Landscape Management Plan

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas campus faces a problem common to many historical institutions: a large campus of great economic value and physical beauty with a limited maintenance budget. To guide plans for expansion and renovation, Sisters of Mercy hired an interdisciplinary team of designers, planners, and campus staff. As part of this team, WMA conducted a full site assessment and developed a design concept focusing on landscape management zones to guide future decisions regarding campus improvements and to limit maintenance requirements. WMA identified four guiding principles for the plan that will allow staff to work with the natural processes of native landscapes:

• Use native ecosystems to define the landscape character;
• Limit ornamental landscapes and incorporate transitional areas between landscape zones;
• Commit to an ecological approach maximizing habitat and species diversity; and
• Conserve water and other resources in landscape maintenance.

Subsequent to the management plan, WMA developed a plant palette for each landscape management zone as well as detailed maintenance schedules and documents that will guide the staff in creating and maintaining an attractive campus with limited labor and resource input.