How much is a tree worth? $$

Trees do a lot more than provide shade and look pretty.  For example, according to the National Tree Benefit Calculator, the 31" diameter Little Leaf Linden (Tilia cordata) outside our office provides $108 in benefits per year divided among stormwater filtration, energy production, improving air quality, and atmospheric CO2 reduction.  If you're interested in how much a particular tree is worth, find out its species and trunk diameter and visit:  http://www.treebenefits.com/calculator/

Little Leaf Linden (Tilia cordata)

End-of-Summer Celebrations

To celebrate the end of a great summer, Searle Design Group went on a field trip to Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA and Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA.  

We explored the living museum at Garden in the woods - a collection of native new england plants and habitats set among varied terrain carved long ago by glaciers.

At Tower Hill we embarked on a guided tour with their Director of Horticulture who shared the history of the site and discussed the future of their sustainable management practices in the face of climate change.

Feast your eyes on some of the beautiful colors and textures we saw:

Summertime in Colgate's Garden! →

The Blue Jay in the photograph below paid us a visit during lunch today to enjoy all the wonderful colors and textures in Colgate's garden as we ring in the month of July.

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Bird migration patterns mapped by MIT

Using the citizen-science eBird database, scientists at MIT created this map. Fun watching on a Friday morning!

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Searle Design Group 40th Anniversary Party

Thank you to everyone who came out last night to help us celebrate the firm's 40th anniversary. We appreciate your support over the years and hope to continue for many more.  Thanks especially to Charlie Cannon and Evelyn Hafferty for the Forest Street Farm T-shirts!

"Our RISD" shares news of Searle Design Group reorg →

We are excited that "Our RISD" has shared the news of Searle and Searle's transition to Searle Design Group. All three partners at SDG are RISD alumni, and Colgate Searle is a professor in the Landscape Architecture Department there. We are currently designing landscape site improvements at two locations on RISD's campus. Check out our Facebook page to see a few images of these works in progress.

Searle Design Group welcomes Taber Jossi Caton as Principal

We are pleased to announce our new partnership between Colgate Searle, FASLA, Taber Jossi Caton, ASLA and Melissa Bagga, ASLA. The growth of the firm will allow for increased capacity in k-12 and higher education planning and design as well as residential and senior housing.  We will also continue our history of work in master planning, historic landscapes, residential gardens and the design of environmentally sensitive landscapes.

Colgate's research at EARTH University, La Flor Campus, Costa Rica

Colgate's EARTH/RISD wintersession studio took RISD students to Costa Rica to build this off the grid, hi-tech/lo-tech prototype classroom for rural schools. In the field, RISD students and faculty, along with members of the EARTH University community, finalized the design for the classroom; built elevations, a cistern/water purification system, doors and louvers, and the landscape. This Studio is part of an ongoing, collaborative project between EARTH University + RISD.

Ultimately, the classroom, with its inside/outside learning environments, demonstrates how integrating curriculum, teaching, energy and hi-tech systems, landscape and space contributes to a transformative learning experience.

EARTH University, based in Guacimo, close to Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, is at the forefront of identifying, testing, and sharing techniques for sustainable agriculture and community development in the tropics. Since 2007, RISD and EARTH University have partnered to engage in design studios focused on many topics at the La Flor campus in Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.