Connecticut Landscape Architecture SPRING 2023 The Making of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial
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SPRING 2023 | v 1 From the Editor 3 From the President 5 From the Trustee 9 Leadership 13 In Memoriam 19 Yarwood Award 29 Bullard Award 39 Iconic Connecticut Landscapes: Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial 53 Design Talk: Native Plants 75 LA@UConn 97 2023 Professional Awards 120 World’s Best Advertisers Contents Editor: Lauren Wholey, ASLA Assistant editors: Kate Montgomery, ASLA and Cynthia Reynolds, ASLA Design: J.M. Communications Cover: Borrowed Views, 2023 Excellence Award winner by James Doyle Design Associates (photo: Neil Landino) ©2023 Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects P.O. Box 209197 | New Haven, CT 06520 www.ctasla.org Connecticut Landscape Architecture SPRING 2023 Kate Montgomery
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SPRING 2023 | 1 One of the things I love about landscape architecture is its wide range of project types. This year’s exemplary ASLA Connecticut award winners demonstrate this range. These projects, which can be seen on pages 98-117, involve public spaces, landscape architectural research, residential design, landscape planning and analysis, and more. It’s always a pleasure to see the new spaces that will provide opportunities for human connection and recreation, as well as those that provide space for rest and reflection. Speaking of spaces for rest and reflection, I am honored to present a special profile of the new Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial, in which Tara Vincenta of Artemis Landscape Architects shares with us the memorial’s planting design process. From the Editor New spaces, trading places As a gift to those who lost loved ones during the tragedy, the memorial uses largely native plants to complement the careful site selection and other foundational landscape architecture mediums of stone, water, and wood to help create a place that offers a healing connection to the natural world. This Spring edition of Connecticut Landscape Architecture has been a collaboration with the wonderful ASLA Connecticut Executive Committee contributing to the editing and content. I will be stepping down as primary editor of CLA but I look forward to supporting the next editor, Cynthia Reynolds, in a similarly collaborative way. Lauren Wholey, ASLA, Editor Landscape walls made with reclaimed barn-board, local boulders, and Cor-ten steel, Borrowed Views, 2023 Excellence Award winner, James Doyle Design Associates. Neil Landino
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SPRING 2023 | 3 Our Chapter’s 75th year has had a strong start. In-person programming is back in full swing and we had our first holiday party since the start of the pandemic. We have continued to gain momentum and hope to reach a good cross section of practitioners with our program options. We will be keeping our calendar updated with opportunities for everyone to be together and learn both online and in person. While the majority of the year is still ahead of us, this is my last opportunity to address you all as your president so I’d like to encourage you all to do a few things: Reach out and engage with the chapter. There is so much opportunity to make it what you want. More engagement will lead to even greater to capacity. If you have an idea, share it! We can work together to bring it to life. Next, check out ASLA’s Climate Action Plan for 2040 (asla.org/climateactionplan. aspx). It’s a working document that will continue to grow in strength from our input. Start with the field guide and then the full document. After that, shop it around at your firms, in your communities, and to allied professionals. Reach out and engage with the chapter. There is so much opportunity to make it what you want. Lastly, while I know we continue to be busier and busier, I encourage us all to take some time. Time for ourselves, to connect with each other, to meet with the students from our chapter and local schools, and to get out into our communities that we design for every day. It’s been an honor to serve you and I wish you all the best through the rest of this year! Ellen Fallon-Senechal, Associate ASLA From the President Back in full swing
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SPRING 2023 | 5 How do friendships happen? I can say, from experience, that they happen in so many interesting ways. One of my best friends introduced herself to me in the fourth grade by putting tacks on my chair. I was the new kid from Chicago who spoke funny (this comment from a bunch of New Englanders!). Being the well-behaved child I was, I immediately told on her. We remained friends for over 50 years until her passing! Getting stuck setting up a booth at the Hartford Flower Show one cold snowy night 35 years ago gave me two very good friends that I still enjoy. A woman I served on a town board with, who raises goats, found out I could milk them. We have been trading vacation “duties,” and a strong friendship, ever since. I really cherish these people. This made me think about what a friend, acquaintance, or a “connection” is, and how these levels of interaction are fluid. Some friends moved on, or moved away, and we lost touch. No hard feelings, just changing lives. And we might somehow cross paths later and delight in updating each other. Some friends we have to work harder at keeping. Some seem to be just easy to be with, no matter how much effort is involved. Some clients become friends, inviting you for lunch. A vendor who has worked closely with you can feel confident enough to recommend you to a family member. A speaker at a program you chaired might stay at your home and become a family friend. The landscape architect you worked with on an Making meaningful connections article retires to Florida, and becomes your vacation destination. It really does happen. As I think about the people I enjoy, I have come to understand that when you work with people on a common goal, project, or idea, it allows you to discover enough about them to form a bond. This is true of the many people I have interacted with through ASLA and the Connecticut chapter, from vendors who regularly support us, to leaders at our national office, members who continually renew, even those who have retired. It is warming to see them at an event and hear about their families, work success, occasional blunders, and life in general. It creates a sense of community, provides meaningful connections that help us solve problems in our work, and occasionally leads to a new bond. I recently read how hard it is, as we get older, to “find friends.” There are even services like a dating app that will help you. But I have a much nicer solution. Get involved, give some time, find some friends! ASLA Connecticut has many opportunities, or your town’s boards can always use your expertise; maybe volunteer at a school, or become a mentor. I believe it is inevitable that you will meet some great people, and maybe even make a few new friends. Barbara A Yaeger, ASLA, CANP From the Trustee
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SPRING 2023 | 9 The Connecticut Chapter of ASLA is led by an all-volunteer executive committee elected by the members. The leadership year coincides with the ASLA annual meeting in the fall. KATHERINE DAY Treasurer BL Companies ELLEN FALLON-SENECHAL President The S/L/A/M Collaborative DANIEL GRANNISS Past President The S/L/A/M Collaborative RACHEL MEIER President-Elect Richter & Cegan, Inc. SEAN RAGAN Vice President Halvorson | Tighe & Bond ALLISON CASSELLA Secretary Langan GRANT LOSAPIO Member-at-Large Richter & Cegan, Inc. LAUREN WHOLEY Member-at-Large TPA Design Group BARBARA YAEGER Trustee Land Canvas Landscape Architecture KATE MONTGOMERY Member-at-Large Freeman Companies JOSEPH AVENI Member-at-Large Langan CYNTHIA REYNOLDS Member-at-Large The S/L/A/M Collaborative 2022-2023 Executive Committee Leadership Executive committee members pose at the January board retreat.
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SPRING 2023 | 13 In Memoriam When Rudy Favretti retired from teaching in 1988, he was presented with a bench and a plaque given by his students in thanks for all he had done for them and the UConn landscape architecture program. This commemoration by students was a fitting tribute that made him very proud. He would often say how much he loved being with students because of their youthful energy. He gave to them with his heart and each student knew that he cared for them, that he wanted them to become all that their potential allowed. Today, the fruits of his mentorship are spread throughout the country where many design offices have professionals taught by him and many now are also involved in directing botanic gardens, public spaces, historic landscapes, and other environmental areas. Many contribute to their communities as planners and on land use boards and commissions. Rudy had a profound and lifelong commitment to the improvement of Rudy Favretti, fasla, passed away on April 13 at the age of 90. He dedicated his professional life to landscape architecture and has had a profound and lasting impact on the profession in Connecticut. Rudy started the landscape architecture program at the University of Connecticut, where he taught for 30 years. His work on the study and restoration of historic landscapes — including some of the nation’s most hallowed grounds — became the standard of excellence in his field and the focus of some of his 20-plus books which have now become invaluable resources to fellow practitioners. He generously volunteered his time and expertise to benefit not only our profession but also his beloved community of Mansfield, CT. We honor Rudy’s legacy with the following remembrances and reflections. communities, first as an Extension Landscape Specialist and then as a professor of landscape architecture in the program that he started. When he began teaching planning and design he frequently utilized real design projects in communities in his classes. This legacy continues to this day with hundreds of design projects done with the interaction of community people and students. A student of Rudy’s some years ago came from another profession to pursue landscape architecture, something that has frequently occurred and where these new students find a welcoming and fulfilling learning environment. This student did very well, making the adjustment and thriving under Rudy’s teaching. This student then went further and completed the Masters of Landscape Architecture degree. This spring, the son of this student graduates with an MLA degree and has been hired by a graduate of the UConn program. Rudy would have been so happy to hear of this. This was yet Rudy J. Favretti (1932-2023) Remembering Rudy by John Alexopoulos, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Connecticut SPRING 2023 | 13
14 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE another young person pursuing the profession that Rudy so dearly loved. Rudy Favretti was an amazing individual. He accomplished so much and never stopped learning and producing significant works. He was an unusual professional because he was at once a horticulturist, planner, landscape architect, teacher, historian and author. Throughout his time he proudly considered himself a “dirt farmer,” always feeling close to the earth. Rudy always felt, in teaching or in practice, that one should be very knowledgeable of the subject at hand, be always prepared, and do the best job possible. He consistently set expectations for himself and others at a very high level. When he was, for years, chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission in Mansfield, anyone who came before him presenting plans of development knew that they had to be well-prepared. Rudy’s historic restoration work was extensive and important beyond Connecticut. He completed dozens of restorations throughout the east coast. His work was so important as examples of exemplary 14 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Through his retirement at home in Mansfield, Rudy was tireless in his quest to learn and teach through his speaking and writing. Professor Favretti provided inspiration to those of us who shared his interest in historic and cultural landscapes. My first exposure to his work was while studying for my MLA at the University of Virginia. Professor Favretti had done work at Monticello, Mount Vernon and the gardens surrounding the Academical Village at the University of Virginia where he served as consulting landscape architect for the Garden Club of Virginia from 1978 to 1998. I have a few of his books in my library and these works have served as both inspiration and instruction for me when working on historic landscape projects. — Elena M. Pascarella, ASLA Landscape Elements LLC, Warwick, RI I joined the landscape architecture faculty at UConn in 1998, over a decade after Rudy had left UConn to pursue his landscape historic preservation and writing work. This was the year that the UConn program was first going up for national accreditation; the wheels set in motion by Rudy’s introduction of undergraduate courses as an outgrowth of his extension educator role had taken root. Although Rudy was not directly involved with the accreditation process, I understood that his input and reputation were critically important to the successful outcome of our review. Over the course of the next 20 years of my career at UConn and life in Mansfield, I got to know Rudy through a variety of experiences, including having him on juries in my design studios, encountering him in work going before the Mansfield Planning & Zoning Committee which he chaired, and writing his biography for the national Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Pioneers in Landscape Design directory. Preparing for this biography, I visited him at his charming home in the rural woods of Mansfield. Experiencing the simple and striking layout of this long-tended property, with its vernacular New England design features and masterful immersion in the native forest, has stayed with me as a lasting impression of his unique gifts and passion for history, landscape, and design. — Kristin Schwab Dinep + Schwab LLC, Wakefield, RI
SPRING 2023 | 15 planning and execution that he is considered the Dean of historic restoration. His book Landscapes and Gardens for Historic Buildings remains widely used for those involved with restoration. His work is so important nationally that the Smithsonian Institution has curated his works, now in the Rudy J. Favretti Collection of the Archives of American Gardens Collection. All of his 60 years of practice is there among projects such as Monticello, Mt. Vernon, Bartram’s Gardens, Montpelier and numerous others. His works are also collected at the Dodd Center Special Collections and Archives on the UConn campus in Storrs, CT. Rudy was a prolific author, having written over 20 books. His last book on Jacob Weidenmann is an outstanding assessment of the life in design of a very important designer in the 19th century. For 20 years, Rudy was the landscape architect for the Garden Club of Virginia, where he completed dozens of landscape restorations. The Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship is named in his honor. Rudy was very proud of having been nominated for Fellow by the Virginia Society of Landscape Architects. Rudy certainly left his mark in all aspects of the profession. Rudy was that rare person who was a gentleman, scholar, consummate professional, and friend to all. As a young landscape architect who aspired to do landscape preservation work, I often found myself looking to Rudy for advice, and he was always generous to a fault with his time and knowledge. I was a bit intimidated by his presence and often wondered how he really felt about this presumptuous upstart. I got my answer when he recommended me to take his place on the State Historic Preservation Review Board, which I humbly accepted, knowing what big shoes I had to fill. I serve in his honor. — Phil Barlow ASLA, AICP, LEED AP FHI Studio, Hartford, CT Rudy was not only a giant of our profession but also a caring mentor to his students. I first met Rudy in the mid-’60s when he introduced me to landscape architecture and became my mentor and friend thereafter. He had just returned from a sabbatical and was starting a formal landscape architecture program at UConn that at the time had only two official design classes. He took me under his wing, created a curriculum of “special topics” classes, and hired me to work part-time on several of his design projects to develop a semi-legitimate portfolio. Somehow, he convinced UMass to accept me into their MLA program. Rudy’s mentorship continued long after my graduation from UConn, monitoring my graduate studies, reviewing my master’s thesis, and providing fatherly guidance throughout my career. Our friendship continued when we served together for many years on the State Board of Landscape Architects where he was instrumental in redefining the scope of practice and providing a path for UConn graduates to become licensed before the program receive LAAB accreditation. Rudy’s scholarship and mentorship is his legacy; we should aspire to achieve such excellence. — Vincent C. McDermott, FASLA, AICP SLR International Corporation, Cheshire, CT SPRING 2023 | 15 A long and readily accessible colleague, Rudy met with me over the years as an advisor to the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk. He was a warm and fuzzy guy who will be long remembered. Two of his books were well read and important to me as a landscape architect on cemetery projects. — Richard Bergmann, FAIA, ASLA Richard Bergmann Architects, Venice, FL Rudy Favretti’s book on pioneer landscape architect Jacob Weidenmann (a contemporary of, and frequent collaborator with, Frederick Law Olmsted) won a Merit Award for Landscape Architectural Research in the Chapter’s 2007 professional awards competition. s s
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SPRING 2023 | 19 Yarwood Award Tofuku-ji Temple (Kyoto, Japan) Photo by Lauren Wholey
20 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Selected annually by the outgoing president of ASLA Connecticut, the Yarwood Award recognizes a chapter member for their generous and extensive contributions to the chapter and profession. The award is given in memory of George A. Yarwood (1903-1987), one of the chapter’s founders and its first president. The 2022 Yarwood Award recipient is Lauren Wholey. A California native with a B.A. in History and Philosophy, Lauren came to the field of landscape architecture several years after completing her undergraduate program, through a part-time landscape architecture program at the University of California, Berkeley Extension. After completing the landscape architecture program (and after a year spent in Kyoto, Japan), Lauren moved LAUREN WHOLEY The scenic beauty of Northern California nurtured Lauren’s love of nature while studying landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley Extension. Above: Sea Ranch. Below: Lake Tahoe. All photographs by Lauren Wholey
SPRING 2023 | 21 There were ample forms of inspirational landscape architecture to lure Lauren’s photographic eye during her residency in Kyoto, Japan. Top: Heian Shrine Garden. Inset: Ginkaku-ji. Bottom: Tofuku-ji Temple.
22 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE from the San Francisco Bay Area to Bristol, United Kingdom, for three years, before landing in the New Haven area seven years ago. With a humanities and landscape architecture background, Lauren has been excited to take advantage of the chance to live in new geographic locations, each with its own landscape culture. From the summer-dry Northern California climate with abundant national and state parks of incredible scenic beauty, to the island-constrained built and natural environments of England and Japan, the study of landscape and culture has been of great interest to Lauren as she moves from place to place. Banksy art abounds in the artist’s hometown of Bristol, United Kingdom (top photo), as well as an overall thriving urban graffiti art scene (bottom photo). With a humanities and landscape architecture background, Lauren has been excited to take advantage of the chance to live in new geographic locations, each with its own landscape culture.
SPRING 2023 | 23 Now based in Connecticut, and currently a landscape architect at TPA Design Group, Lauren became editor of the chapter’s Connecticut Landscape Architecture Annual in 2021 and helped the publication evolve to its current biannual form, producing both Spring and Fall editions in 2022. (The full-color publication has now replaced the chapter’s prior blackand-white magazine.) “The editor position is volunteer-based and Lauren took on the role during the COVID era after long-time editor, Phil Barlow, stepped down,” said Daniel Granniss, ASLA Connecticut past president. “Lauren’s time and efforts were dedicated to furthering and enhancing the visibility of the profession during a period when it was difficult, and at some points impossible, to come together to celebrate the work and progress of Connecticut landscape architecture.” Recently returned from living in the UK, Lauren was delighted to find Banksy art in New York City. Lauren became editor of the chapter’s Connecticut Landscape Architecture Annual in 2021 and helped the publication evolve to its current biannual form.
24 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Being editor has allowed Lauren to combine her interests in landscape architecture, writing, and photography. It is her goal to share the wide range of projects and skills in the field of landscape architecture in Connecticut through the visual and written medium of the Connecticut Landscape Architecture publication. “Lauren’s creativity and passion for both visual and written work are evident in this publication,” says Granniss. “The Yarwood Award recognizes Lauren’s selfless commitment to strengthening the foundation of Connecticut landscape architecture beyond expectation.” Lauren is finding Connecticut to be rich in built and natural landscapes. Top: Downtown New Haven with West Rock in the distance. Bottom: The Pequonnock River as it flows through an industrial area of Bridgeport. Lauren’s time and efforts were dedicated to furthering and enhancing the visibility of the profession during a period when it was difficult, and at some points impossible, to come together to celebrate the work and progress of Connecticut landscape architecture.
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SPRING 2023 | 29 Bullard Award Blast Site Restoration (Essex, CT) Anne Penniman Associates
30 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Each year, our Executive Committee bestows the Elizabeth Bullard Award on a female landscape architect in celebration of the life and legacy of Elizabeth Jane Bullard (1847-1916), a Bridgeport native who was the first woman to practice landscape architecture in the United States. Our 2022 Elizabeth Bullard Award recipient is Anne Lacouture Penniman, recognized for her exceptional leadership and service to the landscape architecture profession. Anne has been practicing since 1987, and in 1991 she opened her own firm, Anne Penniman Associates, located in Essex, Connecticut. In addition to her work through her firm, Anne also shares her time and knowledge with the wider community through lectures, articles, and through her past role as a member of the State Board of Landscape Architects for seven years. Chapter president Ellen Fallon-Senechal presents the Elizabeth Bullard Award to Anne Penniman at the chapter's holiday party in December 2022. ANNE LACOUTURE PENNIMAN Rhode Island farm.
SPRING 2023 | 31 Her contextual use of indigenous materials such as natural fieldstone and granite, wood, and native plants creates harmonious, New Englandcentered landscapes
32 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE From master planning and corporate campuses to parks and residences, Anne has brought her sophisticated design skills to many locations and project types throughout Connecticut and the wider New England/northeast region. Her contextual use of indigenous materials such as natural fieldstone and granite, wood, and native plants creates harmonious, New England-centered landscapes that often appear to extend into the wider landscape through strategic views of the Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River, or surrounding meadows and forests. In the course of her projects Anne has worked with diverse consultants and specialists. She is known for both valuing others’ opinions and taking a democratic approach during the design process, respecting the wisdom of other designers and disciplines. Coastal buffer plantings and parking court at Weekapaug Inn (Westerly, RI). Island Habitat Landscape (Mystic, CT). The staggered granite pathway accentuates the view to the front door through native plantings.
SPRING 2023 | 33 Anne’s work consistently demonstrates her deep knowledge of plant communities — especially woodland and coastal — and her skill at both tactical and vernacular planting design. Acknowledging that native planting design can be either informal and naturalistic, or formal and manicured in composition, Anne has been able to integrate native plants, and the benefits they provide, into her projects with wonderful aesthetic and ecological results. The paragraph below is from an article written by Anne for “Woods and Waters: The Essex Land Trust Member’s Bulletin” in Summer of 2020. In the thirty-plus years of designing for New England landscapes, designing with native species has been an extremely rewarding type of project for our firm. As an example, several highly invasive Norway Maples were removed from a client’s property and replaced with a combination of native species: Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Redcedar, Arrowwood Viburnum, American Holly, and Highbush Blueberry. As soon as the plants were in the ground, the birds arrived — finding shelter and places to nest as well as food sources from these berry-bearing species. Above: Master plan for Elizabeth Park (Hartford/West Hartford, CT). Right: Re-visioning a Hamptons Landscape (Southampton, NY): Large bands of oftenflooded lawn were replaced with site-appropriate shade plantings, allowing for enhanced stormwater infiltration in a sculptural collection of winterberry. Above: Plan for a new town park on the former Griswold Airport parcel, bound by tidal wetlands, the Hammonassett River, and Route 1, in Madison, CT. Below: Coastal restoration meadow, Island Habitat Landscape (Mystic, CT).
34 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE The Bullard Award acknowledges a deep appreciation for the positive influence and value of Anne’s work on Connecticut landscapes and ecology, and an unwavering enthusiasm for sharing her knowledge and experience with others. No longer engaged in the full-time management of a landscape architecture office, Anne is still committed to the mission of promoting the value of designing with native plant communities through stewardship of individual properties. She can be reached at [email protected] to inquire about consultation for site design and habitat enhancement; or to view her ongoing work and photos on Instagram see @annepennimanlandarch. 2009 Bank Lane Gallery Courtyard Merit Award | Corporate-Institutional 2010 Ocean Front House Merit Award | Residential 2012 A Rower’s Landing Honor Award | Residential 2012 A New Park for Madison Honor Award | Landscape Planning & Analysis 2014 Weekapaug Inn Honor Award | Corporate-Institutional 2015 Blast Site Restoration Honor Award | Residential 2015 Vegetation/Habitat Mapping & Management Plan Merit Award | Landscape Planning & Analysis 2017 Connecticut River Compound Honor Award | Residential 2018 Elizabeth Park Master Plan Honor Award | Landscape Planning & Analysis 2018 Island Habitat Landscape Honor Award | Residential 2019 Cabin in the Woods Merit Award | Residential 2020 Re-envisioning a Hamptons Landscape Merit Award | Residential ASLA Connecticut Professional Awards won by Anne Penniman Associates Connecticut River Compound (Lyme, CT) A Rower’s Landing (Lyme, CT)
SPRING 2023 | 35 Designing with Intention Profile & Motive Lighting : Celebrating the beauty of illumination and its interaction with architecture, objects, and space. Speclines 508.362.5337 www.speclines.net CALL OUR OFFICE TODAY TO GET A QUOTE 914.698.4065. www.moranogroup.com WESTCHESTER | NYC | GREENWICH | WEST PALM BEACH | MIAMI LANDSCAPES + HARDSCAPES MORANO GROUP BEDFORD QUARRY HOUSE - a project by Steven Harris Architects, Rees Roberts & Partners and Morano Group, chosen as this year’s recipient of the 2022 Residential Design Award by AIE New York. 2022 RESIDENTIAL DESIGN AWARDS
36 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Outdoor Lighting & Furnishings waynetyler.com WIND-DAM – VARIABLE HEIGHT GLASS WINDBREAK The Wind-Dam glass windbreak is an innovative, variable height glass railing system designed for spaces exposed to the elements. The Wind-Dam railing consists of a 1/2″ tempered – laminated glass panel attached to a pair of aluminum posts. A second section of glass can be raised or lowered as needed. This provides additional protection from wind, noise or other weather elements. By simply pressing the top of the glass, the hydraulic mechanism increases the height from 43″ to 71″. The glass can then be lowered until it locks back into place. Wind-Dam glass railings are ideal for use around terraces, gardens, balconies, dining areas and pools in residential and commercial type applications. Wind-Dam from US Glass Fence. For more information call (888) 814-9346. Wind-Dam.us
SPRING 2023 | 37 Jonathan Green Black Beauty MicrocloverTM Black Beauty PO Box 2 | 264 Exeter Rd Slocum, RI 02877 (p) 800-341-6900 | (f) 401-295-0144 www.sodco.net Product Features & Benefits Requires fewer inputs once established 30% - 50% less water and fertilizer Low environmental footprint Extensive root systems of 4’ in proper soil conditions Rebounds quickly from summer heat and dryness Water efficient & drought tolerant High traffic tolerance and fine leaf blade texture Remember, if it’s not Black Beauty grown by Sodco, then it’s just another tall fescue. Product Features & Benefits Requires zero fertilizer and chemical inputs The MicrocloverTM spoon-feeds nitrogen to the grass Non-colonizing with minimal clover flowers Produces healthy dense turf Excellent wear and traffic control Crowds out and prevents weeds Environmentally friendly and shade tolerant Needs 30-50% less water and is a natural filter MicrocloverTM Black Beauty – Keep a beautiful lawn, naturally.
38 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE • Manufactured and Natural Stone Veneers • Outdoor Kitchens, Fireplaces and Fire pits • Granite Steps and Cobblestones • Low Voltage Landscape Lighting • Natural Fieldstone and Flagging • Antique & Reclaimed Natural Stone • Masonry Saws and Diamond Blades • Interlocking Concrete Pavers & Retaining Wall Systems • Premium Bluestone • Tools & Accessories • Bulk Decorative Stone 1370 John Fitch Blvd. RT. 5, P.O. Box 185 South Windsor, CT 06074-0185 860-289-7778 phone 860-282-9885 fax Family Owned and Operated for over 74 years
SPRING 2023 | 39 Iconic Connecticut Landscapes Photo: Lauren Wholey
40 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE On November 12, 2022, a private opening of the newly completed Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial took place, in Newtown, CT, attended by family members, town officials, and a small group of invited guests. The fall date was just a month before the tenth anniversary of the tragedy that claimed the lives of 20 first grade students and 6 staff at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut. From a personal perspective, due to the horrific nature of the tragedy, it was with great trepidation that I visited this site in mid-February of 2023. Instead, what I found was an overwhelmingly peaceful memorial, a place that felt suitable to both reflect in sorrow and also to breathe in some measure of comfort from the beautifully understated design and the surrounding natural woodland setting. The location for the memorial was chosen by the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial Commission, formed in 2013. After a lengthy A Gentle Embrace by Lauren Wholey, ASLA The Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial is set into the gently embracing hillside and forest clearing. Neil Landino
SPRING 2023 | 41 The making of the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial
42 | CONNECTICUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE review of 17 potential sites, the location on Riverside Road was selected by the commission in May of 2016. As a former ball field, the memorial fits com - fortably into the surrounding woodlands. The memorial itself was co-designed by San Francisco-based Dan Affleck and Ben Waldo of SWA Group, who in 2018 entered and won an open design competition orga - nized by the memorial commis - sion. With a concept titled “The Clearing,” the memorial takes form with looped pathways weaving gently down a slope toward the granite memorial fountain featuring the “Sacred Sycamore” at its center. With a concept titled “The Clearing,” the memorial takes form with looped pathways weaving gently down a slope toward the gran - ite memorial fountain featuring the “Sacred Sycamore” at its center. The calm oasis at the center of the memorial. David Lloyd Neil Landino