good choices at golden belt

I ran into Katherine Gill last week. She is a landscape architect who lives in southwest central Durham, not far from my house. I profiled her and her wonderful garden for the Durham Skywriter back in May. Besides starting a community supported agriculture project (literally in her own backyard) she was also commissioned to design and implement parts of a new landscape around the renovated Golden Belt factory in east Durham. There, she has filled containers, beds, and pathways with smart plant choices. Especially noteworthy are the perennials, shrubs, and trees that can stand the heat and the humidity of our summers.

(pictured above: Stones of this shape and size have always been necessary to control erosion and vegetation along rail lines. Here, their use in a parking lot median is a nice touch given the industrial history of Golden Belt and the track that still runs nearby. Native switchgrass and a low growing evergreen juniper will soften this feature throughout the year --even after winter turns the grass an appealing brownish-blond .)