All Posts By

Gary Bentrup

    Landscape Design

    Using Trees and Shrubs to Reduce Noise

    By Gary Bentrup | August 26, 2010

    Noise from vehicles and others sources can reduce one’s enjoyment of being outdoors.  Dense, tree buffers can reduce noise to levels that allow normal outdoor activities to occur.  For instance, a 100-foot wide planted buffer will reduce noise by 5 to 8 decibels (dBA). If one uses a barrier in the buffer such as a landform can significantly increase buffer effectiveness (10 to 15 dBA reduction per 100-foot wide buffer with 12-foot high landform).          …

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  • Landscape Design

    Designing Conservation Buffers

    The USDA National Agroforestry Center’s publication, Conservation Buffers: Design Guidelines for Buffers, Corridors, and Greenways offers over 80 illustrated guidelines for designing conservation buffers. Conservation buffers are strips of vegetation placed in the landscape…

    By Gary Bentrup | June 30, 2010