Blog

There’s not a lot of good news out there lately when it comes to the climate crisis. Despite decades of scientists warning us of a warming planet, our collective response has been relatively too little, too late. Now we’re witnessing many of the most dire predictions becoming a reality. One reason we’re at this point […]

There is a growing trend in landscape architecture when it comes to planting design. More and more, Landscape Architecture Magazine and landscape design social media feeds are filled with sublime, flowing meadows, containing a symphony of softly mounding grasses, interspersed with a wild yet refined mixture of seasonal perennial interest. Yet, more substantive than trends […]

I have a confession. We moved into our beautiful Craftsman Bungalow in 2017, and amongst the to-do list of renovation projects, there’s one that is particularly distressing to me:  Our garishly BLUE bathroom.  Every day for the last 5 years I have walked into this bathroom at least twice a day, only to get punched […]

Native meadow grasses are rapidly gaining popularity as both an alternative to traditional turf-grass, or a low-maintenance shrub-border. These grasses are easy to grow, have beautiful ornamental seed-heads, and are very drought-tolerant! A few of our favorite varieties include Grama Grass, Sheep Fescue, Atlas Fescue, or for shady areas, Blue Zinger sedge or Pennsylvania sedge. […]

Butterflies evolved into specific species by eating only a few different plants. As human development has expanded, these plants got ripped down or dispersed. Butterflies thrive on large groupings of plants. Many butterflies can’t eat nonnative plants, they need their specific native plant to survive. 90% of insect species can only eat the plants that […]

With the ongoing water crisis, we’re starting to see a lot of formerly lush landscapes suddenly transformed into barren rock-scapes under the guise of water conservation. While these newfound converts to environmentalism are well-intentioned, a rock-only landscape is actually worse for the ecosystem, the climate, and the drought. I know that seems counter-intuitive but here’s […]

As a women-owned business, whose mission is to create sustainable, vibrant communities while mentoring the next generation of female landscape architects, Io Landscape Architecture is pleased to congratulate Shalae Larsen, Io Principal, on her nomination for the prestigious ATHENA Award .  The award recognizes women who have achieved personal and professional success, and who are leaders […]

Over the course of 20 years of professional and individual community engagement, we’ve been to a LOT of different types of public meetings.  The best ones are creative and fun with active involvement of participants.  They actually work to make a project better. The worst ones are boring, limit community feedback, or worse–collect feedback and […]

We’re proud to unveil our new logo!  The name Io stems from Greek mythology.  Io was a demi-goddess represented by a white heifer.  As a woman-founded design practice we deliberately chose the name based on its strong female archetype and also its agricultural symbolism.  We have both personal ties to small-scale community agriculture and a […]

The documentation and preservation of historical landscapes represents a relatively new and frequently misunderstood branch of the preservation movement. Many historic landscapes are being lost before their significance is recognized. Historic landscapes are important because often they provide context for historic buildings and structures. But historic landscapes can also exist without historic buildings, or can […]

This week marks another milestone in Ogden City’s bid to become the outdoor recreation capital of the West, with the kickoff of the Ogden Business Exchange Project.  Nicknamed “Trackline,” the project is a proposed industrial/business park that will serve as a hub of activity for bike, bike-related, and otherwise outdoor products companies.  Over the past […]

Io Landscape Architecture, in conjunction with Carbon Architects, hosted the first ever PARK(ing) Day in Ogden on September 20, 2013. Watch the brief video below, where our Principal, Shalae Larsen outlines the project concepts and goals.  Special thanks to Johnson Media Corp. for putting this together.  Shalae also appeared in another featured video by Only in Ogden! By overtaking two […]

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