Digging 100 Holes
One of the principles that guides our work: you don’t truly understand a site until you’ve dug 100 holes there.
The number is perhaps hyperbole; only during planting do we actually excavate that much. But the point is that planting sites are often composed of complex variations in soil texture, soil condition, and soil moisture that can change significantly across short distances.
It’s only through rigorous site analysis that it’s possible to begin understanding these variations—and understanding these variations is the key to a successful, durable planting.
Checking the soil during a recent site analysis.
That’s one of the reasons why our initial process of site analysis is so important to our design process. When possible, before the design phase begins, we visit future planting sites multiple times—in different seasons, or after varying amounts of recent rain, for example.
This might all seem redundant. But that time spent figuring out a site is what allows us to craft plantings that thrive in a given situation. The more we can learn about a site, the better designers we can be.
Plant plugs placed on a woodland site before drilling a few hundred holes during installation.
“The more we can learn about a site, the better designers we can be.”
A more traditional horticultural approach would be to “fix” variations by amending soils or improving drainage. That model seeks ideal, homogenized soils. But we find it best to lean into this variety. Variation in soil conditions can lead to an increase in species diversity, which often leads to more habitat value for the other species with which we share our surroundings.
On a project Thicket Workshop designed recently, our site analysis found an unexpected sharp contrast between a dry gravel lobe and a saturated area of clay soils. Some previous land use or disturbance—a road? construction debris? a flood?—had created a dry spine in what was otherwise a soggy area. By knowing about this condition and by adapting our design to accommodate it, we were able to place a patch of plant species that can thrive in the drier conditions.
Site analysis leads to durable, ecologically-valuable plantings…
Ultimately, by working with a site and seeking to understand it, we can design a planting to be more responsive to the site. As compared to imposing a particular and inflexible vision of what we think the site should be, our approach is often more effective, less expensive, and more beautiful—and easier to maintain over the years.
…both of which are supported by an appropriate, dynamic, and vibrant assemblage of species.