FOOTHILLS RESIDENCE
These Foothills residents had a few important concerns. They wanted a space that blended into the natural environment, providing for wildlife while also being resistant to the damage wildlife can cause, and finding plants that work well in the native clay soil. The renovation from traditional turf and shrubs to a locally appropriate landscape is dramatic.

 

 

MILLER RESIDENCE
These homeowners had some specific design objectives for their front yard. First, they wanted to make sure the landscape reduced water use. In an effort to lessen their environmental impact, they asked for plant material that would never require chemical assistance and that would provide for wildlife. Finally, they wanted a landscape architecture master plan for the front yard that created more private and comfortable use and offered visitors a welcoming approach to the house.

 

 

THE IDAHO
BOTANICAL GARDEN
CHILDREN'S ADVENTURE GARDEN MASTER PLAN
The master plan for the Children's Adventure Garden focuses on providing the basic natural elements of a garden that children can interact with and learn from, in an inviting and playful environment. By providing this easily accessible nature, a child can develop a love of and a sense of wonder for the natural world. Allowing them to direct themselves in this world gives them the opportunity to also cultivate appreciation and stewardship for these places they love. In order to maintain this focus of offering a child-directed experience of nature, this garden will be built from primarily natural, or natural looking, materials. Construction began in Fall of '08. The main features are designed to provide elemental experiences such as expansive overlook, hidden shelters, places for safe climbing and water play. Additional elements include areas for food gardening, scented plants, wide open spaces for free play, exploration and building with natural materials and sliding, swinging and picnicking.

Borrowing from the fortress-like walls of the Old Penitentiary that border the Idaho Botanical Garden's northern side, a castle wall with attached turrets becomes a Children's Adventure Garden landmark that can be viewed from other parts of the Botanical Garden. The castle and the rest of the Botanical Garden represent the adult world and are meant to be something the visitor leaves behind as he or she crosses the drawbridge and suddenly finds him or herself in an outdoor land of free-flowing adventure and imagination within the Children's Adventure Garden.

 

 
BOISE PARKS AND RECREATION FOOTHILLS LEARNING CENTER MASTER PLAN
The Foothills Learning Center is a new Parks and Recreation facility north of downtown Boise in the Hulls Gulch Reserve. Sage Land Design was responsible for project management, master planning, and design for passive public use and active education uses for the Learning Center outdoor programs. Additional aspects of this design process included public presentation, team collaboration, agency reviews and approvals. The goals of the Foothills Learning Center include educating users about firewise principals and living in the wildland/urban interface, waterwise principals that also comply with firewise requirements, sustainable landscaping and wildlife habitat enhancement, and alternative drainage provisions that combine function of runoff catchment with the form of ornamental, naturalized water features.

The design theme incorporates the four directions and the specific elements Native Americans have associated with each direction. Not only does this orient visitors, but it also organizes the goals of the facility: educating about fire and water. Air and earth come into play when educating about wildlife and the geological history of the area. Installed with four phases of construction. Phase Two, which included some plant material, was completed in spring of 2007.