Sustainable Landscapes & Management (SLAM) Lab

Around the world, people rely on landscapes in constructed environments to provide numerous ecosystem services. Yet developed areas such as cities are often challenging places to plant, establish, and grow plants due to altered or poor quality soils, reflected heat and reduced available water, and delayed or insufficient management activities to promote growth and longevity. There is monumental and immediate need to conduct applied and fundamental research on the sourcing, production, planting, establishment, and long-term management of landscape plants to protect and improve environmental quality and human health outcomes. Research alone is not enough however, to change the trajectory of green industry professional practice as evidence-backed findings must be tested, evaluated, and adopted by practitioners to become usable best practices.

The work of the Sustainable Landscapes & Management (SLAM) Lab is moving back to my roots in the practice of landscape architecture, where I continue my goal of translating current research-backed practices for landscape stewardship to assist clients in achieving their goals and elevating the work of green industry professionals. From practice, to graduate research, to being a college professor at a R1 research land-grant institution, and back to practice, I have nearly two decades of experience of working and studying plant establishment in urban and post-construction landscapes, soil remediation techniques, soil health, and landscape performance. I have been a primary investigator on a USDA-funded grant to evaluate barriers and opportunities that currently limit the diversity of available trees in the nursery industry.  It's with this research training that I aim to connect my practice to the best available science to create artful landscapes that function.

Are you a potential client, researcher looking for an industry partner, or an early-career landscape professional and want to know more? Contact me: gthompson@rdgusa.com

Poor root architecture, including circling, diving, and kinked roots along with buried and adventitious root flares are common defects for trees in the nursery trade that can occur even with best practices. These defects are permanent and detrimental to the lifespan of the tree unless they are modified at the time of planting. The SLAM Lab has conducted research to determine the viability of different techniques to mitigate poor root architecture in upper Midwestern landscapes with narrow spring and fall planting windows.