At a Glance
A native/natural residential landscape design extends the ecological blueprint beyond the bounds of a nature reserve and into suburban life.
Project Description
In 2012, Cleveland Metroparks acquired a 100-year-old golf course that spanned 155 acres of suburban Ohio. With the intention of converting the site into Acacia Reservation, an ecologically functioning natural area, Metroparks sought Biohabitats’ help. After assessing the site, and facilitating public meetings and a design charrette, Biohabitats developed an ecological master plan to regenerates the local ecology by recreating the wetlands, woodlands, meadows, and heathy stream system that once thrived at the site.
Enthused about the impending transformation, a property owner who was building his future home on land adjacent to the Reservation, wanted to create a landscape that would be consistent with the ecologically robust site. To help the property holder achieve this goal, Biohabitats designed a landscape to blend in with the park. The design includes native plant palette and natural features such as a native low-growing meadow as an alternative to lawn, native evergreens and semi-evergreens to screen neighbors, and species attractive to pollinators and resistant to deer.