Landscaping Takes off in Wisconsin Neighborhood

Patios, water features and gardens with native plants have become popular in the Marshfield area. While some people choose to work in gardens that require hours of care, others opt for low-maintenance plants, he said.

After little rainfall and some winter kill, the Ryans of Marshfield decided the time had come to update their landscaping.

"We had done it over a few years when we first built the house. Then, we got busy with family life," said Jane Ryan, 54. "It was time to get back into changing the look, kind of updating, going with more perennials and color."
They had a small pond with a waterfall installed and some new shrubs.

"It's such a short growing season. It's nice to have some color," she said. "It's nice to have a new, fresh landscape that's a little bit lower-maintenance."
Botanical gardens and home landscapes are major specialties in the field, said Evelyn Howell, professor and chairwoman of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"That's what we call the green industry," she said. "It's a mixture of design and science."

The green industry contributes more than $2.7 billion annually, while providing about 43,000 jobs for Wisconsin. Producer sales and services made up 56 percent of the green industry in 2002, according to the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service.

In garden design, landscape architects generally work with plants and hardscapes, such as rock walls, paving materials and sculpture elements. Native plants have become popular, as well as water features and rain gardens, she said.

The Marshfield Area Groundwater Guardians and the Wood County Master Gardeners recently designed Marshfield's second community rain garden at the House of the Dove hospice home.

"The big things in home (landscape) design are people are always interested in design with color, arranging plants that way," Howell said. "People are wanting to put in a white garden where it all blooms white. A blue garden is the same idea. Another big thing coming on is using edible plants in a design way."
The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County's fourth annual Art in the Garden recently concluded at Foxfire Gardens with a course in edible flowers.

"See? Marshfield and Madison are not that different," Howell said, laughing.