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Landscape architect defends seed mix, swaps plant species to improve durability and wildlife value
Summary
Design Professionals' landscape architect said she replaced deer-vulnerable arborvitae with hybrid hollies, added hardier rhododendron and viburnum, and proposed a New England wetland seed mix for detention basins to reduce cattails and improve erosion control and filtration.
Barbara Schmidt, a licensed landscape architect with Design Professionals, addressed landscaping and lighting comments from a prior hearing and described plan changes to improve long-term viability and ecological function. She said arborvitae in shaded, deer-prone areas was replaced with hybrid hollies expected to reach 8–10 feet and provide better deer resistance; she also added hardier rhododendron varieties and viburnum dentatum to diversify wildlife value.
Schmidt explained that a specialized New England wetland seed mix is intended for the detention-basin bottoms because the mix has deeper-rooting sedges and native forbs that provide better filtration and erosion resistance than cattails, which she said require frequent removal and have shallower roots. On the matter of invasive species, Schmidt recommended frequent mowing during the first two establishment years and early physical removal of phragmites or other invasives if they appear. She also confirmed that pole and wall-mounted fixtures will be Razer-series, fully cut-off, dark-sky-compliant lights.
