Design & Planning

A successful natural area installation, restoration or enhancement results in an aesthetically pleasing, functional area that satisfies the goals of the owner, designer, developer, regulator and consumer. Whether the project is residential, commercial, industrial, municipal, publicly or privately owned, success can be achieved only through comprehensive planning and design.

Ecological design initially involves site work to determine the conditions that exist on the property. Next, it involves conceptual work to devise a design program and a systematic approach to restoration. Finally, it involves the conversion of collected data, design programs, and design solutions into a comprehensive set of documents that can be utilized for bidding, implementation, and all facets of stewardship.

Pizzo’s landscape architects and ecologists have wide-ranging technical and practical experience in the field of ecological design. We will assist you in successfully incorporating natural areas into your next project. An experienced ecologist is the best source to develop a planting plan based upon your site’s existing soils, hydrology, slope, sun requirements, location, ecotypes, site history, and cultural importance. All too often a “seed mix” is selected from a catalog and the project receives a “rubberstamp” treatment. This type of treatment is doomed to failure. Native plant communities consist of an intricate matrix of species that are dependent upon specific light and moisture needs, and are dependant upon one another to create a favorable growing environment. Restoration specifications developed without experienced ecological consultation often contain non-native species, commercially unavailable species, species specified for the wrong habitat, or rigid requirements that do not allow for the proper flexible process necessary to achieve favorable outcomes. Pizzo’s in-house ecologists can identify the specific site conditions and requirements and work closely with our landscape architects to develop a customized plan to fit the project’s individual needs.

Our Design & Consultation Services include:

  • Natural Areas Assessment
  • Restoration Planning
  • Conservation & Sustainable Development Planning
  • Innovative Stormwater Management Planning
  • Threatened & Endangered Species Inventory
  • Permitting
  • Delineation, Mitigation & Reporting
  • Bioengineered Solutions for Erosion Control
Design & Planning

Our Greenline Review

A Greenline review is a unique professional design service developed by Pizzo & Associates, Ltd. The Greenline review redefines a well established professional design review process that is typically referred to as “redlining”. A redline drawing is an intermediate Engineering, Architectural, and/or Landscape Design drawing/document that shows revisions or corrections to a previous drawing and is used throughout the design process as the drawing(s) is refined. The term “redline” literally comes from the red inked pen typically used to amend the drawing(s) by hand during review by the lead designer. A Greenline drawing is a review of an intermediate design drawing in order to show revisions or corrections that specifically implement and/or improve overall sustainability of a product design, process design, site design and/or building design. Greenline drawing reviewers will utilize a green inked pen to amend the drawing(s) by hand throughout the design process.