Wolf Landscape Architecture

Town of Harvard

Toby Wolf — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 20:02:49 +0000

2011 has been an excellent year for new collaborations! Wolf Landscape Architecture has teamed with Brown Walker Planners to help the Town of Harvard, Massachusetts develop visions and goals as the first phase of its Master Plan. See the Master Plan Steering Committee’s progress, here.

ELA

Toby Wolf — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:08:48 +0000

I am proud to have joined the Board of Directors of the Ecological Landscaping Association. ELA promotes ecological landscape planning, design, and maintenance through an annual conference and a rapidly expanding roster of tours, symposia, and hands-on workshops.

ELA’s upcoming “eco-tours” include “Tree Preservation from the Top” in Assonet MA on August 11, “Design Magic on a Family Farm” in Sudbury MA on September 14, and “Urban Sustainability: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center and Beyond” in Providence RI on September 20.

Full Circle

Toby Wolf — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:22:07 +0000

Boston’s Big Dig is finally complete, but its downtown parks continue to develop, thanks to the stewardship of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. This spring, I had the privilege of helping the Conservancy tune up a landscape that I had originally designed in 1998.

The Greenway’s Urban Arboretum is a block-long passageway between two highway ramps. To mark its south end, I had laid out a compact grove of trees which would offer pedestrians a moment of shade and serenity. In the years after construction, however, some of the grove’s trees began to fail, taking with them the vision of a green refuge.

So when the Conservancy called me this spring, I jumped at the opportunity to help set things right.

The new design builds on what’s worked and replaces what hasn’t. All of the original Baldcypress trees are thriving, so the design adds six more, filling the circle and framing the path. Under the trees, a ground layer of ferns, woodland perennials, and native groundcovers will evoke the textures and dappled greens of a forest.

Work began in June with the planting of the ground layer and the installation of drip irrigation. We’ll be back in the fall to plant the new Baldcypress trees.

United Parish of Auburndale

Toby Wolf — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:10:13 +0000

Wolf Landscape Architecture has teamed with Kerry Lewis Landscape Architects to create a landscape master plan for United Parish of Auburndale in Newton, Massachusetts.

The 1857 church sits within a two-acre grove of ancient White Oaks. To protect and sustain this historic landscape, Kerry and I are developing strategies to manage existing vegetation, revitalize the tree canopy, and improve ease of access and maintenance.

Next up for United Parish: Planting a new generation of great trees.

Site Visit, Sylvan Gardens

Toby Wolf — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:56:30 +0000

Bayberry in winter, Chatham MA

Sylvan Gardens

Toby Wolf — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 20:07:09 +0000

Wolf Landscape Architecture is collaborating with Michael Talbot & Associates and the New England Wild Flower Society to create a master plan for the Sylvan Gardens conservation lands in Chatham, Massachusetts.

Named for the nursery that once stood on the site, Sylvan Gardens features an unusual combination of ornamental plantings, native forest, wetland habitat, and vistas of freshwater ponds — along with invasives that threaten forest, habitat, and ornamentals alike.

Our team will craft a management plan that improves Sylvan Gardens’s ecological health, provides improved access and interpretation, and preserves the unique qualities that continue to attract and inspire the citizens of Chatham.

Welcome Center

Toby Wolf — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:53:11 +0000

Congratulations to Cornell Plantations on the dedication of its Nevin Welcome Center! Working with Baird Sampson Neuert Architects, they have created a building that is handsome, subtle, and beautifully sited. See more photos here.

“Some of Our Favorite Spots”

Toby Wolf — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:43:07 +0000

In their third full season of growth, the Rose Kennedy Greenway’s Dewey Square Parks (also known as the Greenway Gardens) have hit their stride this summer. Today they made the Boston Globe’s list of its “favorite spots for lounging around:”

“Why we love it: You might moan at the mention of the Big Dig — but at least the project resulted in some gorgeous parks. This particular section has a beautiful array of buds. Take a second and smell the roses.”

The Greenway Gardens and the rest of the Globe’s favorites are here.

ELA Green Roofs

Toby Wolf — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:00:22 +0000

The Ecological Landscape Association features the roof garden at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the new Green Roof issue of its newsletter, here.

The ELA brings together a wide range of landscape professionals, organizes a lively annual conference, and runs valuable field trips. If you’re new to the ELA, take a look at their events calendar, here.

Wild Places

Toby Wolf — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:40:30 +0000

I’ve taken some great classes at the New England Wild Flower Society, so I’m excited to be teaching there this winter. My half-day course, titled “Borrowed Landscapes: Learning from Wild Places,” will explore the qualities we value in wild landscapes and the ways those qualities can inform designed places, regardless of style or setting.

The course description is here, and the Society’s complete course listings are here.