Site Analysis

Overall Site Analysis

We conduct a thorough site analysis (guided by established NOFA standards) before proposing any changes to your landscape. Our site analysis seeks to discover the natural richness, knowledge, and beauty hidden in your land and how its natural elements interact with one another. Once we understand it, we work with it instead of against it.

Our overall site analysis looks at:

1. Detailed Observation: Our site analysis pays careful attention to existing plants and animals, current land use, and features of the surrounding landscape adjoining your land.
    

2. Microclimates:  We evaluate and make any proposed changes based on available sunlight, shade, soil chemistry and biology (via testing), air circulation, water flow, and temperature variations.
    

3. Bioregion: Our proposed changes are based on a thorough understanding of not only your land and how it fits into your neighborhood landscape, but also the bioregion in which it is located.
    

4. Wildlife Habitat: Picaflor Gardens has years of expertise in identifying, restoring, protecting, enhancing, and creating ecologically appropriate wildlife habitats. We take special pride in creating habitats that will attract, care for, and protect birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. See bird/pollinator site analysis.
    

5. Native and Invasive Plants: We identify your lands’ natural treasures and threats:

   1. Natives: we identify and seek to enhance native plants ecologically appropriate to the site, leaving established ecosystems intact.

   2. Invasives: we identify and seek to remove any invasive or harmful plants that may damage your land (and our region).
       

6. Native edible Landscapes and Food Production: We identify, and seek to enhance, and protect natural edible landscapes for wildlife and people, and if wanted we will help you create and enhance vegetable gardens.
    

7. Water Protection: We identify and seek to protect water in your land and in our region. We assess stormwater management on your land, onsite water flows, ponds, groundwater, or other natural water features on or near your property and we seek to leave the course of their flow and movement unimpeded and protected from disturbance. All water in its free-flowing state acts in the service of local ecosystems whether or not it is visible to the human eye! We identify and seek to enhance, protect, or create riparian buffers, water gardens, lawn alternatives, rainwater conservation systems, and other features that will protect our waters.
    

8. Buffers: We identify and seek to maintain, enhance, or establish buffers to protect your organic sites from neighboring non-organic sites.
    

9. Ecology and Sustainability: We identify and seek to enhance landscape designs that enhance the principles of ecology and sustainability (ie: reduce space devoted to lawns)

From NOFA Standards