Today’s guest blog post is by Carol Krawczyk, a landscape architect whom I first met at the 2010 ASLA Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network tour of restorative landscapes in Washington, D.C. We have been corresponding ever since, and Carol has become an active member of the TLN groups on Linked In and Facebook, as well as the new TLN “Autism and Special Needs” subgroup on Linked In. Her insights about research, especially research methodologies, are important in this field, where we are placing more and more value on evidence-based design (EBD). Carol’s doctoral work focuses on environments for children with autism. If this is an area of interest, please join our Linked In group, and stay tuned for a page devoted to this topic on the TLN website. Many thanks, Carol!

Methodologies frame how we produce knowledge
By Carol Krawczyk, ASLA

Naomi Sachs and I began corresponding through this blog regarding the topic of research methodologies. Naomi had summarized an article on gardens and walkways about people who lived in senior assisted living facilities (ALFs). The author had observed seniors in two ALFs and had interviewed staff and therapists at these facilities in order to recommend important landscape design suggestions. I commented that while this research was important, it was still deficient because we –the readers, researchers and practitioners who would use this information – did not know why the senior citizens made decisions regarding which pathways to take, which seats to sit on, what views they particularly enjoyed, etc. So, at Naomi’s request, I’ll describe some of the research methods I like to use and the reasons why.

I’ve been a landscape architect for almost 30 years, steeped more in practice than in research. When I was teaching at the University of Delaware, I started investigating whether the physical environment affected the way children behaved in nature by observing them in nature camps. My moment of understanding came when I asked the counselor about a particular place where the children seemed to be on their best behavior. She responded, with an odd smile in her eyes, “You know, more than one of the children had asked me ‘You do know the way out of these woods, don’t you?’ ”

This episode changed my approach. I realized I needed to learn more about research methods, for one, so I applied to the Environmental Psychology doctoral program at the City University of New York Graduate Center. I wanted to learn not only how people interacted with nature, but why.

While quantitative research methods are traditionally used to test hypotheses, qualitative methods are excellent for raising issues in untested areas. The latter involves working with people through interviews or focus groups to learn about the range of issues. From this we can develop hypotheses that can be tested through surveys, observations, more interviews, or a combination of these techniques. There is now more focus on mixed methods research that pulls together both the informative qualities of qualitative research and outcome-reinforcing quantitative methods. The following are some methodologies – mixed methods or qualitative — that produce effective results.

One of my favorite methodologies is Participatory Action Research (PAR). The “subjects” are the researchers. They usually represent a group that’s relatively unknown or who has had no “voice” of their own. Rather than have someone else interpret their experience, however, the group uses PAR as a process, a journey towards effecting change. The members of the group create their agenda for action and set their research goals and objectives. Those of us with more research experience are the facilitators. This process has been effectively used by youth in areas that affect school, design of childrens’ environments, government, community and social justice decisions. Caitlin Cahill, Patsy Eubanks Owens, Michelle Fine, Nancy Rottle, and Julie Johnson have published good examples of such research (see references below for suggested readings).

While I think PAR is the way to develop thoughtful, productive and meaningful research, it may not be the best methodology involving people who are not able or interested in doing research. One of my choices is to use the Go-Along Interview (Carpiano, 2008; Kusenbach, 2003; Moore, 1986; and Hart, 1979) which places the researcher into the world of the person being interviewed. It’s most fun when the person being interviewed leads the way and invites you to experience things the way they do. With regular interviews (usually performed indoors at a table and chairs) answers to questions about outdoor places tend to be vague. Anupama Nallari, a doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate Center, told us that when she interviewed children in the CUNY preschool about outdoor places, the children had trouble answering the questions and frequently responded by talking about things in the classroom that had nothing to do with the outdoors. The beauty of the go-along interview puts the child in the environment and enables you to learn about both at the same time! When interviewed outdoors, children can respond to questions by pointing, talking, or taking your hand and leading you into the “story” they want to tell you. The environment provides its own description.

A project I’ve been working on – The Engagement Zone – is based upon methods employed in post-occupancy evaluations. This involves observing how children interact with various types of environments — from aquariums to gardens, to museums, to playgrounds to zoos – then asking the children what places and activities were most and least enjoyable and their reasons why. I document the environment through photographs and videos which show where the people (especially the children) are located within the environment. From these images, I create behavioral maps that show where children are located and what they’re doing.  I also measure the environment to find out what works and what doesn’t. I see great value in using the methodology of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) for both an evaluation (for the owners/users and designers) and also as a way to showcase the strengths of built projects.

In my doctoral research on environments for autistic children, I am attempting to create a database of built projects (schools, living facilities as well as outdoor environments) that can be analyzed using post-occupancy evaluations and the results used as good case studies for designers. If you have worked on such a project and would like it to be part of this database, please contact me at cakrawczyk@verizon.net. Thank you!

References:

Cahill, Caitlin. www.fed-up-honeys.org.

Carpiano, R. M. (2009). “Come take a walk with me: The “Go-Along” interview as a novel method for studying the implications of place for health and well-being.” Health and Place, 15: 263-272.

Fine, M.; Torre, M. E.; Boudin, K.; Bowen, I.; Clark, J.; Hylton, D.; Missy; Rivera, M.;Roberts, R.A.; Smart, P.; & Upegui, D. (2001). “Participatory Action Research: From within and beyond prison bars,”in Camic, P.,Rhodes, J.E., & Yardley, L. (Eds.), Qualitative Research in Psychology: Expanding Perspectives in Methodology and Design. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Hart, R. (1979). Children’s Experience of Place. NY: Irvington Publishers, Inc.

Kusenbach, M. (2003). “Street phenomenology: The go-along as ethnographic research tool.” Ethnography, 4: 455-485.

Moore, R. C. (1986). Childhood’s Domain: Play and Place in Child Development. London: Croom Helm.

Owens, Patsy Eubanks. http://lda.ucdavis.edu/people/websites/owens/PEOwens%20-%20CV.pdf

Rottle, Nancy and Julie Johnson (2007). “Youth Design Participation to Support Ecological Literacy:  Reflections on Charrettes for an Outdoor Learning Laboratory.”  Special issue: Pushing the boundaries: Critical perspectives on child and youth participation. Children, Youth and Environments 17(2). http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/.

Join the Horticultural Society of New York for the 6th Annual Horticultural Therapy Forum
Friday, February 10, 10:00am – 2:15pm

Supportive housing is just that: housing plus support. The Supportive Housing Network of New York works with their members to help tenants lead healthy lives in sustainable physical surroundings. The supportive housing model means that tenants have affordable apartments and access to the services they need to stay housed and healthy. Horticultural Therapy, or HT, is a key component in making this possible.

Horticultural Therapy is an effective cognitive behavioral therapy that provides physical and emotional benefits as well as related health benefits—improved indoor air quality, access to healthy food, and a stronger sense of community connection. For a number of Network members, the benefits of providing HT to their tenants have been immediate, substantive and tangible—tenants receive great pleasure from the flowers, plants, fresh food and herbs they’ve helped nurture and grow.

Join us at The Hort for a day dedicated to horticultural therapy and the benefit it provides to the supportive housing community. We also extend a warm welcome to our governmental partners: NYS Office of Mental Health, NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, and NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation & Development.

Admission: $20 (breakfast and lunch included)
Click here to register online or call 212-757-0915 (x100).
Visit the HSNY website to see the full schedule for the forum

Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

Thanks to a member of the EDRA (Environmental Design Research Association) group on Linked In for posting this:

Call for Papers: The Architecture of the Psychiatric Milieu

The editorial team of Facilities, a peer reviewed journal, are pleased to announce a call for papers for a special issue dedicated to an exploration of evidence based approaches to establish the most appropriate architecture for the psychiatric milieu.

Facilities for psychiatric care have a tradition of standardization in design and treatment dating back to the moral treatment paradigm of the 1850s. As normative approaches to psychiatric care have changed, so too do the facilities used to house, treat and manage patients. The shift to evidence-based design (EBD) in hospital
architecture means that the psychiatric milieu must follow suit. The search for evidence to model psychiatric facilities is an important endeavour. But psychiatric illness is not like orthopaedics or cardiology, where the needs and satisfaction of staff and patients can be relatively easy to assess and evidence can be easily measured. Mental illnesses are a heterogeneous group of disorders, and there is a risk in categorizing all psychiatric illnesses together and treating them alike. Environmental influences that exacerbate one condition frequently assist with another. As such, Facilities is soliciting approaches that are specific to:

• geriatric psychiatry
• mood disorders
• the non-affective psychotic spectrum
• psychiatric emergencies
• substance-related disorders
• facilities for forensic psychiatry

This list is not exhaustive… and interested authors are encouraged to contact the Guest Editor with alternative proposals. Please kindly take note of the following requirements if you wish to have your paper
considered for this special issue:

• The content of the paper must conform with the terms of reference of Facilities
• All papers submitted will be subject to the normal double blind refereeing process undertaken by the journal
• Submitted papers must not be under review by any other journal.

The closing date for submissions is 1 June 2012

Submissions to Facilities are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts, Emerald’s online submission and peer review system.

Registration and access are available at: mc.manuscriptcentral.com/f

Full information and guidance on using ScholarOne Manuscripts are available at the Emerald ScholarOne Manuscripts Support Centre: msc.emeraldinsight.com

Full author guidelines can be found on the journal web site at: http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=f

Please contact the special issue Guest Editor for further information: Jan Golembiewski, Schizophrenia Research Institute Affiliated Scientist, Faculty of Architecture, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Tel: +61 (2) 9351 3474
E-mail: jan.g@sydney.edu.au

One of our members, a hospice RN, sent me this interview with Dr. Ruth McCaffrey, DNP, Sharon B. Raddock Distinguished Professor in Holistic Nursing at Florida Atlantic University. It was originally published in the digest of the American Holistic Nurses Association.

How have you come to study garden walking for older adults with depression?
I have been working over the last three years on developing an evidence-based program using reflection during garden walking to increase life satisfaction and reduce depression. The work began as collaboration between the Morikami Japanese Museum and Gardens and myself. The Morikami has had many people write letters and tell them that the gardens had a healing quality and helped them in a time of great sadness or in a time when strength was needed. The garden designer has created several gardens in the Japanese healing traditions and uses the idea of nine healing elements in nature. We were able to apply for and receive a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services to create a research study with three different interventions, individual reflective walking, guided imagery walking and a comparison group who had art therapy. From that work we developed a book for use in an individual reflective walking program through the garden with a group session at the beginning of the walks, after three weeks and again after six weeks. This program has proved to be very successful and popular…

We have just received a grant from the Astellas Pharmaceutical Company to pay for 30 groups to participate in the reflective walking. These groups would consist of caregivers, those in support groups and professional care givers such as nurses, physicians, teachers etc. We plan to hold an international conference at the Morikami to share findings from our work with other gardens around the country.

What is it like to be studying this topic?
Studying this topic has been a great pleasure. Not only have I been able to work to create a beautiful and meaningful program but also I have met so many wonderful individuals who have completed the walks. To hear the stories of people that feel the program changed their lives and provided them with a new outlook on life has been extremely gratifying.

Tell us how your work has evolved?
The current program has been on going for three years with walking programs in the fall and spring. The program consists of 12 themed walks that take the participant from awareness to fulfillment. One of the members of the board of trustees from the Morikami participated in the walks and found that it dramatically changed his life. He said that when he started the walks (at age 84) he felt his life was almost over. As he finished the walks he said he realized that there was so much more open to him and that his life had been rich and blessed in many ways that he could now share with others.

What are your biggest challenges in doing holistic nursing research?  
I am very blessed to live and work in a community that values holism and holistic care. My mentor in holistic nursing Eleanor Schuster was one of the early Holistic Nurses of the Year for AHNA and someone who guided not only my growth and understanding of holistic nursing but created a foundational acceptance of holistic nursing in the south Florida community of nurses. Since then the Christine E Lynn College of Nursing has had a tradition of fostering and honoring holistic nursing in education, practice and research. Our university has just opened a medical school and I am honored to present a lecture to medical students each year on holistic health as well as complementary and alternative therapies. The biggest challenge I have found in holistic research is to find ways to take therapies that essentially affect the whole person and measure the outcomes in ways that more traditional researchers find acceptable as evidence.

What advice can you share with holistic nurses that want to do research?
Be as creative as possible in research design and in attempting to secure funding for large projects. Creating partnerships for holistic research is also very useful. There are many groups outside of nursing who could become partners in order to show the effects of holistic care, interventions and the importance of outcomes of this type of research. People are interested in ways to maintain their own health and take charge of their well being. Many desire using therapies and concepts based on holism and evidence based programs that foster well being are exciting to individuals, groups and communities.

What keeps you inspired to keep doing research?
The inspiration comes primarily from the wonderful research participants and partners that come together for the purpose of exploring and understanding holistic therapies and becoming more enlightened about themselves and the world in which they live.

Full citation: McCaffrey, R. , Hanson, C., MLS, McCaffrey, W. (2010). “Garden Walking for Depression: A Research Report.” Holistic Nursing Practice, 24(5):252-259.

Wow! I just looked at the full list of Session Descriptions for this year’s Environments for Aging conference (4/21 – 5/1/12 in Orlando, FL) and it looks amazing. I’m so encouraged that there are eight presentations that mention or focus on access to nature in the title and/or description. Definitely more than last year – a good sign! And I’m sure many of the other presentations will touch on this subject as well. I went to EFA last year, and I was impressed with the caliber of the speakers, presentations, and attendees. If you are interested in outdoor environments for seniors, this is THE conference to go to. Here’s the full conference agenda, here is the full list of session descriptions, and here’s a link to register.

Oh, and if you register by this Friday, 1/27, you get a significant early-bird discount.

Read on for details on the 8 session that I think will be of particular interest to our members…

How You Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm? A Rural Age-In-Place Community for Developmentally Disabled Adults and Their Caregivers
Susan DiMotta, IIDA Principal, Perkins Eastman
Richard Rosen, AIA LEED AP, Principal, Perkins Eastman
John Baring, Trustee, Camphill Ghent Initiative

The Camphill Foundation has a century-long tradition of supporting and caring for developmentally disabled children. Its community in Copake, New York, has been a structured and nurturing environment for almost 60 years, guided by the principles of Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophical philosophy. These “children” are now approaching the age where options for a variety of levels of senior living and care are needed. The Camphill Ghent Initiative was established to create such a community on a 110-acre farm in Columbia County, New York, where developmentally disabled adults would be able to age in place in an environment that allows them to maintain independence, while providing services and assisted living-level care when needed. Independent senior housing is also provided for able-bodied seniors who wish to be a part of the caregiving staff as well as participate in the community’s cultural and agricultural offerings.

Outdoor Spaces—Effective Design for Older Adults
Clare Cooper Marcus

Many outdoor spaces in senior facilities are barely used. This session will illustrate what design features are essential to draw people outdoors—a significant environment for exercise and overall well-being. Several case studies of existing gardens will illustrate how such features were—or were not—successfully incorporated into outdoor space design. Attendees will understand what design elements attract older people to use the outdoors, and will explore in detail the pros and cons of two case study communities. You’ll discover what design features are essential in a garden for Alzheimer’s residents and learn about essential indoor-outdoor connections.

Aging-in-Place at Home and Environmental Support of Physical Activity
Zhe Wang, PhD, RA, EDAC, LEED AP BD+C, Cannon Design
Mardelle Shepley, D.Arch, FAIA, EDAC, LEED AP, Professor, Center for Health Systems & Design, Texas A&M University
Susan Rodiek, PhD, NCARB, Associate Professor, Center for Health Systems & Design, Texas A&M University

Can society help community-dwelling older adults have more independent years in their own homes? This session interprets and synthesizes existing studies on aging-in-place in relation to health and services. It describes the nature of the aging process and the impact of physical activity on health and service accessibility, and therefore, the ability for seniors to remain in their homes. Physical environments that provide opportunities for physical activity at the neighborhood level and the site level will be presented, along with a conceptual framework to serve as the core construct to address gaps in previous research, and as a tool to refine practical targets for policies and innovations aimed at promoting seniors’ independence and wellness.

Managing Behaviors in Dementia—Environment and Programs United
Dr. Lena Smith, Clinical Director, The Retreat

This interactive session will provide an in-depth overview of dementia and the underlying cognitive skills that are lost during the disease process. It will then focus on the intersection of specialized environments and care programs, highlighting and demonstrating the enhancement to care when both domains are integrated. Participants will examine photographs of cluster areas that achieve this integration, and they will be challenged to evaluate dining rooms, bathing areas, bedrooms, window access and outdoor spaces within the context of dementia as an underlying disease process. Quality-of-life and outcomes-of-care programs will be explored.

Ready or Not—A Synergistic Response to Building an Age-Inclusive Outdoor Environment
Sandra James, City Planner, City of Vancouver

The term “silver tsunami” is used to describe the statistical reality of an aging population. Adaptive environmental responses to aging-in-place are fundamental to the well-being of neighborhoods and communities. Through the exploration of the award-winning Wellness Walkways in Vancouver and a developed kit of best practices for promoting seniors’ enhanced mobility and wellness, participants will learn how to work with municipalities and different levels of government to provide outside environments that are safe, economical and practical. Attendees will learn how these practical concepts can be translated to their outdoor environments and embraced by senior users.

Let’s Do It Outside—A SAGE Panel Discussion on the Benefits of Going “Au Naturel”
Addie Abushousheh, Secretary and Treasurer, SAGE Federation
Margaret Calkins, Co-Founder, SAGE Federation
Elizabeth Brawley, Board of Directors, SAGE Federation
Alanna Carter, President, SAGE Minnesota

Join SAGE for a panel discussion about the use of outdoor spaces—not just as pretty gardens, but as activity centers. There is an increasing interest in focusing on utilizing outdoor space as an extension of the buildings themselves. This panel will challenge the commonly held notion that people will go outside to look at beautiful flowers, and stress the needs for activity, things to do and staff engagement. This session will explore the relationship of the inside to the outside spaces that may be capitalized upon if they are conceived of as outdoor rooms, providing an opportunity for year-round activity as well as many health-related benefits.

Speaking Intergenerationally—Restorative Design and  Lifespan Engagement
Randy Eady, Therapeutic Specialist, Member of International Council on Active Aging, US Play Coalition, TaiChi4Health and Generations United

More and more generations are overlapping in senior living. CCRCs are finding if they have a better appreciation for the changing demographics coming into their midst, they can better position offerings that meet this variety and create enticing, eco-aware and highly-functional living environments.  Multiple-generation interaction and physical activity enhances quality of life for older adults; adding outdoor settings and children to the mix magnifies these benefits. Unfortunately, myths and assumptions about these types activities — across the life span — may limit opportunities to create optimal design features that consider both eco-psychological and recreational therapy aspects.  This roundtable explores opportunities for “intergenerational programming” that build relationships between the natural environment, youth and older people.  Participants will explore seven prevailing barriers to Lifespan Engagement (health and sense of well-being across generations and natural physical environments).

The Heart Healthy Garden
Lydia Kimball, ASLA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal, Mahan Rykiel Associates, Inc.
Robin Spence, Dietitian for Cardiovascular Services, Union Memorial Hospital

The health benefits of engaging the outdoors in facilities for seniors are well-documented and especially important as issues of medication, mobility and emotional welfare can be affected in positive and tangible ways. This presentation will bring cardiac nutrition and landscape architecture together to showcase opportunities for thoughtfully created outdoor space. Presenters will showcase a prototype space and describe the ways it might be improved. Using a MedStar facility as a case study, presenters will illustrate a concept layout, ways to connect to the existing facility, design elements that could be incorporated, budget cost estimates and then present a graphic tool to help with potential fundraising.

This week on the blog, “The Patron Saint of Architecture,” Angela Mazzi features therapeutic landscapes through an interview with me. She asked some excellent, thought-provoking questions that get to the heart of what therapeutic landscapes are, how they function, why they’re necessary, and what designers and healthcare providers can do to make sure that they get incorporated into their projects.

Angela is an architect who specializes in healthcare. Her blog explores all sorts of aspects of healthcare-related design, including (of course) design, as well as business strategies, communication techniques, and “thoughts on how to get and stay inspired as a designer.”

Here are a couple snippets, but I encourage you to read the full post on The Patron Saint of Architecture blog.

How Does your Garden Grow? The Role of Therapeutic Landscapes in Design, by Angela Mazzi

What does landscaping mean to you?  Most likely, not nearly enough.  Too easily, we view it as decorative, a “nice to have” part of a project.  However, as we learn more about salutogenic design and the effects of the environment on wellness (everything from healing to better job performance), landscape starts to become a critical element, one which should form the basis of design.  With this in mind, I asked Naomi Sachs, Founder and Director of the Therapeutic Landscapes Network (TLN) to share some insights on the power of nature.

What is the difference between landscaping and a garden?  Is it only about habitation?

In general, I would say that a “landscape” is any outdoor space, wild or designed, and a “garden” is a designed space. A restorative landscape is simply an outdoor space that makes you feel good when you’re in it. To me, “landscaping” implies decorative elements like a lawn, shrubs, some trees, and is not necessarily intended for interaction.  A therapeutic (or healing) garden is a space designed for a specific population (children, cancer patients, people with Alzheimer’s) and a specific intended outcome (stress reduction, positive distraction, rehabilitation). This is not to say that landscaping isn’t important. Well-designed and maintained landscapes communicate to patients and their families that they will receive a high level of care, and this can happen from the moment you cross the property line.  Even areas such as parking lots can utilize landscape to provide and reinforce the overall image and mission of the facility.

Maintenance is always a concern when it comes to landscaping- I’ve actually worked with healthcare clients who wanted nothing but grass in the areas they “had” to landscape for ease of maintenance.  What kind of recommendations can you make to landscape skeptics about using plantings?

Access to nature just makes good business sense. Studies by Roger Ulrich, confirmed by others, have demonstrated less need for pain medication, improved patient satisfaction, faster recovery rates, and many other examples of improved outcomes for patients and staff. When you really look at the benefits of providing access to nature, the return on investment (ROI) justifies the initial cost and lifetime maintenance.  Hospitals need to see landscaping as a strategic investment in the same manner they would the purchase of a new MRI.

Visit The Patron Saint of Architecture to read the full article. Thank you, Angela, for a great conversation and post!

If it’s good enough for Wikipedia…

We rarely get political here at the Therapeutic Landscapes Network, but since a huge part of our mission is to “provide information, free of charge, about gardens and landscapes that promote health and well-being,” this seems like a time to dive in to the fray. So, no TLN Blog post “exploring the connection between nature and health” today.

Instead, please visit the SOPA strike page (http://sopastrike.com/strike) and add your voice to the thousands of people, organizations, and businesses speaking out against the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA. This page takes you straight to a petition, and this page and provides some good information, including who all is participating. Quite an impressive list.

Or just cut to the chase and Contact Congress now. Not in the U.S.? Petition the State Department.

Wikipedia has kindly left this page up for you to learn more about SOPA and PIPA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more. Here’s their synopsis of the 2 bills:

SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act.” (“IP” stands for “intellectual property.”) In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout.

Do You Know A GREAT PLACE?

The Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) is currently accepting submissions for the 14th Annual Great Places Awards for Place Design, Planning, Research and Book.

Entries are welcome from the full breadth of environmental design and related research activities, including architecture, landscape architecture, planning, urban design, interior design, lighting design, graphic design, environmental psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography and the physical sciences. Projects should emphasize a link between research and practice, demonstrating how an understanding of human interaction with place can inspire design.

A panel of illustrious jurors will select winners from four categories: place design, place planning, place research, and a book prize. This year’s distinguished jurors include: Richard Haag, FASLA, BCSLA, Hon AIA, Principal, Richard Haag Associates; Milenko Matanovic, Executive Director, Pomegranate Center; Julie Parrett, RLA, Lecturer, Landscape Architecture, University of Washington; Michael Pyatok, FAIA, Principal, Pyatok Architects; and Sharon E. Sutton, PhD, FAIA, Professor, Architecture and Urban Design, University of Washington.
For submission guidelines, rules and official entry form, please click here, or visit www.edra.org.

All entries for the 2012 Great Places Awards must be received by January 27, 2012.

Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa spp.)

This past Sunday, New Year’s Day, The New York Times ran a great piece about quiet (“The Joy of Quiet,” by Pico Iyer). I can relate. Though I live in the Hudson Valley where it gets pretty cold this time of year (12 degrees Fahrenheit when I woke up this morning), and though I’m a gardener who loves digging in the dirt in my spare time (back to that in a minute), I think that January has become my favorite month. Because it’s quiet. As a landscape designer who does not do installation, most of my work is indoors, even in the busiest times of year (I wonder if Ken Smith‘s family still asks him why he doesn’t have dirt under his fingernails with all that “landscaping” he does…). But clients never call in January and February, and installation doesn’t need to be supervised, etc. etc. etc., and just generally I can worry less about juggling my design work and my work with the TLN. Ironically, the only time when I seem to have spare time is when the ground is frozen solid…

This morning, as the sun was rising over Mount Beacon, the sky a mottled, low canopy of pale greys, blues, and yellows, I watched the squirrels in my front garden. This is a tough time of year for them. It’s cold, food is scarce, water is frozen. Still, they soldier on. Two squirrels busied themselves scratching at the ice that forms in a sculpture given to us by an artist friend, a giant black ceramic bowl made during a residency at Kohler. Two others scampered down the trunk of one of our 100+ year old white oak trees, gathering up clumps of oak leaves and dried grass which they then held in their mouths as they scampered back up the trunk, and onto a limb, and onto another smaller limb, and down into a hole where they disappeared (to what I imagine is a very warm, cozy nest), to then reappear and start the process all over again. I watched their routine three times before sitting down to write this post.

Hoarfrost, January 4, 2012

We all push ourselves so hard. In work and play, at the office and at home, as parents and children, as students and teachers. Sometimes it’s difficult to know what brings us joy – not just pleasure, but deep, nurturing joy – unless we take time to listen carefully. For me, this is the best time of year for that. Connecting to nature outside always helps me to tap into what’s inside, to hear and feel the quiet. I’m fortunate to have two dogs who force me – even on days when I reeeeally don’t want to leave the house – to get out there in it, and I’m almost always grateful. No matter the season, there is always so much to see and appreciate. And when I’m inside, I enjoy looking out at the garden, all tucked in for the winter but still yielding fruit, water, and shelter for the birds and other small creatures that never cease to amaze me with their antics and industry. Even just watching the light change over the course of the day, or as a storm moves in, can be enough.

Agnes and Boo, waiting patiently.

Winter has her charms. If nature had a high school, summer would be the popular girl. And winter would be the quiet beauty, gazing out the window, making sketches and writing poetry, seeing it all and taking it in. She may not be obvious, but she is deep.

The glaucus mauve of black raspberry canes

Ironically, when I finish this, I will post it on the TLN’s Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn pages, where it will join all of the other information noise that bombards us every day. But perhaps the message, like the article from the Times that inspired me and many others, will make up for it? Which really, after all of these words, is this: Yes, winter is hard, and I’ll rejoice along with the best of them when spring arrives. But it can also be a gift. Take the time and the quiet that winter offers, and enjoy every moment of it that you can.