New Web Site

Ironwood design group has begun work on a new web site that includes an integrated blog. The new web site and blog are up and running while we fine tune content. Please take a few minutes to visit our new site www.fewood.com

A Beautiful Day for Public Outreach

It was a bright, sunny, spring-like day in Bridgton yesterday for our second outreach initiative. The Bridgton Main Street Streetscape Project open house event attracted numerous residents and business owners who stopped by for informal discussions with the Ironwood design group team and Town staff. 

The next outreach event will be a walking place audit of Main Street on March 19th. Join us at the Bridgton Town offices on Chase Street at 10am for that event.

You can keep up-to-date on this Main Street conceptual design initiative by visiting the project website https://bridgtonmainstreet.wordpress.com/

The Town of Bridgton, Maine Hires Ironwood for Main Street Design

A team of professionals from Ironwood Design Group, HEB Engineers, and Maine Traffic Resources  has been commissioned by the Town of Bridgton, Maine to facilitate public outreach and visioning, streetscape design development, and cost estimating associated with proposed improvements to Main Street between the Civil War monument located at High Street and Pondicherry Square at the intersection of Routes 302 and 117. The principal landscape architect at Ironwood Design Group, Jeffrey Hyland, will spearhead the consulting team, which is honored to be involved in such an important and significant project for Bridgton-the jewel of Maine's lake region.

The first public outreach meeting was held recently with a strong turnout.
http://www.bridgton.com/streetscape-design-kickoff-meeting-turnout-shows-love-of-main-street/ 

Bridgton residents who missed this chance to share ideas for an enhanced Main Street will have other opportunities to discuss the project with the design team: office hours will be held Friday February 26th at the Bridgton Planning office anytime on the 26th between 2PM and 8 PM and a site walk  is planned for downtown on Saturday March 19th (note change from Match 12th) at 10 AM to explore downtown and discuss parking, traffic, crosswalks, lighting, and street trees.
Bridgton is supporting a social media campaign to further engage the community. Anne Krieg, AICP, Bridgton Director of Planning, Economic & Community Development has set up a project web site where news about upcoming and past meetings as well as contact information be found.

Ironwood Commissioned for Marston Farm Property Project in Nottingham, New Hampshire

Late in 2015, the Town of Nottingham and the Marston Property Exploratory Committee (MPEC) hired Ironwood design group and CMA Engineers to create a conceptual plan for the 45-acre, town-owned Marston Farm property. Recreational fields, community gardens, and walking trails were identified as possible Marston property amenities during a recent NH Listens workshop, and thus, these amenities weighted heavily in collaboration efforts to develop a property design. 

The design team, led by Ironwood landscape architects Jeff Hyland and Jennifer Martel, in collaboration with civil engineer Phil Corbett from CMA Engineers confirmed the optimal and best uses for the open space through a conceptual design process involving Nottingham Town stakeholders, MPEC members, and individuals from the community. The Ironwood design team then worked with MPEC to develop cost estimates and a phasing plan that would allow the project to begin construction as soon as Summer 2016. 

Nottingham residents will soon choose to fund phase I of conceptual design implementation through a March 2016 Town Meeting Warrant Article.See the Committee's report to Selectmen.

Evergreen to Eversnow to Spring Garden?

Winter Topiary Garden from The Garden in Winter
 by Rosemary Verey

If you are beginning to lose enthusiasm for the world of white, dreaming about your spring garden might inspire you to action. As a starting point, it's always a fine idea to take notes of what you appreciate in the winter landscape as a measure of recording for next year- what works in terms of winter green that can bear snow loads well or has colorful bark or dramatic silhouettes? The snow is likely now disguising any visual lacunae but if you can reach back and recall any early winter vagaries that you want to rework that is worthwhile. Some venerable varieties we trust for winter interest include:

Paperwhite Birch Betula papyrifera (our state's tree)
Paperbark Maple Acer griseum   (fabulous cinnamon bark)
Pagoda Tree Cornus alternifolia (lovely form with branching at each branch terminus - hence its botanical name)
Grey Owl Juniper Juniperus virginiana 'Grey Owl' (holds green thru winter with flexible boughs)
Arctic Fire Dogwood Cornus sericea  'Arctic Fire' (bright red stems. Cull 1/3 each spring to retain vibrancy)
Winter Red Winterberry Ilex verticillata "Winter Red' (scads of bright red berries for holiday decorating and nourishing birds)

Now to turn to some hardy  plants that you wish you had awakening for Spring:

White Redbud Cercis canadensis  'Alba' (early white flowered clusters along branches precede leaves)
Cornell Pink Azalea Azalea mucronulatum  'Cornell Pink' (with clear pink flowers, first azalea to bloom)
Mayflower Viburnum Viburnum carlesii (with intoxicating fragrance and resistance to the viburnum beetle, site near an entrance)
White Fringetree Chionanthus virginicus (Native multi-stem tree or large shrub with lush sweeps of fragrant flowers in spring that evolve into blue fruits for birds)

Consider calling on a Landscape Architect for transformative help--after all that is what we love to do! :)

SNOW ARTISTS IN THE LEGACY OF ANDY GOLDSWORTHY AND ROBERT SMITHSON

SNOW DRAWINGS

The East Coast may be getting too much snow, but snow can be celebrated when it is not in your parking lot. We feature two snow artists today. Sonja Hinrichsen, a land artist and photographer, has etched lovely drawings of an epic scale on several continents with the help of many volunteers.

Read more about the Work of Sonja-Hinrichsen

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, co  2014

BRIANCON, FRANCE, 2014

Simon Beck works mostly in the Alps. His drawings are created in a painstaking and methodical manner with his snowshoes. New snowfalls and unexpected high temperatures can heighten the ephemeral quality of his work.  

Read more about the Work of Simon Beck

Ironwood design has entered into the popular  design arena of Houzz.com as a way for potential clients to see the residential capabilities of our group. (Go to: http://www.houzz.com/pro/ironwooddesigngroup/__public). 

Throughout the Northeast, allied professionals in architecture and interior design reference each other's work here as well.  Our posted images feature the firms expertise in all design aspects important to the construction of successful residential design. We believe that top quality design is long wearing, with sustainable materials that age well thoughout the years so that money initially invested in design and  supervised construction will continue to add value to a home for at a minimum,  decades of maturity.