Glossary
Key terms and concepts in landscape architecture, rewilding, and ecological design.
The practice of restoring ecosystems to a more natural, self-sustaining state by reintroducing native species and ecological processes.
In Practice: In landscape design, rewilding means creating gardens and landscapes that support local wildlife, pollinators, and biodiversity rather than relying on purely ornamental, non-native plantings.
The variety of plant and animal life in a particular habitat or ecosystem.
In Practice: We design landscapes that maximize biodiversity through diverse plant palettes, habitat features, and ecological corridors that support birds, pollinators, and beneficial insects.
Using plant species that naturally occur in a specific region and have evolved with local wildlife.
In Practice: Native plants are adapted to local soil, climate, and rainfall conditions, requiring less maintenance while providing critical food and habitat for native pollinators and wildlife.
A garden specifically designed to attract and support pollinating insects and birds through nectar-rich, pollen-bearing plants.
In Practice: Our pollinator gardens include carefully sequenced bloom times to provide continuous food sources from early spring through late fall, supporting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
A dense, multi-layered planting inspired by natural forest ecosystems, typically established in small urban or suburban spaces using the Miyawaki method or similar approaches.
In Practice: We create microforests as ecological anchors within larger landscape designs, providing habitat density, carbon sequestration, and cooling effects in surprisingly small footprints.
The non-living, structural elements of a landscape — terraces, paths, walls, pools, and outdoor structures.
In Practice: Our hardscape design integrates with planting to create cohesive outdoor rooms where architecture and nature dialogue, using materials that complement both the building and the ecological goals of the site.
The living, horticultural elements of a landscape — plants, trees, groundcovers, and soil.
In Practice: Softscape is our primary medium. We compose plant palettes that deliver layered texture, seasonal color, fragrance, and ecological function across the full year.
The curated selection of plant species chosen for a specific project based on aesthetic, ecological, and performance criteria.
In Practice: Each planting palette is custom-designed for its site, considering soil type, sun exposure, microclimate, deer pressure, salt tolerance, and the client aesthetic vision.
An ongoing program of strategic landscape management that guides a garden through seasonal transitions and long-term maturation.
In Practice: Unlike routine maintenance, stewardship involves art direction — knowing when to edit, when to let things grow, and how to evolve a landscape toward its fullest expression over years.
The process of replanting and restoring vegetation to land that has been disturbed, cleared, or degraded.
In Practice: We provide revegetation services that meet regulatory compliance requirements while establishing resilient native plant communities using proven ecological restoration techniques.
Plant selection and design strategies adapted to coastal environments with salt spray, wind exposure, sandy soils, and tidal influence.
In Practice: Our coastal planting expertise covers the full range of Northeastern shoreline conditions, from exposed oceanfront dunes to protected harbor gardens in the Hamptons and Long Island.
The phase of a project where the designer oversees construction to ensure the built work matches the design intent.
In Practice: During construction administration, we review submittals, conduct site visits, approve material samples, oversee plant installation, and manage quality control through project closeout.
A comprehensive, long-range plan for the development of an entire site, establishing the overall vision, phasing, and spatial organization.
In Practice: We create master plans for large properties that establish a cohesive vision while allowing for phased implementation over multiple seasons or years.
A vegetated, shallow channel designed to capture, filter, and convey stormwater runoff using plants and engineered soil media.
In Practice: Bioswales are both functional infrastructure and beautiful landscape features. We integrate them into site designs as planted corridors that manage water while adding ecological and aesthetic value.
A designed planting that mimics the structure and species diversity of natural meadow ecosystems using grasses and wildflowers.
In Practice: Our meadow plantings — like those at Rockefeller Center — create dynamic, seasonally shifting landscapes that support pollinators while reducing maintenance compared to traditional lawns.
A planting design approach that uses a base layer of structurally consistent grasses or perennials as a matrix, interplanted with punctuation species and seasonal themes. Developed by designers like Piet Oudolf and widely adopted in naturalistic planting.
In Practice: Common matrix species include Sesleria autumnalis, Deschampsia cespitosa, and Sporobolus heterolepis.
A native plant that supports a disproportionately high number of local insect and bird species relative to other natives. Per entomologist Doug Tallamy, a single oak (Quercus) supports more than 500 caterpillar species.
In Practice: Northeastern U.S. keystones include oaks (Quercus), willows (Salix), and cherries (Prunus). Specified as anchor species on biodiversity-driven projects.
The transitional zone between two ecosystems — for example, the edge where woodland meets meadow. Ecotones typically show higher species diversity than either adjacent community.
In Practice: Prized in ecological landscape design for habitat layering and bird/pollinator activity.
Landscape design that minimizes irrigation through drought-adapted planting, efficient hydrozoning, and mulch strategies. The term originated at Denver Water in 1981.
In Practice: Xeric principles apply anywhere water is constrained — including sections of a Hamptons site with thin sandy soil.
In horticulture, the geographic origin of a plant’s seed or genetic stock. Regional provenance matters for natives: a Panicum virgatum seed sourced from Long Island performs differently than one from Texas.
In Practice: Rewild Landscape specifies local ecotype when available for restoration and revegetation projects.
A zone within a landscape grouped by shared water requirements so irrigation can be calibrated to the needs of a single planting group.
In Practice: Typical hydrozones: high (≥18 in/yr), moderate (10–18 in/yr), low (≤10 in/yr), and natural (rainfall only). Mapped during design development.
A linear habitat connecting fragmented pollinator populations. Corridors often follow roadsides, utility easements, or property lines and are planted with native flowering species that bloom sequentially. Xerces Society publishes regional corridor guidelines.
In Practice: Incorporated on larger residential and campus projects to link to adjacent protected land.
The community of bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and microarthropods that live in soil and drive nutrient cycling, water retention, and plant health.
In Practice: Ecological landscape design protects the microbiome by minimizing compaction, avoiding broad-spectrum pesticides, and preserving organic matter.
The study of seasonal timing in plants and animals — bloom dates, leaf-out, bird migration, insect emergence. Phenology data is tracked regionally by USA-NPN.
In Practice: Used to compose bloom sequences that support pollinators from earliest spring through late fall.
A planting strategy that introduces species in stages so the landscape evolves toward a target ecological community. Early-succession pioneers establish cover and build soil; later species outcompete them over years.
In Practice: Core to restoration and revegetation work where a mature community is the goal.
A planting design approach emerging in the 1990s from Northern European designers — Piet Oudolf, Henk Gerritsen, Cassian Schmidt. Emphasizes long-season perennial and grass plantings with naturalistic community structure and winter interest.
In Practice: Heavily influences Rewild Landscape’s meadow and border compositions.
The dormant seeds in a soil profile, some viable for decades. Site clearing activates the seed bank — which can mean beneficial native re-emergence or invasive resurgence.
In Practice: Evaluated before clearing and restoration decisions to avoid invasive rebound.
The chemical inhibition of one plant by another through root or leaf exudates. Black walnut (Juglans nigra) produces juglone, which limits what can grow beneath it.
In Practice: Allelopathic species are noted during site analysis and inform companion planting.
The layer of shrubs, small trees, and groundcovers beneath a canopy of taller trees.
In Practice: Rich understory plantings are characteristic of woodland-edge designs and significantly increase biodiversity and structural depth.
A cultivated variety of a plant, bred or selected for specific traits — flower color, form, disease resistance — and propagated asexually to maintain those traits. Indicated by single quotes in plant names.
In Practice: Example: Echinacea purpurea “White Swan”. Used selectively alongside straight natives.
A cultivar of a native species. Nativars retain ornamental appeal but may have reduced ecological value compared to straight natives — Mt. Cuba Center trials show pollinator visitation varies widely by cultivar.
In Practice: Evaluated for ecological performance before specification on habitat-driven projects.
A non-grass herbaceous flowering plant. In meadow and prairie restoration, forb diversity drives pollinator value.
In Practice: Typical Northeastern forbs: Asclepias, Solidago, Symphyotrichum, Echinacea, Eupatorium.
Grass or grass-like plant — includes true grasses (Poaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), and rushes (Juncaceae).
In Practice: Forms the structural matrix in prairie, meadow, and sedge-meadow plantings.
The vegetated zone along a stream, river, or wetland edge. Riparian plantings stabilize banks, filter runoff, and provide critical wildlife corridors.
In Practice: New York State DEC regulates disturbance within riparian buffers — Rewild Plus handles compliance.
The measurable benefits humans receive from functioning ecosystems — stormwater management, carbon sequestration, pollination, air quality, temperature regulation, and cultural value.
In Practice: Documented in scope on ecologically driven projects for corporate ESG reporting.
Installation of small rooted perennials (typically 1-inch to 4-inch pots or plugs) at high density rather than using larger container stock.
In Practice: Cost-effective at scale for meadow, grassland, and native-groundcover projects; establishes strong root systems quickly.
A technique where a single species or cultivar is planted in irregular, elongated drifts rather than geometric blocks. Mimics how plants self-sort in nature.
In Practice: Gives naturalistic plantings their flowing visual rhythm; used across most Rewild projects.
A tree selected and sited for singular visual impact rather than as part of a planted mass. Typically larger at installation (6-inch caliper and up).
In Practice: Placed to anchor a view, terminate an axis, or create shade over a key outdoor living space.
The uppermost layer of a forest or wooded landscape, composed of mature trees that intercept light and rainfall.
In Practice: Canopy management — thinning, limb-up, light admission — is a key lever in understory design.
The hypothesis, formalized by biologist E.O. Wilson, that humans have an innate affinity for connection with other living systems.
In Practice: Biophilic principles — access to nature, natural materials, living plants — inform hospitality and cultural commissions.
A non-native organism that spreads aggressively and displaces native species, degrading ecological function. Northeastern examples include Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora).
In Practice: Rewild Plus stewardship programs include quarterly invasive monitoring and removal protocols.
Any material layered on soil to retain moisture, moderate temperature, suppress weeds, and contribute organic matter as it breaks down.
In Practice: Rewild Landscape specifies locally sourced leaf mold or aged hardwood mulch and avoids dyed or pathogen-carrying mulch types.
The area at the base of a tree trunk where the trunk transitions into structural roots. Proper planting depth exposes the root flare at grade.
In Practice: Burying the flare leads to root girdling, decline, and eventual tree loss — a common but avoidable installation error.
A quantitative measure of species richness and relative abundance at a site — often expressed as species count per unit area, Shannon diversity index, or pollinator visitation counts.
In Practice: Increasingly requested by clients for corporate ESG reporting and conservation-minded HOAs.
Stormwater and habitat infrastructure built from vegetation, soil, and natural processes rather than conventional pipe-and-pond systems. Includes bioswales, rain gardens, green roofs, constructed wetlands, and permeable paving.
In Practice: NYC Department of Environmental Protection incentivizes green infrastructure on private projects through the GI Grant Program.