Can't sleep

I suppose it's due to the large amounts of coffee I've been drinking lately. I've had multiple deadlines this week (oh wait, it's only Monday), and I'm paying the price for not having worked weekends the last few weeks. It's just been hard with the short days and feeling like I don't have any daylight hours with my family.

I will probably end up going in to the office soon, in spite of the Dark and Stormy Night. I have a meeting at 10AM with a particularly needy client who will want to discuss three different projects. I haven't even plotted anything yet.

I got sidetracked the last couple of days by a project that dropped out of the sky and into my lap. We needed to put together a working presentation drawing for a public workshop, and unfortunately, the files were in Microstation. After spending several hours trying to plot something decent from Microstation, I finally had to give up and convert everything to AutoCAD so I could have more control over lineweight and overall printing. That took about 6 hours!

I have a grading plan that's due to another client by Wednesday, and I've hardly even started. Never mind the fact that I'm taking a road trip on Wednesday to visit yet another project I've never even seen, yet have done nearly 85% drawings!

If I can only make it to Wednesday, I might make it to Thanksgiving.

A sign seen on the way to one of our projects

I *think* Canada's the best option....

I can so relate!

Someone sent this to me today, I am probably way behind the webtimes:

Things I've learned...

In the nearly ten years I've been practicing as a landscape architect, I've learned a few things (to be continuously updated):

• Don't be cheap. It's not worth not repaving that one patch of asphalt, that other piece of sidewalk, or filling in that planting bed. In the end, no one remembers that they didn't have enough money; what they do remember is, "How come we never finished that??" Besides, you never know: the gods could smile upon you and bids come in low.
  
• Corollary to the above: STUFF the planting beds full. In the end, it looks beautiful and that is what counts. In the scheme of things (say, a $14 million dollar building), no one will notice that you spent a few more dollars on 20 more shrubs. AND pick the biggest size plant available.
  
• There is no such thing as a good contractor (no offense to contractors out there!). Even the best contractor can't read your mind, so you need to be a good designer (I'm sure contractors say there is no such thing as a good designer!) and put as much information as possible on your drawings, and meet with them.
  
• Put spot elevations everywhere. Tops and bottoms of curbs, especially at curb ramps. Too many times have we had to act out curb ramps and flush curbs with interpretive dance!
  

Bamboozled?

I'm thinking about specifying a bamboo in one of my projects, an MRI suite addition. Originally the architect wanted a bamboo for an interior space, so I spent a ton of time researching that--but then something with the proposed atrium fell through and we aren't considering it for the time being.

So then I thought, maybe I can specify something for an exterior courtyard in the project. I'm thinking about Fargesia robusta. I really wish I could use a Phyllostachys, but it seems that they are pretty invasive and would spread everywhere without the maintenance that hospital staff likely cannot provide.

I am having a hard time deciding on whether the straight species, or the cultivar 'Green Screen' would be better. I'm concerned about the plant hardiness, and overall size. I wanted something in the 20-25' height range, but it doesn't look like I will be able to find something that is a clumping species, cold hardy, and that tall.

So, for the time being, F. robusta it is. Now to find an appropriate ground cover (if any at all). I wonder whether this bamboo landscape will conflict with what I am proposing in the front of the building...

I suppose I should have known this was coming...

http://www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm

A cool (pun intended) animation that shows the change in USDA Hardiness Zones. Soon we'll be planting tropicals in all our projects...

The reason for this blog...

My spouse is tired of hearing me bitch about work, so I thought I'd vent here. Also, I thought I'd add some tidbits about what I "do in winter:" one hint: it ain't snowplowing, nor is it sitting around drinking beer in my La-Z-Boy.

I have just committed design hara-kiri

I just put forth my best efforts to design the most diminutive sign mounting detail to deal with subsurface utilities (i.e., can't get to frost depth), yet I was forced to instead design huge concrete blocks with ADA parking signs flange-mounted on top.

I think the client just likes to say "flange."