October 2023 | Maas Verde Landscape Restoration

Why Fall is the Perfect Texas Growing Season

October 30, 2023/in News/by MichaelofAustin

Planting a garden or landscape in fall could raise some eyebrows.

But good reasons to do it are not hard to identify from casual observation. Here in this unheralded but productive Texas growing season, native and non-native adapted species roar into activity with colorful blooms and torrents of seeds.

The reasons why are technical but intuitive.

In October 2023, significant rains finally broke months of drought stress. The water signaled plants that had eked through the summer in dormancy to take advantage and pollinate.

The same mechanism gets triggered when Texas’ soaring summer temperatures subside. Since plants cool themselves through transpiration, or releasing moisture through their leaves, extreme heat and drought are a tough one-two punch.

Take either of those two stresses away, and you’ve got viable conditions for growing. In 2023, it all happened at once.

“Most of the species that grow here natively can handle one or two sources of stress at a time,” Maas Verde project manager Marc Opperman said. “Once they start adding up, that plant tends to have a harder time.”

He added that recent rainfall has supercharged local plant growth. At Maas Verde headquarters, recently planted seeds of multiple species have sprouted and are now advancing rapidly.

Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) sprouted within one week of late October planting at Maas Verde; (photo/Marc Opperman)

The conditions add up to an ideal time to install many Central Texas plants, especially larger specimens. Hot, dry weather doesn’t treat plants well when they’re trying to establish.

Growing demands resources. Trees and shrubs, particularly, can take more inputs to establish than smaller specimens. When the plant is getting signals to conserve moisture and nutrients in any possible way, progress can be marginal.

On the other hand, it’s a big advantage to transplant during an easier growing season, ahead of a period that induces fewer stresses. Many Central Texas natives grow best below 80 degrees, so planting them now gives them the best chance to root and thrive with proper maintenance before summer heat arrives.

“Transplanting itself does induce some stress. So with the amount of rain we’re getting right now and the better growing temperatures, it’s a great time to put plants in the ground,” Opperman said.

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Featured image: Wild-growing Texas lantana (Lantana urticoides) under a fall sky at Maas Verde headquarters; (photo/Maas Verde)

Restoring Habitat for Endangered Songbirds with Travis County DNR

October 26, 2023/in Land Management, Projects/by MichaelofAustin

Priorities: Assess and Recondition 15 Acres to Prioritize Black-capped VireoChallenges: Evaluate Complex Habitat – Meet Tight Timeline Ahead of NestingSolutions: Task Expert Staff – Expedite with Key Equipment

The black-capped vireo is one of Texas’ most distinctive rare songbirds. And under a specific government directive, it receives protections based on monitoring in known habitats.

The bird left the endangered species list in 2018, but is now the focus of an “abundance monitoring” plan. Its relisting as “vulnerable” owed mostly to habitat restoration — which still has to happen on a regular basis.

Maas Verde undertook vireo habitat management on 15 acres of the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in northwest Austin. There, conflicting habitats between it and another threatened Texas songbird butted right up against each other.

The endangered golden-cheeked warbler roams a far different range than the black-capped vireo at large. But in Texas, their territories overlap. The birds often nest side-by-side, choosing different species that grow closely together in our area.

This situation demands precision and judgment from a land manager prioritizing one bird species or the other. Maas Verde’s job would be to optimize the habitat for black-capped vireos without chasing warblers away.

Natural Resources Specialist Paul Fushille led the project for the Travis County Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

“The area just looked like a wall of brush at the start of the project,” Fushille said. “Any casual onlooker wouldn’t have been able to make any sense out of it. This required strong skills in species identification and forestry mowing.”

Habitat Circumstances

Vireos tend to nest in thickly-clumped shrubby vegetation like shin oak (Quercus grisea), evergreen sumac (Rhus virens), and flameleaf sumac (Rhus lanceolata) at heights of about 3-6 feet. Golden-cheeked warblers like to nest relatively high up in mature Ashe juniper trees that stand alone.

The Balcones Canyonlands NWR parcel that Maas Verde treated was a tangle of these habitats. And due to the relative maturity of the landscape, which had gone unmanaged for around a decade, it was no longer harboring vireos effectively.

Instead of post-oak savannah, with clumped vegetation surrounded by open areas, it was becoming denser.

“A lot of the shin oak and flameleaf sumac — the shrubby species — had actually matured into tree-like structures,” Maas Verde project manager Marc Opperman said. “Essentially, it was aging out of what the black-capped vireo prefers.”

Project Outline

Close surveillance by Fushille and his team dictated expectations on the project. They monitored the local vireo population using coded ankle bands to track the birds’ nesting locations and movement patterns.

“When we started monitoring this area in the mid-1990s, we had around 20-22 birds,” Fushille said. ” But because the area had not been managed for some time, those numbers were declining.”

Maas Verde’s treatment would occur at the very end of the viable season. The birds’ protected mating season runs from March 1 to July 31. During that time, heavy equipment use is prohibited in their area under take regulations.

Multiple obstacles, like February’s damaging ice storm, delayed Maas Verde’s restoration work until late in the month.

The distribution of species and general brush density on the land forced Maas Verde to create “lanes.”

“This wasn’t a clear cut. Instead, we would judiciously look at pockets of vegetation and particular trees — especially Ashe junipers and big oaks — and treat those as islands, managing the surrounding species,” Opperman explained.

Attention to the detail of Fushille’s spec guided this approach.

“We’d had previous companies come in that removed a little too much [brush],” Fushille said. “Clear cutting is pretty common at this scale of land management in our area. It’s what a lot of ranchers want. Grassland for livestock, etc. But we needed more habitat evaluation.”

Implementation and Challenges

Hitting the Target Boundary

The Balcones Canyonlands NWR is huge. At 32,000+ acres, it is larger than the city of Round Rock.

It was important for Opperman and the crew to treat only the target area. To facilitate this, Fushille uses an app that combines GIS location services with PDF maps his team created internally. The Maas Verde crew could track their locations inside the project boundary with their phones.

“They picked up the app and ran with it,” Fushille said. “Technical literacy was no problem.”

Detailed Treatment

Opperman and the crew developed a system and worked quickly, without removing too much brush.

For instance, the crew might “top” (or trim to height) an overgrown flameleaf sumac. A ground crew with chainsaws would cut the shrub to a suitable height for vireo nesting. Then Opperman would mulch the excess with the forestry mower.

By design, the process would encourage the low, radiating growth that vireos prefer.

Two key challenges placed the strictest demands on Opperman’s skill and resources. First, identifying one woody species from another without any leaves to compare. Second, balancing the ecosystem’s holistic health against the vireo prioritization.

He met the first challenge with resolute dedication to Texas wildlife. A certified Master Naturalist since 2012, Opperman is an energetic student of local species.

Meeting the second came down to applying those skills.

“Every time I looked at a particular area, I had to make a decision. Is this great habitat that just needs to be cleaned up a little bit? Is there anything significant that I need to remove completely, because if we just mow it down, it will come back up again and impair the habitat? Or should we be opportunistic and mow one species, say a young juniper, that won’t necessarily attract vireos and also won’t grow back even if we don’t pull it from the roots?”

Project Manager Marc Opperman

Efficiency

Evaluating an overgrown, 15-acre area one tree at a time would be painstaking. So efficient implementation was key.

Opperman ran the mower in “pirouettes” around mature trees to create lanes. Ground personnel directed by crew leader Juan Carlos Hidalgo worked in close proximity. Maas Verde tasked the same staff throughout the project to fuel the accuracy and efficiency of the treatment.

The crew averaged 10-hour shifts to finish the project in 10 days, working around one skid steer breakdown. The DNR also added two acres onto the scope during the project.

“I went into it not expecting to get it all done,” Fushille said. “You run into issues you can’t predict on every project. Maas Verde encountered and overcame these, and surprisingly, covered the entire area in this short window.”

Opperman managing the preserve lands with a forestry mower; (photo/Maas Verde)

Results

Fushille’s team does not expect black-capped vireo numbers to recover on the treated land for several more nesting seasons. That’s because the birds generally avoid disturbed areas. However, Fushille spoke to the engineered habitat’s suitability.

“Marc came in fully understanding the vision, and our land management requirements. There was a lot of really good communication,” he said. “That showed in the final result. Our team surveyed the property all nesting season, because even though we didn’t expect any vireos to return there, it looked like such good habitat.”

The preserve will need ongoing management to support black-capped vireos. And because of habitat loss, engineered tracts like the Balcones Canyonlands NWR acreage will remain important.

“We know we’re going to have to do this again in five to eight years,” Fushille said. “Maas Verde is the first group to come in and do mechanical treatment at the NWR on this wide of a scale. It’s hard to make this kind of treatment perfect, but the crew was able to leave a lot of really, really good habitat behind.”

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If you’re lucky enough to come across a black-capped vireo nest, you’ll see they both stand out and blend in. The birds make cup-shaped nests with a wide variety of materials including spider silk and Ashe juniper bark, often garlanded with strips of green lichen. Find them several feet off the ground — placed securely within their preferred shrubby species.

*Featured image: Black-capped vireo in the Balcones Canyonlands NWR; (photo/Isaac Sanchez via Flickr)

Pond Drainage Repair and Forestry Mowing for Wildlife Habitat

October 24, 2023/in Land Management, Projects/by MichaelofAustin

Priorities: Fix Unwanted Pond Drainage – Improve Hiking Access – Irrigate PondsChallenges: Dense Brush – Long Distances – Multiple Scopes – Remote AreaSolutions: Right Equipment – Team Efficiency – Attention to Safety

One South Texas ranch owner needed solutions on a property where prior efforts hadn’t measured up.

Jimmy Burke, an avid bird hunter, had contracted multiple companies to dig several holding ponds, or “tanks,” to support local wildlife. But the ponds kept draining. They refused to hold water for more than a day or so.

Additionally, he needed long lanes cleared through thick brush for easier hiking access on the 250-acre property. The job demanded forestry mowing to create lasting clearance through the understory. He had attempted this himself on a conventional tractor, but results were unsatisfactory.

Finally, Burke wanted a solution to fill the ponds more efficiently. A separate plan was in place to connect the ponds to a well with several thousand feet of PVC. Maas Verde solidified these details on site, expediting the process of trenching, installing, and connecting the pipe.

With limited time and finite staffing resources on the mobilization, Maas Verde leaned into the work.

“Maas Verde was flexible in that we added on a pretty substantial scope during the project,” Burke said. “Watering the tanks was the goal, and Maas Verde worked efficiently and expeditiously to complete that — at what I thought was a fair price.”

Forestry Mowing

Dense, woody brush was also a key factor in the project timeline. Brush clearing came first, which both completed a scope and helped the team access work areas.

Maas Verde’s choice to use a forestry mower for clearing was key. Cutting thousands of linear feet of these woody species would be functionally impossible with a conventional mower (as Burke’s experience demonstrated). The only other feasible tool would be a bulldozer.

But Maas Verde opted against this method to minimize soil disruption. This would allow low growth to return to the property, helping retain the soil profile and preserve its microbe communities and the larger ecosystems it supports.

The forestry mower also expedited the work.

“The brush clearing was exceptional,” Burke said. “I was impressed that the team showed up with the right equipment to get the job done. The [forestry mower] skid steer attachment saved days of time and labor. It really goes to show the value of having the right tools.”

Bentonite Install

The team then addressed the unsatisfactory ponds. Our solution was to spread bentonite on the pond floors.

A type of natural clay, bentonite’s strength as a pond liner comes from its enormous surface area and tendency to self-bond. The clay reacts with water to form a paste, where its particles swell to 30 times their size and compress. These tiny particles have thousands of times more surface area than sand granules — so their capacity for absorption and surface contact is extremely high.

The bentonite arrived at the job site in 3,000-lb. “super sacks.” Maas Verde’s team first performed square footage and volume calculations for spreading, then measured the areas and started pouring.

Safety was critical in the application process. A skid steer operator hoisted the sacks, then ground crew members opened the spouts below, staying clear of any fall zones.

The operator then spread the outpouring bentonite evenly, paying attention to steep grades on the pond sides. Spreading also required the operator to move quickly and steadily.

(Photos/Maas Verde)

The crew then finished the spreading process with a mini excavator, prioritizing a timely finish.

“The planning in advance was obviously well thought-out. And because they efficiently used their equipment, it minimized cost,” Burke said.

(Photo/Maas Verde)

Trenching and PVC Install

Our crew worked closely together on the PVC/well linkage project. Each pond needed its own conduit, and the longest distance between pond and well was 1,200 linear feet. Brush clearing was arduous, and each path snaked between larger trees and thickets.

During trenching, one team member stayed out front in the skid steer to cut. One installed and welded PVC segments, while one ran laps to deliver fresh pipe.

“We got a really good process in place,” said Andy Maas, who coordinated the project for Maas Verde. The team welded all the PVC outside the trenches. Then once they had the whole pipe connected, they simply rolled it into the trench and backfilled.

Once the team turned the water on, the results became obvious immediately.

“With this project, we knew all along that the fill-up would tell us whether we succeeded or failed right away,” Maas said.

Three weeks after install, each pond is holding water to spec.

South Texas Wildlife and Ecology

Research suggests Texas’ historical southern prairie and savannah lands have transformed into successional forest under human management. Overgrazing and wildfire suppression have led to some grass monocultures and some areas dominated by low, woody species, like Burke’s property.

The success of several invasive grasses “simplifies vegetation structure, reduces biodiversity, and decreases habitat for many species of wildlife,” a group from Texas A&M asserted. Historically, though, South Texas is a biodiverse area, thanks to its subtropical, desert, and coastal location.

This project was located along the boundary of the Texas-Tamaulipan Thornscrub (31c) and Southern Subhumid Gulf Coastal Prairie (34b); (image/Wied et. al)

Maas Verde’s remediations resulted in a property that can better accommodate both humans and wildlife. “These woody species were wall-to-wall,” said Ted Maas, who worked as head equipment operator on the project. “It can happen when you don’t see natural fires create a ‘mosaic,’ or random pattern, in vegetation control.”

It’s possible that biodiversity on Burke’s land will now increase, thanks to prioritized wildlife habitat and re-engineered competition between species. He plans to task Maas Verde on annual brush clearing to support the success of the initial project.

And he looks forward to South Texas’ second dove hunting season, from Dec. 15-Jan. 21.

“This gets us further down the road toward good wildlife management. We now have two tanks that can attract thousands of dove and other wildlife,” Burke said. “All we have to do now is monitor our water levels.”

*Featured image: Bentonite pond and a mini excavator; (photo/Maas Verde)

Spread Love for Texas Cedar Trees: A Maas Verde Challenge

October 20, 2023/in News/by MichaelofAustin

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a plant provoke more wrath. Central Texas ranchers scorch the earth of its presence, land managers slander it as thirsty and invasive, and urbanites hate its existence, period.

And generally, none of us even call it the right name.

The Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei, or “mountain cedar”) is a Texas native plant and part of our state’s fabric. This hardworking evergreen appears in our pollen record as far back as the Ice Age and has thrived for the past several thousand years.

(Photo/creative commons)

Lately, though, it’s become a problem child. “Cedar fever” despair has ramped to an all-time high, especially as populations explode with transplant residents. More objectively, it’s outcompeting other species in new ways, thanks to our changing ecology.

Does the boom indicate that the plant is hogging resources, depleting the land, and threatening to choke out the state in a giant allergic cloud?

Or is it just a beneficial native species that demands updated management techniques?

Maas Verde dug a little deeper — and found that Ashe juniper fosters habitat for other plants and wildlife, recharges aquifers, and adequately resists wildfire.

*Editor’s note: This article uses the terms “Ashe juniper” and “mountain cedar” interchangeably.

‘Vile plant that poisons the air?’

Wildflower Center Ecologist and Land Steward Michelle Bertelsen once called Ashe juniper “a native species behaving badly” — but contended that it’s not the plant’s fault. For removal in land management, she said, it’s a “low-hanging fruit.”

Releasing pollen; (photo/Andy Heatwole via Flickr)

Before human land management, mountain cedar in most Texas habitats competed with native grasses like bluestem and switchgrass. Prairie fires in some areas kept the trees at bay and helped balance the species. So did abundant wildlife, which helped micro-manage them by browsing.

Even more importantly, undisturbed soils and karst structure gave the trees healthier, longer lives.

Then, decades of human-introduced fires, clear cutting, and overgrazing began. Building and development also increased, and a few significant droughts occurred. That resulted in shallower, degraded soils.

A form of mountain cedar that resembles the bushy, low-growing variety began to proliferate. It was especially adapted to the new soil profile, and could root more shallowly.

Malice grew.

“Man and cedar co-exist poorly, and to cede the terrain to the ashe juniper is to cede defeat by a vile plant that poisons the air with its pollen for weeks every year, that chokes out other, friendlier vegetation by hogging resources, and that increases the risk of catastrophic fire through its quick burn.”
Dan Solomon, Texas Monthly

Solomon makes his hostility clear. But if you defang his phrases, his criticisms don’t hold up.

How Mountain Cedar Improves Habitats

Ashe juniper actually provides habitat for other beneficial species. Elizabeth McGreevy is an ecological consultant and executive director of Project Bedrock. Over 20 years of research and advocy for the trees culminated in her book on the topic.

Texas madrone (Arbutus xalapensis), gum bumelia (Sideroxylon lanuginosum), possumhaw (Ilex decidua), and Texas red oak (Quercus buckleyi) “often cannot get a start anywhere else but within the protective branches of our cedars,” McGreevy told the Wildflower Center.

Mountain cedar creates healthy soil with fallen leaves, berries, and twigs in its root zone. Cedar sage (Salvia roemeriana), cedar sedge (Carex planostachys) and cedar rosette grass (Dichanthelium pedicellatum) all grow especially happily in these soils — as their names suggest.

photo demonstrating how cedar protects other plants

Mountain cedar (top left) can provide rich soil and shelter for understory plants. Compare the area under the tree (bottom left) to the unprotected area at bottom right; (photo/Maas Verde)

Maas Verde president and founder Ted Maas thinks of the trees as “nursery” plants. They support companion plants nearby via moisture and temperature regulation, and they limit browsing by Central Texas’ overpopulated deer.

The other headline complaint about mountain cedar is its water consumption. But Wildflower Center Ecologist and Land Steward Michelle Bertelsen took a softer stance.

“It does use water,” said Bertelsen, but “so does all of the other brush.” Effectively managing it, she said, “is about the reduction of woody species or not; the individual species doesn’t matter that much.”

Instead, woody plants in general could provide depleted aquifers like the Edwards with a much-needed boost.

How Cedar Recharges Aquifers

One Texas A&M research group measured this effect by studying redberry junipers (Juniperus pinchotii) — a similar species to the Ashe. They found that the trees increased local soils’ water infiltrability by up to 500%. Trees of every size caused this outcome.

In some ways, the process is simple. Robust roots decompact the soil, creating channels for water to drain toward the limestone layers below. This helps more water filter into the aquifer, recharging it.

(McGreevy added that the study has since included Ashe junipers, and led to nearly identical findings.)

illustration showing infiltration and increased baseflow of landscapes with deep-rooting, woody plants

Two infiltration scenarios in shallow karst soils in the Edwards Plateau. Woody plants (a) break up soils to increase absorption for groundwater recharge. With shallow-rooting plants (b), runoff limits recharge; (image/P. Leite et. al)

But even the fallen leaf litter contributes to this soil function. To filter water properly, soil needs particles big enough to resist clumping when it gets wet. This is called aggregate stability, and multiple sources showed that thicker litter beds under trees aided it.

These soil benefits more than likely counterbalance the trees’ water consumption, the researchers pointed out. Junipers in similar woodlands only drew water from the top eight inches of soil. Roots in deep soils, McGreevy confirmed, usually stay in the top layer.

Maas said his field experience supports those findings.

“Junipers don’t establish taproots like oaks, and we’ve seen that at Maas Verde through thousands of removals,” he said. “Where a live oak will send a root straight down toward deep underground water, the biggest junipers will only reach three to four feet. And the vast majority only root into the top 6 to 12 inches of the soil profile.”

Mountain Cedar Resists Fire and Loves Controlled Burns

Mountain cedar haters don’t only think it guzzles water and kills other species — many also claim it catches fire like it’s got gasoline for sap.

That’s not true at all. Instead, the trees are very effective at catching and absorbing water, and only moderately flammable.

The Ashe juniper’s leaf structure catches rainwater aggressively. Each tree can create its own humidity, generally holding rainwater that hits its canopy. Some say this is yet another sign of mountain cedars’ greed for water, but it also limits their reliance on groundwater and builds their fire resistance.

McGreevy stressed that it’s also important to avoid limbing cedars at a low height. Grasses are the main fuel in Texas prairie fires, so the closer they can grow to the trees’ trunks, the more exposed the trees are.

Again, the foliage stores water extremely effectively.

“I’ve seen, in controlled burns, understory fires go right up to a stand of cedar, hit it, and go around,” Maas said. “The moisture retention of these plants is absolutely amazing.”

grasses burning in front of juniper trees

A scene from a Maas Verde controlled burn in early 2022, where grass fires were extinguished in front of Ashe juniper; (photo/Ted Maas)

That’s one thing that makes controlled burns highly effective tools for maintaining Ashe juniper communities. Fires tend to randomly select trees to limb, clear out, or leave alone. Because a healthy tree can resist fire, the selection process tends to clean out dead or dying individuals.

That creates space and age gaps between specimens. And trees of varied ages can make biodiverse, regenerative habitats when intermixed with other species.

A squirrel inside an Ashe juniper bark nest; (photo/Marc Opperman)

Finally, believe it or not, selective burns like these can also limit cedar fever. Burns on plots at the Wildflower Center reduced pollen counts by 15% on the burned parcels and up to 50% on adjacent plots.

Maintenance Basics

Lands across Texas have sprouted with mountain cedar, which volunteers in degraded soils and withstands drought relatively well. But it’s an effect of these conditions, not their cause.

McGreevy described thickets as “a mega soil-building machine. It’s not trying to get more water in the aquifer; it’s not trying to produce grass for a cow; it is nature’s wholehearted effort to restore the soil, to protect it so no more erosion happens.”

So what does effective management for this species look like?

McGreevy recommended thinning the trees by about 20% in some situations. You can often find them surrounding live oaks, which is a natural arrangement — they’ve been living side by side for thousands of years. But an effective land manager can target some trees for healthy removal.

“You can either leave these areas alone or selectively thin them to expedite the growth. Any trees that are forked down low, or otherwise growing poorly,” she said. “But when they grow densely like that, they end up becoming fantastic wildlife shelter.”

They are the only habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler, for instance. The Texas native songbird builds its small nest only from strips of Ashe juniper bark and spider webs.

McGreevy highlighted it’s key for a land manager to identify areas with well-established mountain cedar communities from degraded areas. It’s common for cedar brakes with large, well-spaced trees to contain individuals up to several hundred years old.

These groups are actively playing their role in karst geology function, and often don’t need intervention, McGreevy advised. But dense copses of smaller, younger trees are also influencing the ecosystem.

“Remember that bushy, low juniper growth is here because it’s reviving the soil so it can eventually favor a wider range of species, or grasses. For these, you focus on nature-based solutions, versus coming in with pre-conceived notions of what an area is supposed to look like,” she said. “It’s not going to look like an established forest overnight. “

mature cedar trees (left) versus a young cedar thicket (right)

The old-growth cedar cover at left (likely 150+ years old) may not need much intervention. The smaller trees in the thicket to the right are amending degraded soil; (photo/Elenore Goode)

End Texas Cedar Hate

So do we need to master the “Art of War Against the Cedar Tree,” like Solomon and Texas Monthly propose?

Maas Verde is currently involved in multiple land management projects where the Ashe juniper is widespread.

These Edwards Plateau properties function as huge watersheds. Drainages channel water down from mesas and mountains to dry arroyos below. We recognized right away that soil retention and biodiversity will be key factors in the sites’ long-term health.

So we’re advocating to leverage the natural support the native trees can provide to both these outcomes.

As you’d imagine, we’ve faced pushback from some stakeholders. But others are coming around to the concept — after all, it’s taking root right under their feet.

“Observation is really the key. If you actually look around at our environment, you’ll start to notice right away that there is no way juniper has zero ecological value,” Ted Maas said, then paused. “But if you’re so sure you’re right about a thing, observation goes out the window, doesn’t it?”

McGreevy echoed him. “We’ve gotten so far away from reading the land,” she said. “But these trees are telling us so much about it. It’s time to start paying attention.”

*Featured image: The blue, berry-like cone of the Ashe juniper is a staple food for browsing wildlife; (photo/icosahedron via iNaturalist)

‘Greenspace’ Makes Our Lives Longer — Or Does It?

October 19, 2023/in News/by MichaelofAustin

Is your neighborhood rich with parks, greenbelts, rain gardens, or other natural landscapes? If so, settle in for the long haul. Tiny structures that protect the DNA inside your cells are flourishing in an extended state of youth.

That’s the news from an interdisciplinary research group, which found that exposure to “greenspace” can lengthen telomeres and extend human life.

At least, that’s the working theory.

Telomeres guard the ends of chromosomes during cell division. Each telomere pays a small price with each division — and the older the organism, the thinner the telomere. Eventually, chromosomes cannot divide without destroying themselves, and the cell dies.

Factors such as work stress can degrade telomeres more rapidly. But thankfully, there’s a pretty easy way to counteract the effects.

Greener Life, Longer Life?

“We found that the more greenspace people had in their neighborhoods, the longer their telomeres were,” said Aaron Hipp, co-author of the study and a professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at North Carolina State University. “That was true regardless of race, economic status, whether they were drinkers or smokers, etc.”

The study defines greenspace broadly, including any “vegetated land cover” such as parks, gardens, or lawns. (Interestingly, earlier research found the the term was prone to interpretation.) In one definition, greenspaces seek to increase ecosystem services and biodiversity in urban areas.

The current study draws on data from a survey including over 7,000 Americans across demographics. And it joins a broad pool of research linking nature immersion to emotional and mental well-being.

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But its authors also considered the effect of socioenvironmental stressors on longevity. Pollution, crime, and housing segregation take a toll on telomeres, they found.

And in fact, these factors likely overwhelm greenspace exposure alone.

Community First

In communities with limited income, education, employment, and housing opportunities, “the positive effect of the greenspace essentially disappeared,” said lead author Scott Ogletree, a former postdoctoral researcher at NC State’s Center for Geospatial Analytics. “In other words, while greenspace seems to help protect telomere length, the harm from other factors appears to offset that protection.”

What’s the upshot? A strong, resource-rich community with greenspace at its roots likely supports human life best.

“These findings point to the need to consider how greenspaces are distributed among neighborhoods in order to gain any benefits” from them, the study concluded.

Funny — that’s what Maas Verde thinks, too.

*Featured image: Chicago’s Maggie Daley Park; (photo/Creative Commons)

How Green Infrastructure Could Change Construction, and the World

October 11, 2023/in News/by MichaelofAustin

The groundswell of one concept could finally awaken the industry of infrastructure design from its long, concrete-gray slumber.

Green infrastructure is that concept, and every landscaper interacts with it — whether they know it or not.

In plain terms, green infrastructure is nature. The entire ecosystem and all its functions contribute to it. Geology, soils and roots, plants, waterways, insects, animals, us, and the atmosphere are its ingredients.

But green infrastructure also provides a creative framework that we can use to shape the world around us as designers. By working with it, we can emulate, restore, and directly use natural processes in buildings, roads, parks, and anything else we design.

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The idea that nature contains its own infrastructure that we can adopt is relatively new. However, the economic value of ecosystem services like food provision and climate resilience is well-established.

Green infrastructure might be key to unlocking the solid foundation and bright future we all aspire to.

Gray Infrastructure

Building nature-focused systems addresses a glaring weakness, especially in the United States. Lawmakers found common ground in 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which pledged $350 billion to update aging public resources. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) had graded roads and other government-owned infrastructure a D+ by the time of the law’s passage.

the golden gate bridge above a concrete-covered landscape

San Francisco; (photo/Bill Abbott via Flickr)

This “gray” infrastructure usually bypasses natural systems and, as a general rule, weakens over time. Sewer systems are a great example of critical infrastructure becoming obsolete in some areas.

Stronger storms and shifting seasons have contributed to catastrophic floods in cities from New York to Karachi, Pakistan. But the concrete-and-steel drainage systems built to divert water from these largely impervious-covered cities are aging past their useful life, a 2019 study in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling found. They face scaling and maintenance challenges because they block nature’s hydrological cycle in order to create their own.

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Green Infrastructure

Systems that mimic and/or utilize nature’s more potent ability to absorb and redirect stormwater can help. Green infrastructure is any built system that supports these or other natural processes. Permeable pavement, green roofs, and bioswales are popular examples.

a terraced building with planted patios and roofs

Patio plantings on a terraced design; (photo/NNECPA via Flickr)

Most of us are familiar with green roofs, which utilize plants to cool down otherwise unused space on buildings. Terraced designs with planted balconies can accompany green roofs to reduce wind tunnel effects in dense urban developments and provide even more shade. Finally, shade canopies like the louvers in the photo at the top of this page perform similar functions.

Permeable pavement can replace concrete in some applications to increase “infiltration,” or soaking, of water into soils. Benefits include slowing the pace of stormwater runoff, and increasing water filtration.

cross section of permeable paver design with layers down to uncompacted soil

Permeable paver design; (photo/Liangtai Lin via Flickr)

Bioswales, too, slow and filter stormwater. But they use plantings, root structure, and buried drainage systems to do it. Bioswales can replace common concrete drainage channels to function more like natural tributaries. The plants retain and decompact the soil, which allows efficient absorption of stormwater, and a buried, permeable drainpipe channels the runoff to a river or reservoir.

(Photo/Wiki Commons)

This engineering concept is called green stormwater infrastructure. And in areas like Central Texas, where flooding and droughts are both problems, it can remedy both.

This illustration from the Hill Country Alliance below describes how our natural and built systems can work together.

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In our limestone karst geology, underground aquifers store groundwater. Rainwater fills them by “infiltrating,” or soaking into, the soil, then filtering through the porous rock below.

The left side of the diagram represents our rangelands. The soil in these high plateaus absorbs some stormwater, and the rest drains down to rivers like the Pedernales and the Colorado.

Cities like Austin then build infrastructure to direct and divert it, like the reservoir on the right side of the diagram.

The aquifer can refill through seepage, but compacted soils and impervious ground cover increase runoff and restrict infiltration. That makes recharge zones highly important, as the center of the illustration shows.

Dense native plants in these areas decompact the soil as roots grow downward toward the aquifer below. So when rain falls or drains into the area, it filters underground more directly.

A diver in a karst aquifer; (photo/International Year of Caves and Karst)

OK, But Why Does it Matter?

Imagine cities in our area engineered toward aquifer recharge. Green roofs and terraced buildings cool impervious surfaces and reduce Structures like bioswales and permeable pavement loosen the concrete-and-steel grids that compact soils and shed water quickly.

Direct results include healthy, absorbent soils with stronger plant and wildlife communities. Benefits cascade from there.

Aquifers recharge faster and more regularly. It’s hard to overstate the upside of this function, but easy to illustrate it with one statistic: 55% of all Texas water comes from aquifers (as of 2019).

Beyond that, trees and understory plants thrive, collecting CO2 and cooling off the surrounding surfaces. These green areas also support pollinators and pest predators, like spiders and bats. Humans enjoy the boost in mental and emotional well-being that proximity to nature brings, which is well-documented.

Austin’s “Barking Springs,” one basic example of the kind of infrastructure that will grow more critical as cities expand; (photo/David Ingram via Flickr)

Most vitally, green infrastructure makes our communities resilient rather than vulnerable to extreme weather. Areas with healthier soils and better drainage will withstand floods better. Shadier surfaces add comfort in extreme heat and help reduce convection in heat islands. And a bigger underground water supply can provide security during severe droughts.

Examples at scale exist increasingly, all over the world.

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Large-scale opportunities to completely replace concrete structures with natural solutions exist, too. One such strategy is natural streambank stabilization of waterways that function as drainage.

Streambank stabilization almost always requires some infrastructure. Populated areas change these waterways, often increasing water load and associated erosion.

The gray infrastructure method is to turn them into concrete troughs. But green methods like elevated soil lift (ESL) construction and selective planting can also stabilize these channels’ banks. Like concrete, this solution provides critical water diversion. But it creates absorption and wildlife habitat that concrete does not.

Not only that, but because it is alive, an engineered, planted streambank will strengthen over time rather than weaken. In fact, this is the case in all green infrastructure with proper implementation and plant selection.

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While gray infrastructure still has viable applications for the foreseeable future, green infrastructure can help conserve the natural resources that will protect that future.

Public funding for conservation in Texas over the last three decades adds up to $2.2 billion. Studies have shown that every $1 invested in conservation returns $4 to $11 in ecosystem services like clean air and water and reduced flood risk. And every $1 invested in land conservation for water protection helps avoid $6 in water infrastructure costs.

“Nature-based solutions can be part of the solution,” the Environmental and Energy Study Institute said. “They have a smaller carbon footprint than gray infrastructure and usually sequester carbon — plus they literally grow over time!”

Top 5 Affordable Landscape Ideas For Fall

October 7, 2023/in News/by MichaelofAustin

When sweater weather arrives, patios and backyards come to life. There’s nothing like throwing the doors open in the morning and taking a big breath of crisp, cool air. Happy hours on the deck chairs seem even more appealing, and chilly nights promise festive times to come.

Wildlife experiences this renewal, too. Fall is a second growing season in Texas, when native plants burst into action after semi-dormant summers. Native pollinators like ruby-throated hummingbirds, luna moths, and hardworking honey bees flock to them, invigorated just like us.

Other changes in our natural surroundings can stimulate creativity. What do you envision in your landscape when you look outside? Maybe it’s more color, maybe it’s better function, maybe it’s a total overhaul with a wide array of natural and built structures.

It’s only natural to picture ourselves flourishing outdoors. And we all want to improve our landscapes without breaking the bank.

So as you search for the best bang for your buck, check out these five simple landscape ideas for fall.

1. Build a Patio Extension

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Give yourself some room to kick your feet up and enjoy the breeze! A patio extension can be a great way to reclaim under-utilized yard space or create easier access.

Install challenges vary with design and surface conditions, but many patio extensions are quick and easy.

Maas Verde can tailor your patio design to match existing or new landscape elements. We can also advise on drainage structures and impervious cover requirements.

2. Update Your Outdoor Lighting

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The days are getting shorter, and that means more after-dark activities for us all. How’s your outdoor lighting situation? Low, nonfunctional light can make nocturnal hangouts just as frustrating or dangerous as overbright spaces with glary areas.

Maas Verde installs lighting systems based on specific site needs. We use function-forward lighting equipment that complies with Dark Sky International regulations. And our low voltage models can cut down on your electricity bill.

3. Plant a Pocket Prairie

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Did we mention native Texas plants “spring” to life in fall? They do, and this second growing season is an excellent time for a new plant community to begin life.

What is a pocket prairie? Simply put, it’s a garden with native plants only that supports local wildlife. Maas Verde can select species to meet aesthetic, color, maintenance, and desired pollinator goals.

A pocket prairie is also a great way to take advantage of Maas Verde’s value-added planting programs. We add soil amendments to the root zone of each plant we install, to keep the area healthy long-term. We also include plant warranties to further support ongoing success.

4. Create a Dry Creek

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Dry creeks add multiple functional and aesthetic facets to a landscape. These graded, pebble-lined channels act as points of visual interest, drainage solutions, and functional structures for wildlife.

Here’s the coolest part (from Maas Verde’s point of view): Dry creeks mimic natural riparian systems. Deep-rooting, hearty plants line the banks for retention. A stone bed channels rainwater downstream and allows partial absorption.

Dry creeks can be simple, light-duty work for an experienced crew. Try one if you’ve got puddling issues — or just want to add some natural depth and color to your space!

5. Install a Pergola

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A pergola can put an exclamation point on any landscape, with partial shade functionality and added texture.

Pergolas can take almost any shape or form, adapting materials to meet a range of needs. A timber pergola can create a vibe from rustic to sophisticated, and depth of shade is fully custom. Another option is a retractable design, which combines the frame of a pergola with a removable shade sail.

Why give yourself a ceiling? Maas Verde recommends letting the sun shine through!

Featured image: Creative Commons

A Client’s Guide to Landscaping Costs

October 4, 2023/in News/by MichaelofAustin

Planning a custom landscape is a big thrill. The promise of an inviting deck, colorful garden, or appealing front yard landscape inspires creativity and motivation.

But knowing how much to pay for landscaping can be a challenge.

Budgeting for your project revolves around knowing where costs come from, getting a feel for the fair market rate, and — believe it or not — understanding how you can influence the cost of a landscape design and install yourself.

We want every landscape to be a Maas Verde landscape, but we also know every new client is preparing to make a big decision. That’s why we created this guide to landscape budgeting.

In it, you’ll find:

- Major costs and hidden costs on every landscape job

- Easy prep work you can do to boost efficiencies and drive down costs

- Maas Verde’s baseline pricing for “Am I in the ballpark?” questions

We come to each job site with all the tools we need for success. We believe you should have the same advantage.

Major Drivers of Landscaping Costs

The two main landscaping costs to the customer are materials and labor. This would make it appear that prices generally follow the size of a project.

But labor efficiency doesn’t grow at a constant rate unless it’s repeatable. So project complexity affects landscape prices much more strongly than project size.

Generally, a project grows more complex as the number of distinct services it requires increases.

Complexity Affects Cost More Than Size

Take Zilker Park’s Great Lawn for example. As an experiment, imagine you designed and installed the current landscape. You’d be looking at several acres of ground clearing and grading, irrigation, soil spreading, and sod install.

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While that’s plenty more sod and PVC than you’d lay in a typical back yard, the job tasks required are exactly the same. Zilker will take longer to complete, obviously, but the labor will increase at a predictable rate because the crew rarely transitions between job tasks.

Now let’s completely redesign the park. (Many will recall this almost happened recently.)

In this scenario, say you plan an absorbent rain garden in the top corner of the property to collect stormwater and distribute it thoughout the site. Below that, you’ll install a native-planted prairie for wildlife habitat. To protect that habitat, you’ll build a network of elevated walkways. You’ll still include a partial lawn, but you’ll surround it with large tree species like live oaks to protect the turf from scorching. Let’s say the city also contracts you to build the sand volleyball courts, and you decide to fence them off from a nearby boulder garden.

Though these two hypothetical projects are the exact same size, the cost difference between them could easily exceed $500,000.

Why Complex Jobs Cost More

Costs for the landscape company and the client compound each time there’s a new service on the project. The reality of the industry is that most clients want a one-stop shop — a wide range of services from the same contractor. This is Maas Verde’s objective, but it means we need to maintain a large crew and find every efficiency we can.

“We can break down every project into a list of roughly seven elements: earthwork, planting, hardscape, carpentry, steel fabrication, irrigation, and lighting. When an install only has one of these elements, we don’t need to context switch at all, and the demand on management is light. But as you approach all seven, there’s a much higher difficulty. How do we source materials? What tool sets do we need at the job and how do we get them there? There could be storage challenges. The project manager needs to organize the job in phases, and each phase presents its own communication challenges.”
-Maas Verde project manager John Harris

landscaping work including stone cutting and welding

Jobs with multiple phases increase premiums on communication, and context switching between skill sets.

Materials as a Function of Labor

Customers can also consider labor complexity as the main driver of price differences between materials. Maas Verde regularly uses either 4″ cut limestone blocks or 1/4″ plate steel to edge landscape elements.

Maas Verde consistently purchases both materials at virtually the same price per linear foot.

But the labor cost of working with steel can be 50%-100% higher. An aesthetic steel edge demands significantly more attention to detail and specialty labor than a limestone one. These requirements increase on a straight edge, where any imperfection in steel is glaringly obvious. Welding introduces more serious safety concerns and more personal protective equipment (PPE).

The same logic applies to softscapes versus decking. Both accomplish the same general function of ground cover, but because of disparities in labor, carpentry will always cost more than sod or mulched beds.

Most Overlooked Costs

Cost items in landscaping range from overt to obscure. Anyone can infer that a brand-new deck made from premium materials is a cost. Same with a grove of freshly installed 65-gallon shade trees.

But on every job site, a handful of costs almost always get overlooked.

Demolition and Disposal

Consider your site. Maybe it’s a back yard with a collapsing retaining wall and some dying turfgrass. Maybe it’s a concrete patio surrounded by artificial turf. Maybe it’s a rotting deck and a flight of stairs.

No matter what eventually replaces these structures, they must first come out. This removal holds the first two hidden costs in landscaping: demolition and disposal.

“Most people tend to think of the positive, or additive, elements of a landscape project,” Maas Verde project manager Marc Opperman explained. “But the subtractive parts of a job consume resources, too.”

a retaining wall project in two different phases

Demolition can be as intensive as construction.

Removal of existing structures, soils, vegetation, and hardscape elements takes time. And depending on the materials involved, dumping isn’t always a one-stop shop.

Irrigation

Another commonly forgotten landscape cost is irrigation. For most people, the reality is that maintaining aesthetic standards for plants during Central Texas summers will require at least some artificial irrigation. An existing irrigation system may or may not meet the demands of a new plant plan. And a new system costs $2,000 per zone to install.

Maas Verde recommends an irrigation diagnostic for all existing systems before new plantings go in. The process is cost-effective at $250 and can help expectations align with reality.

Subsurface Conditions and Access

Other underground conditions also influence landscaping prices. Not a day goes by without Maas Verde crew members excavating — and when they have to break through stubborn kaliche or limestone, it adds time.

Finally, characteristics that limit access can strongly influence the cost for landscaping.

Maas Verde uses machines to unlock efficiencies whenever we can. And while we maintain equipment specialized to our working conditions, there are limits. Our mini skid steers can pass through a four-foot (48”) gate, for instance, but not a three-foot (36”) one.

an operator guiding a mini skid steer through a gate

We can operate on slopes, but only so steep.

“When I estimate labor, I’m looking at a site and I’m thinking about all these things,” John Harris, Maas Verde project manager, said. “Subsurface and surface conditions. Will we be carrying materials by hand or can we use a machine? Can we get a machine to an area where we need to excavate or not? If not, those situations add up.”

How You Can Control Costs

While you can’t influence the rates a landscaper charges, you can influence your own cost for landscaping services. Any home or business owner can do this by doing some property research and prep work.

The Impact of Surveys

To start, you can make a major impact with a solid property survey. This document can be instrumental in project design and planning.

A good survey shows exact property boundaries, substantial trees and their species, built features, and even includes insights on buried utilities. Savings will be reflected in design fees and install efficiency.

Surveys give our designers limits, telling them what they can and can’t do. Say you want a stone patio but your property is close to the City’s impervious cover limit. In that case, we can find out what’s feasible.

Communication is critical, especially on big projects — and creating a tight design is one of the best ways to get any crew on the same page. Once we’re on the job site, the survey will limit surprises. For instance, knowing the exact property line on a fence project can save hours.

Claiming Rebates and Preparing Your Area

Applying for the City of Austin’s multiple rebates can help pay back landscape costs. A $5,000 rebate is available for rainwater harvesting, and the “WaterWise” rebate for native plant conversions pays up to $3,000. These rebates aren’t for every customer, but knowing what you do or don’t want to apply for is an excellent place to start.

Finally, simply cleaning up your property for our crews will build efficiencies. You can remove brush piles or unwanted plants and clear tight access areas of any debris or home goods.

How Maas Verde Combats Lack of Pricing Standards

Pricing in the landscape industry is often a moving target. But this can be frustrating for customers and hazardous to companies.

Industry standard pricing is elusive, if it exists at all. Protocols for estimates are the same. Our project managers experience these circumstances when, for instance, they recruit subcontractors for large projects.

Proposals they receive range widely. Some are painstakingly itemized, and some consist of a few crude sentences followed by a lump sum. Pricing comes in all over the board, and doesn’t necessarily follow predictable trends.

Most landscape clients find the same thing.

Forbes summed up the situation in a 2023 article that attempts to outline “average” landscaping prices. The publication landed on numbers that reflect the chasm that is pricing in the industry.

“When it comes to services that upgrade your outdoor space, the sky is literally the limit. With that in mind, a landscaping project can cost as little as $90 or more than $60,000.”

While you can get almost nothing done with $90, Forbes’ assessment is patently true otherwise. The situation it describes is just extremely vague.

Estimating a landscape project takes experience and ongoing practice. Our project managers bring a deep understanding of our techniques and overall model — they helped create it! They also work closely alongside our crew members, which helps build reliable time budgeting.

But there’s a reason they call an estimate an “estimate,” and multiple factors can affect the timeline of any job.

Because that’s the case, we are working on aggregate pricing tools to put clients in control with ballpark numbers they can count on. Our goal is to limit client interactions where the numbers just don’t line up.

Internal evaluation has so far shown us that we can reliably price garden beds at $7-10 per square foot. And because plantings are the core of any landscape design, we recommend using this square-foot pricing as a rough guideline as we continue our research.

From there, keep the key concepts from this guide in mind as you consider your budget. For Maas Verde, ecological restoration is the objective — and empowering clients is the priority.