landscape architecture

Since the publication of the first edition in 2000, Sustainable Landscape Construction has helped to spur a movement towards resilient outdoor environments, in the U.S. and throughout the world. The third edition has been updated to include important recent developments in this landscape revolution. It remains essential reading for everyone with an interest in "green" design of outdoor spaces and infrastructures.

For decades, landscape architecture was driven solely by artistic sensibilities. But in these times of global change, the opportunity to reshape the world comes with a responsibility to consider how it can be resilient, fostering health and vitality for humans and nature.

The Rants from the Hill essay series has appeared in High Country News online every month, without fail, since July 2010. A lot has happened in those (almost) six years as we—my wife, Eryn, and our daughters, Hannah and Caroline—have lived as fully as possible our shared life here on a remote hill in western Nevada’s Great Basin Desert. And now, with this farewell Rant, I draw the essay series to a close.

Many years ago, when I was first pegged as a "sustainable landscape designer," I gave a talk to a group of students enrolled in one of the world's first sustainable design courses at Schumacher College in England. I was surprised during the question and answer period that almost all the students' questions were not about their work, but revolved around how they could address issues of sustainability in their personal lives. How they could conserve energy and water in their households, for example—it was these questions that started me on the path to writing and publishing my book,