For contractors and designers interested in learning more about permaculture, a simple Internet search is a good place to start. Resources including the Permaculture Research In- stitute (permaculturenews.org) and Permies.com offer a start- ing place with blogs, videos and more. Universities in the United States and around the world are beginning to offer certification programs in permaculture design. Katie Navarra is a landscape industry professional based in New York. She is also an accomplished author and freelance correspondent with more than 200 articles to her credit. She can be reached via e-mail at katienavarra@yahoo.com. Design specs for gutter to cistern to pond at a residential project in Groton, MA Provided by Regenerative Design Group, LLC