Living Lands Landscape and Design

What a beautiful day! Today we planted trees with the Red Deer Junior Forest Wardens at the Piper Creek Restoration Agriculture Project site. Many thanks to Tree Canada, funder for this project. All of the trees and shrubs planted are fruit trees/shrubs that provide nectar and pollen for pollinators when in bloom and food for us and the birds later in the season.

Wonder in the woods. The nonvascular plant world is so rich in texture and form. By allowing a portion of your landscape to remain wild, nature will embrace diversity and provide the benefits of natural systems that have existed for milenia. #rewilding #rewildingalberta #biodiverse

The biodiverse green roof on Berry Architecture and Associates, just after the Thanksgiving weekend, and there are still plants in bloom! This green roof has become a thriving ecosystem in the urban core of Red Deer, AB. Green roofs are great roofs. They bring back biodiversity, they make buildings more energy efficient, they prolong the lifespan of roofing materials reducing waste, they manage stormwater, they grow food, the reduce heat island effects, they increase property values and they provide healthy green jobs! Living Lands Landscape + Design is ready to help you with your green roof design. #albertagreenroofs #greenroofsforhealthycities #livingarchitecture #biodiversegreenroofs #healthycitiesreddeer #healthycitiesreddeer #pollinatorhabitat

We did it and just before the early arrival of winter! The Roofs 4 Kids new green roof is installed and planted. Living Lands Landscape + Design has been working with the Lacombe Composite High School's EcoVison club for over three years on this project. It is so good to see it all come together and part of such a well supported, holistic, community project. Many thanks to Kerry Ross from Green T Design for her help with this project. #biodiverseschoolyards #pollinatorschools #greenschools #greenroofsforhealthycities #livingarchitecture #holisticlearning #greenroofshippingcontainers #albertagreenroofs

This summer we started to install components into the largest pollinator hotel that we have worked on yet! Located at the Piper Creek Restoration Agriculture Project in Red Deer, Ab, this beautiful timber frame, open air, barn will speak to the importance of keystone species and the habitats that support them, as well as provide spaces for local cavity nesting bees. Not just for the bees, the barn will also be used to showcase rainwater catchment technologies and act as a space for community gatherings. The snow has put an end to our work on this project for the year but be sure to watch out for more exciting additions in 2021!

Happiness is planting for pollinators # 3

It feels good to see so many pollinators feeding in the pollinator gardens that we have designed and maintain. Designing for pollinators and biodiversity is what we do!

Another Living Lands Landscape + Design project to help reduce mowing and the associated GHGs, and increase biodiversity. Next spring this garden will be planted to over 15 different flowering forbs and grasses that are indigenous to the prairie and parkland ecosystems, transforming the grassy monoculture into a rich source of nectar and pollen for pollinators and seeds for birds. #biodiverse #biophilicdesign #rewilding #pollinatorhabitat #albertanativeplants #albertawildflowers

Thank you earth for diversity!

We design and install biodiverse green roofs like this one located in downtown Red Deer. Green roofs help make our cities more livable and lovable for both humans and the wild ones.

Beetles are.thought to be one of the first insects to visit flowers. Fossil records show that beetles were visiting flowers 200 million years ago, 50 million years earlier than bees. These two beetles seem to consider this Prickly Wild Rose flower not only as a pollen source but also as a flower of love!

Bumble bee and Early Yellow Locoweed. It feels good to bring this plant back to its ancestral place and to help rebuild the connections between plants, place and wildlife.

White Admiral Butterfly, my gardening mate for the afternoon. Gardening takes on a whole other level of deep connection when it is designed and maintained in a manner that provides for the needs other species than ourselves. We design and build spaces that provide food for us and food for the wild ones. #pollinator #biodiverse #holisticdesign #albertabutterfly

One more stage near completion on the ReFraming The Watershed timbre frame barn. The open air barn is a component of the Piper Creek Restoration Agriculture Project. The barn is designed to showcase water collection techniques, as well as provide nesting structures for cavity nesting bees. Keep watching throughout the summer for updates. #pollinator #livingarchitecture #biophilicdesign

June 19, 2020 Almost the longest day day of the year. Thank you plants for the energy and life that you give each year to this green garden in the sky. @berryarchitecture #greenroofs #biophilic #pollinatorgreenroof #biodiverse #wgrd2020 #livingarchitecture

Great day in the sun. Here at Living Lands we love composing with nature, creating beautiful spaces that feed the body and soul and the birds and bees.

Beautiful day up here today. Wish that I could have spent the whole day up there with the shooting stars, strawberries and violas.

So happy to announce, on this the first ever World Green Roof Day, that we will be collaborating with the Lacombe Composite High School (my old high school!) in the design and building of the green roof for their Roofs 4 Kids project. Construction will begin September 2020. https://talkaep.alberta.ca//news_fe/2019-2020-roofs-4-kids #wgrd2020 #greenroofs #livingarchitecture #greenschools #lacombecompositehighschool #ecovision

Its World Green Roof Day! So proud of all of these plants that work together as a community to provide habitat for local wildlife on this green roof located in downtown Red Deer, Alberta. #wgrd2020 #biodiverse #biophilic #livingarchitecture #greenroofs

It is the inaugural World Green Roof Day today! Here at Living Lands Landscape + Design we love green roofs! The amount of life that biodiverse green roofs support is truly amazing. This biodiverse green roof, located in downtown Red Deer, AB is home to black-capped chickadees, ravens, blue azure butterflies, bumblebees, leaf cutter bees, white admiral butterflies, dragonflies, aquatic invertebrate, and so much more! Not only do green roofs provide habitat for local plants an...d wildlife, they help cities save money through effective stormwater management, they reduce the urban heat island effect, they help increase the energy efficiency of buildings by reducing heating and cooling costs, they prolong the lifespan of building materials and they increase our sense of well-being by providing connections with the natural world. Want to green up your roof and our world? Contact us, we can help. #wgrd2020 #biodiverse #biophilic #livingarchitecture #greenroofs See more

An evening walk in the "Field of Dreams", embracing the wonders of our local flora and fauna. Biodiversity thrives in "The more beautiful world our hearts know is possible". https://charleseisenstein.org//the-more-beautiful-world-o/

This sounds like a fun idea for all of us gardeners in Red Deer County! https://m.facebook.com//a.5354323631438/3145840885436324/

Arrow Leaved Coltsfoot is now in bloom. This is a cool plant, in that it pushes forth a flower stalk prior to any leaves. I have not seen any pollinators on it yet, they all seem too busy on the blooming Manitoba Maples. For more indigenous spring blooms go to livlands on Instagram.

Aspen and Balsam poplar; two of our parkland companions, beautiful and essential.

Up on the roof top spring has arrived! This biodiverse green roof, designed and managed by Living Lands Landscape + Design, is home to a diversity of plants indigenous to the prairie and parkland ecosystems. Designed to provide habitat for pollinators and birds in the urban core, there is always something blooming from early spring to late autumn. Looking to create a holistic landscape that provides food for pollinators and food for yourself, one that supports biodiversity, and one that helps to reduce green house gases? We can help you co-create with nature! https://living-lands.ca

Its been a late and cold spring but the indigenous forbs are starting to bloom! The local pollinators are also beginning to emerge and feed. I have seen bumblebees, many types of solitary bees, blue azure butterflies and morning cloak butterflies. To follow the "parade of pollinators" check out livlands on Instagram.

Good morning green!

Wow, now its the Balsam Poplar catkins putting on the show!

The willow catkins this spring seem to be exceptionally exuberant! Willows are a very important food source for pollinators early in the spring so are an excellent plant to include in pollinator friendly landscape design.

Wow, this has been an amazing spring for the local prairie crocus. Thousands were in bloom on my last saunter in the hills.

More crocus...so much joy from such small life forms. Amazing.

Crocus walk # 2

A favorite walk of the year, the spring prairie crocus walk. Only one plant of thousands in bloom so far, looking forward to the upcoming week of warm weather and more crocus walks!

Our earthly paradise is not lost, it is transforming.

Microclimates are great locations to get a start on the earliest crops, they are also favorite warm spots for our fur friends. This is a simple, easy to install, barrier to protect these areas once planted. The wooden frames and mesh are pinned to the soil with 6inch landscape pins.

It was hard to pull the sunflowers out of the garden today, they are still so beautiful. In the compost pile, however, they will go through the transformation into new life and beauty.

Next sketch for the Full Moon, microclimate, stargazing, veg and medicinal garden.

This is well worth listening to. I recommend giving yourself the gift if time to listen to it in its entirety. It provides a big picture view of the covid 19 virus, global reactions to it and what kind of change these reactions may stimulate.

Getting excited about a new microclimate, star gazing, edible and medicinal garden design!

Lovely afternoon for a cup of tea with Muskrat.

Developing a connection to nature can help us emotionally, spiritually and physically and there are so many ways to connect with the natural world.

I agree with all that Colin Purrington has to say about mass-produced bee houses. It is also important to know that including a bee house in your landscape may provide a nesting structure for solitary, cavity nesting bees but this is only one component of making your space more pollinator friendly. Pollinators also need food, nectar and pollen, from flowers that are ideally indigenous to your area. Try to have a variety of plants so that there are blooms available from early... spring to late autumn. Be sure your garden is pesticide free. Allow a potion of your landscape to be a little wild, where fallen leaves and branches are allowed to be, where few or no feet tread, where the soil is not compacted, and where lichen and moss grow free. Designing and maintaining our landscapes for pollinators and other wildlife is deeply rewarding. It connects us to a wider system of which we are a part. The more we support the wild the more it supports us.