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Ah, RSW!

Does anyone remember how grand Miami International was in the late 90's? It was richly and smartly planted under the careful hands of very competent Landscape Architects- professionals able to grasp the issues of scale, and plant suitability.

Our airport could be the same, if only it were in more capable hands. But it's not. It's not even pedestrian. It's amateurish. And in defending the design, the landscape architect blamed the budget. Nonsense.

The design errors are so huge, and so pervasive, that I hardly know where to start; from a critics view, it is the gift that keeps on giving. The designer has no ability to comprehend scale, either in beds, or in the location of beds; and the concept of sequential focal points, so critical to competent design, is completely absent.

Admittedly these concepts are sometimes hard to grasp, so let's focus on some very simple things: plant material, incorrectly specified, that dies and the designer should have known that it would.

I've written previously about the airport. And, I predicted the loss of plant material due to these design decisions.

Today, I was up at the airport, seeing Ms. Muchnick off to teach Yoga at Omega. What a teriffic opportunity to check on how some of the plants are doing.

Answer? not so good.

Let's take a quick look at one spot: the corner of Terminal Acess Road and Treeline Avenue South. This is a T-shaped intersection. Terminal Access Road has a somewhat narrow median as it nears Treeline Avenue. The 'before' picture shows shrub plantings.

This spot was previously populated with Zamia and Indian Hawthorne. I pointed out that, over time, two things would happen: first, the Zamia will shade the Hawthorne, resulting in dead Hawthorne. Second, the Zamia will become quite large, requiring fairly extensive 'hacking' to keep it out of the path of vehicles.

Over time, the first prediction came true. As the Zamia grew, the Hawthorne didn't stand a chance, and it died. I witnessed this deterioration myself.

Have a look at the second picture, which I took today with the lovely Ysis. Notice the Zamia? No? that's because all of this planting has been removed, having deteriorated.

All of the plant material is now sod. I don't know why this is– look for a follow up as I get on the phone next week and see if I can find some answers.

But let's look at some costs of a small area that is emblematic of the entire project.

Assume that the Zamia was about $30 each at installation, and the hawthorne was about $9. Maybe you think that this amount of money is chump change? Well, I do not think it is chump change. I think it is a mistake by the professionals and it should be dealt with in that light.

The point is this: the plant material was badly specified, and it died.

Now. Who pays? And why on earth is the plan still being implemented?

We deserve better.